If you live in a flat, do you get noise from the flat downstairs?

[icecreamsea]

I live in a flat and get woken at night by footsteps and creaky floorboards whenever the person upstairs gets up to go to the loo, which happens a lot. The sleep deprivation is unbearable. I've tried all types of earplugs, and had my bedroom ceiling soundproofed, which reduced the sound but not enough for me to sleep through it. I'm wondering whether to move to a top floor flat, even though I love my flat and the location. I don't know whether it would be worth it, though - I wonder what the chances are of being woken by noise from downstairs (or from the next-door flat)?

I would imagine that in general there's less likely to be noise from downstairs than from upstairs, but it would be really good to know what people's experiences are.

Im in a top floor flat, well a masionette over 2 floors and we have a flat below us. We hear music and TV noise im afraid.

I used to be in a mid level flat - I heard the people upstairs moving around, but never the people downstairs.

I think it also depends what type of flat it is - a Victorian conversation for instance you’re more likely to hear people in other flats as they’re less soundproofed. The top floor of a purpose built block of flats should be much better.

I would say the type of flat is more important than where you’re located. Ie a Victorian house badly converted won’t be particularly sound proof.

But generally a top floor flat would probably be quieter than mid level or bottom.

I lived in a flat when I was at law school. I could hear a fair amount from downstairs, such as chairs scraping along the floor and the bed banging against the wall when they had - mercifully brief! - sex! I couldn't hear talking etc.

Top floor is quieter. We have people above and below and I sometimes hear people above. A lot depends on your neighbours and whether they put slippers on or insist on clomping around in clogs!!

We live in a top floor flat. Elderly lady downstairs is a little deaf so we can hear the phone ring and sometimes the TV if it's an action movie. But we have concrete floors so next to that we hear nothing at all.

We used to live in a ground floor flat with wooden floors( but carpeted). Yes you could hear people upstairs having a conversation or using the bathroom. for a few weeks we where trying to find this strange beeping noise in our flat, convinced it came from somewhere in our flat, turned out to be the upstairs neighbors answering machine.

If you can, try and find a purpose build flat with concrete floors. It makes a world of difference.

I've always lived on the top floor in a couple of flats and never had an issue with noise from downstairs other than the very occasional extra loud tv or music session. I think we have concrete floors though.

I live in a top floor flat that was built about ten years ago. I have no doubt that downstairs neighbours can hear us sometimes though we do try to be quiet and we have carpeted floors. But we have been able to hear every set of neighbours who have lived below us too. The flat below has wooden floors instead of carpets so the noise from children running around is really loud. We can't hear talking but can hear shouting. We can hear their music and their tv. When they slam their doors it makes things on our walls/shelves shake and makes us jump it's so loud.
That flat is currently awaiting new tenants and the silence is bliss!

We live in a top floor conversion flat and hear the odd bit of music but nothing much.

We live in an ex-council flat which seems to have been built from solid concrete. The only thing we ever hear from any direction is light switches being turned on & off

Wooden floors can be to blame for noise carrying. Our neighbours don't realise you can hear every word when it is raised voices.

I think it depends on who your neighbour is. I lived above a family with children and I could hear toddlers screeching all day and night.

Used to live in top floor flat of a 3-floor purpose built 60s block. Thick concrete everywhere.

We could hear the lunatic bitch below us who screamed at her child day and night, partied into the small hours, had 3somes etc. We could also hear the couple on the ground floor when they had people over and when they played films. We could smell our opposite neighbour's smoking when all the windows were shut.

I wouldn't ever willingly live in a flat again.

What you really need is a better building. We're in a middle flat in a 70s block and most of what we hear is either our upstairs neighbour hoovering (and it's the scraping on the floor rather than the actual hoover) and the downstairs neighbour's telly turned up too loud (she's pushing 90). I'd never live in a flat again that was built before TVs became widespread.

I’m moving from a detached house to a terrace and I’ve been worried about the noise. But I’m staying in an Airbnb flat at the moment and I hear nothing from either side but upstairs it’s like they are in my flat. All the floors are laminate though with no rugs. I hear the downstairs people talking and slamming their front door, but not walking around.

