To get wooden floor down in flat?

[PenApple]

Obviously immediate reaction is going to be yes - but hear me out, sorry it’s longwinded
..

Split big Victorian house, we have upstairs. We’ve not long moved in and the living room carpet is horrendous, think 70’s bold pattern that will give you a migraine. I’d love rid of it asap but we have dc inc a baby, who all eat in there so new carpet might not be a great idea just now and wooden floor would be much better for cleaning up spills etc. Shoe free home.

Below us lives a lovely man in his late 50’s, who spends half his time at his partners house. When we moved in he gave a tour of his house and pointed out where noise travels - the room below our living is a room which he says he doesn’t use - he even said don’t worry about noise at that side of the house as I’m not in there.

So in this case would be ok? He’s lived there for nearly 30 years and doesn’t plan to move out - so I don’t think we’ll have anyone new move under us who we will disturb...

Cushioned lino is fantastic and available in a massive ranges of colours, patterns, thicknesses, etc. In fact I wanted to put it in the living room - with rugs too obviously - but DH vetoed it and said it would be weird...

Would be great in a kitchen.

No freehold either, they don’t exist in this country.

I’ll look into cushioned Lino for kitchen and small WC (which is capetered atm )

Go for cushion floor in the kitchen OPs it is so easy to keep clean, there is also the option of stick on tile effect tiles where they can be easily be replaced if damaged they are really reasonable to buy in packs from most DIY stores,we had some in our last house and they stayed looking good for 8 years.
As you are now going for carpet have you thought of a stripy effect which will deflect any marks and you can change to colours of your soft furnishing to go with the strips as and when the mood takes you.

I had cushion lino, with excellent under lay and a selection of rugs which were machine washable.

Look at insulation.

There are ways of counteracting the 'tap-dancing-round-the-house' effect with proper insulation.

I've put wooden floors into hundreds of flats and just paid for appropriate levels acoustic underlay. never had a problem.

You are doing the right thing OP by not doing this.

Even though no feet noise etc, the hard surface of wood/laminate makes all noise echo around.

Carpet in kitchen replace with thick lino/LVT. Noise just doesn't reverberate in the same way.

Acoustic underlay sometimes works, dependent on your joist location and subfloor.

More often than not it doesn't. Look at numerous posts on acoustic forums for evidence!!

Acoustic underlay. Carpet is minging.

Blimey, carpet in the kitchen!

I've got some sort of vinyl/lino stuff (it's nicer than it sounds - the vendor put it in so I'm not sure what it's called). It's wipe clean and relatively inexpensive.

I think you’ve answered your own question.

Again faster how would you know? No complaints to you doesn't mean the inhabitants aren't living with the consequences of your thoughtless actions. Wooden floors in flats are a nightmare, often even with acoustic underlay. That's why most leaseholds prevent them. By the way for those saying fine on a ground floor, old houses suffer from airborne noise carried through chimneys and vents etc and it can still be a huge problem. OP you're doing the right thing - good on you!