Flooring options in a loft conversion

[cinnabunbun]

Is it really noisy in bedrooms below if you have something other than carpet? I'm thinking of some kind of affordable wooden flooring

yes, of course.

Thick carpet and don’t even consider anything else!

Carpet and decent underlay!

Just done ours. Defo thick carpet!

Seems pretty unanimous!

Unless it's huge and vaulted (which begs for more wood) and the floor is sound proofed and double insulated, or a seldom used guest room, another vote for thick carpet.

we Have laminate, you cant here a single footstep below!

our loft conversation was only finished in the summer. Current building regs require good heat insulation/fire barriers. We also laid thick underlay underneath.

What’s it like to walk on atm with no flooring? Might give you an inkling.

our joined on neighbours have laminate on theirs. we can hear everything

I have vinyl in our recently converted loft . It's not at all noisy. I'm very pleased I didn't go with carpet. This is so much more practical and noise has never been a problem. It's my favourite room in the house xx

Interesting to hear the positives of vinyl and laminate. Is there a particular kind of underlay to look for?

We can hear very little between our ground floor and 1st floor despite really thin carpet but nice underlay.

I really hate having carpet in my stairs as the whole hoover/corners thing makes me miserable. Also, the loft would have a temporary kitchenette in one corner for the next few years so carpet would be a bit yuck there and I wouldn't want to have to refloor the whole thing when the kitchenette is removed.

Would a large rug make any difference to noise or is it more about general acoustics than cushioning direct steps/clomping around?