Soundproofing ceiling

[Mia894]

To all out there. I really need some advice. Has anyone soundproofed their ceiling ? I've just moved to a beautiful one bedroom flat in north London and I have very high ceilings. I love everything about my flat apart from my upstairs neighbours stompy feet. I can hear every footstep and the floor boards creak. Their kitchen is just above my bedroom and their lounge above my lounge. They have beautiful bare floorboards that look lovely - but obv very distressing for me. They are lovely however. And yes -the lease does state that they should cover the floor with underlay and carpet- but this is not something they want to do. However they are willing to pay for half the soundproofing. We have been looking into it - and it seems independent ceilings would be the best option for me.

What I want to know is - does it really work( because it costs thousands and I will lose 6 inches off my ceiling, and does any have any recommendations of specific companies ??

Why would they only pay for half of it if they are breaching the terms of the lease? Sorry - I know that's not your question.

Or leasehold?

They are not lovely OP; they are selfish and in breach of the terms of their lease. Don't compromise your home and savings because of their self-serving ways.

Well, they can't put carpet in their kitchen for a start which is above my bedroom so I would have to do my ceiling there anyway. I could argue with them regarding the carpet issue in the lounge but I don't want to be in a dispute with my neighbours, I have to live below them! Also they love their floors , that was the reason they bought the flat.

No. They can put down vinyl. Are you scared of them?

They already have kitchen tiles- the lease only says the flat should be covered with carpet except bathroom and kitchen.

Also I was worried that if they did put carpet down - they're quite heavy footed and I'd still hear them.

so they bought the place with the lease breached?

dear oh dear.

carpet may not remove all stomping (especially if they are young/heel wearers) but it will improve it at much less cost.

They aren't lovely.

They are breaching the terms of their lease and they need to pay to get carpet and underlay fitted.

It's very expensive to properly soundproof a floor/roof. Have a good Google about he different methods.

This is the reason why I'm put off conversions.

We were the opposite - kitchen and dining room on the raised ground of our townhouse, all wooden floors / tiles. The basement flat below could hear everything.

We spent a lot of money (thousands) properly soundproofing our floor with very thick rubber mats and I think any other material the soundproofing company could throw at it.

It helped a bit, but not block all noise you any means. There was an issue with the joists that still transmitted some noise.

Soundproofing from below (ceiling) may be different but if you employ a specialist do ask them about the joists before they proceed.

Thanks for the replies so far. I've already been coming to a decision to go for this independent ceiling system for my bedroom - like I said their kitchen is above my bedroom and the noise from walking and cracking floorboards is waking me up. They cannot put carpet in their kitchen so it's the only way to proceed.

If anyone has any experience of such ceiling solutions - any advice would be appreciated!

I just can't help thinking that is it totally wrong for you to spend potentially thousands of pounds, have lots of disruption and really affect the character of your flat with a good chance it won't make a huge difference.

Where neighbours are in breach of the lease terms to hell with doing all that to be on good terms. They are the ones who should be improving the sound insulation in their flat, putting rugs or, better, carpets down. As for their kitchen - there are several other floor coverings which would be fine in there and make a big difference to you. Everything they could do will be a lot cheaper than anything you could do from beneath them.

A good neighbour is one who thinks, 'you know what, we got away with it for this long, but we really should not be risking forfeiting our lease or making our downstairs neighbour's life a misery'.

Anyway that's my view fwiw.

Hi,

I was just wondering if you ever went ahead with the soundproofing. I am in exactly the same position and just looking for lots of different reviews from people on the outcome of the work?

Any information or advise would be appreciated.

Thanks Zoe

Hi Zoe -I'm the original person who started this thread but couldn't log into my old account! I went ahead with the soundproofing and my neighbour paid for half of all the costs. The results are absolutely amazing I would say 90% reduction in noise. I was so so worried it wouldn't work but it did. I went with a company called soundproofingRUS. Hein is very knowledgable and the company we're very efficient when they did they work. Let me know if you need any more advice.

Hi Mia,
I am about to be in exactly the same position..Buying a property in NW3 and very close to exchanging but want to know how successful soundproofing is before I do anything. Would you mind if I emailed/pm you with more questions
Would be super grateful!

Hi, not sure if you’re still active on this but was wondering how well your soundproofing has been and what you had installed? I’m looking to get this installed myself due to upstairs neighbours wooden floors creaking to the point where it sounds as if they are in the same room as me.