A lot depends on build quality and type and consideration of neighbours. But in general, the top floor is better as it negates the risk of someone walking around over your head at night, e.g. poor sound insulation combined with someone nighttime bathroom trips. Lack of sleep can really impact you quality of life. Living below someone with small kids running around can also be noisy.

I'm currently on the top floor, and door slamming from the residents below when the enter of leave their apartments really reverberates - I can close the door quietly, so why on earth can't they do likewise? I don't hear normal talking from below, but was woken by a blazing row in the early hours recently. I can sometimes hear talking in the flats on either side, without being able to make out the words and light switches and assorted bangs and bumps, and would certainly hear load music, shouting, etc. The same as through the party wall of a semi-detached or terrace house.

DIY in flats can really reverberate through the block.

We live in a ground floor flat. To be fair I don’t hear much from upstairs and assumed they couldn’t hear us. Until one day after we’d had a few drinks and perhaps been slightly more noisy in the bedroom than usual and heard one of the neighbours complaining about it the next day So perhaps they can hear more than I thought!

It depends on your neighbours. I'm first floor, my previous neighbours I barely ever heard, sometimes the football if it was turned up loud and they were celebrating or the drone of a washing machine but nothing that bothered me. Those neighbours moved out and I've got new ones and I can hear the parents shouting and swearing at their young children really clearly 😔 everyday which is making living here really unpleasant.

I live in a top floor flat after too many issues with noise from upstairs neighbours in previous flats.
I can hear noise from downstairs - loud conversations, doors and cupboards opening and shutting, TV, music etc. But it's just general neighbour noise, it doesn't really disturb me.

I used to when I lived in a flat, yes.could hear the TV and talking. Went and knocked on their door at 1am one night to tell them to be quiet, and they said they were just having a chat with their elderly parents! I could hear literally every sound. I used to live in a wonderful old flat though in Wimbledon and I wouldn't knowni had neighbours. Depends on the flat.

Our last place was a two level flat and we could here the flat below - music and TV from our top floor. They weren't even playing music that loud, but the sound travelled a lot!

Yep. Converted Victorian house with no soundproofing, everything carries. I recently overheard my neighbour arguing with his gf about whether he had slept with another woman or not. He said not. I had to stop myself from knocking on the floor and flagging that he'd definitely been sleeping with someone who didn't sound like her. NB I would really rather not have this level of detail about his life.

OP I would agree that top floor is better than anything else. I wear earplugs every night but I also think a good dose of tolerance is needed for what is effectively semi-communal living. My neighbours all behave pretty well but there will always be noise that carries.

I'd also agree that what the noise is really matters. My neighbour to the side has a pretty noisy six year old and sometimes it's a bit of a disturbance when I'm doing something quiet, but her noise is usually shouting with joy or singing, which is lovely really and hard to get cross about!

I rented a top floor flat (purpose built) and the sound proofing wasn't too bad compared to other flats I'd lived in. We did still get noise from downstairs though. I never spoke to the man who below but I know he liked watching Star Trek Next Generation because I could hear the theme music frequently! I'd also hear his toilet flush and front door closing.
Also lived in a maisonette and would hear everything from the people downstairs. Conversations, footsteps walking around on wood floor, tv, sex...everything!

We lived in a middle flat was constantly awoken by upstairs neighbours walking around and dropping things banging doors etc all became too much lost jobs suffered with anxiety and depression etc saved up money and moved into a top floor flat worse thing we ever did the stomping sounds travel across their floor and up through the walls echoing around the flat tried communicating with said neighbours and situation became worse and noise increased once again work is suffering had 8 days off in 2 months just as an example had 3 nights no sleep at all due to the noise and the anxiety and stress it's causing which makes you more aware I managed to get sleep at 9pm was awoken at 12am 3 hours later was unable to return to sleep was due in work at 5am but hadn't slept only the 3 hours in 3 days so phoned in work sick explaining the situation to my boss were now saving to move to private rented house accommodation but it's very costly were about 6 months away from achieving this going to be a great achievement but the main point is it all depends on the neighbours and what kind of people they are