Bought a flat from hell. What now?

[LeonieLondon]

I changed name and posting here to get more advice. Sorry long post
I recently bought what I thought was my dream flat in Kensington. For the past 14 years i have worked hard and saved most of my money. finally got on a property ladder with my dp (soon to be dh). We were renting a very similar type of place for the past 3 years (a flat in a mansion block) and had a very good experience- no noise from neighbours, no disasters in the flat, no leaks, generally no problems.
Turns out my new dream flat in a ‘sought after and prestigious mansion block’ has got zero sound insulation, there are not only every day neighbour noises (tv, chatter, laughing) coming from right, left and below (we are top floor, i insisted on a top floor flat because i thought i wouldn’t hear the neighbours…)

• I can hear my neighbours boilers from every direction, imagine constant very loud amplified humming in your ear
• below neighbours are fans what seems to be drum and bass and i hear bass noise coming from their place every day
• said neighbours make my floor and walls shake when they walk- is this a structural fault? I can be sitting in my bed or on a sofa and it literally shakes
• i am pretty sure they can also hear us stomp even though we are quiet

-there is a gas meter in a cupboard of one of the bedrooms which makes a very loud ticking/clicking sound every 2 seconds, again so loud and amplified. It would be impossible to sleep there or work while heating is on or someone turns hot water on (never even noticed this when viewing, but having lived in a bedroom with a boiler cupboard in it i wouldn’t even suspect that would be a problem) I am not even THAT sensitive to noise but i feel i am spiralling into paranoia.

• the fucking helicopters?!?! There is a heliport in battersea over the other side of the river…

We are meant to be putting new floor with sound proofing but given that neighbours play drum and bass i think the sound will travel through walls and chimneys anyway?
I don’t want to be here, it’s a complete disaster. I am now paranoid about every sound and movement
Any advice please? Move? Wait? Do i even bother changing the floors, spending £15k+ on new floors only to discover no noise change?
I feel like this mansion block compared with the one i lived is so flimsy.
I feel no joy from buying anything new for the house- it shouldn’t be like this :(

Don't want to labour the point but on our current house, I did 4 internal viewings one just to sit quietly in the front room to figure out the external noise from a relatively busy road and a few other external ones during the process including knocking on the doors and going in for a cup of tea with both neighbours (we are mid-terrace Victorian). If you're staying definitely get an acoustic consultant in they will be able to make a huge difference (for a cost). But if noise is your only issue it might be worth it.

@LeonieLondon

Really don’t want this to sound snobby- a mutli bedroom house in a commuter town is no use for us- we are a couple with no children and won’t be having any. Our life and jobs are here.

Why would that be snobby? Unless you think the alternative is somehow “lesser” than your choice

OP - we live in a converted 1930s built block of flats. We often hear a neighbour's base and drum noise in our bedroom even though ceilings are concrete. We also cannot work our which neighbour it is which is hugely annoying. I do feel your pain but frankly, I would move, even with the costs incurred. Perhaps a flat may come up for sale in the block you rented in previously?

close to the river Having been brought up in Kensington I'd like to know where the river is? If your flat is in Chelsea that makes more sense. #missespointofthread

I agree with the earlier posters regarding secondary glazing. I bought a flat on a busy road. It had wooden windows and secondary glazing. The time came to replace the wooden windows with double glazing and I was surprised that the double glazing was much noisier, so I kept the secondary glazing as well and it made such a difference. Much quieter and cosier. These days there are some really nice options for properties who need secondary glazing. I hope all goes well for you.

I dont see all these comments stating whether OP is in Hammersmith ,Kensington or Worlds End (wherever that is!) are at all helpful .OP has spent a considerable sum and is not happy! I think all flats seem to have some noise issues (Remember a few years ago on Location .Kirsty couldnt believe that for a 500k flat in Brixton she could her music ,and actually stood on the table to hear the bass through the ceiling!)If you stay then these suggestions are good ,hopefully they will work for you.If you decide to move ,do your homework and spend time in the area ,visit several times for viewings ,and see if you can speak to one or two neighbours for their input . The last thing you want is to leap from frying pan into fire!

Ohmycron This is a wide forum, and I often think like having 16 million people to chat to! I have DC but as much as I love them, dont want to talk about them all the time ! Everyone is welcome on here .I often feel my friends in RL are very similar to me .Here I can chat to people from a wide range of backgrounds.No matter if child free or Mums!

World's End is in Chelsea. FWIW I was wondering where it was as I couldn't think where there would be a mansion block in Kensington near the river.

loislovesstewie Thank you .I havent heard of it before ,even though I grew up in London and thought I knew most areas !

I used to go to school close to Worlds End. Deffo Chelsea and near the river. Wonder what the OP ended up doing?

Chelsea - the cluster of mansion blocks near the Old Church

Hi LeonieLondon,

I recently bought a mansion block and paid a ton for soundproofing my ceiling throughout my property. I'm sure I can give some tips. I've been there:

1. If you decide to soundproof your flat, make sure you include all extras that soundproofing companies offer. In practice this means, get all soundproofing layers, pay the most, get the maximum weight etc. You'll be disappointed if you don't go all in. If you do it, do it right, you want the best solution or you will ask forever how it would have been if you paid more ...

2. Don't focus too much on decibel values advertised by the soundproofing companies. The reason why point 1 is so important is because you don't only want to cancel out low frequencies or high frequencies. You need all layers to deal with all frequencies. I still hear some high frequencies which is a bit annoying.

3. Know your building structure and speak to various soundproofing companies! You can pay a fortune on soundproofing a ceiling, but if the sound is actual flanking sound which travels through the walls, then you don't get great results. My mansion blocks is a cement + steel constructions. They "should" have already good soundproofing because of the mass for airborne noise. I definitely have flanking noise through the walls! I wish I had known this and would have tried soundproofing the walls rather than the ceiling first.

Try it out in one room first before committing to more! Ideally you soundproof floor and walls together if possible. It's messy but if its your dream home long term, I'd do it. You are lucky to be on top floor without neighbours on top.