Property/DIY
Purpose built flat mid floor noise
MartinaD · 19/03/2023 12:20
We have finally found a flat we love and have put an offer in and our mortgage application has been submitted. It is in a purpose built on the mid floor from the 70s- we have neighbours upstairs and downstairs. We returned for a viewing yesterday with a builder, a Saturday morning, and we could hear child stamping upstairs. We asked the current tentante how the sound travels and they said other than the noise from upstairs it's pretty quiet. They said upstairs they have a little kid and sometimes can hear him in the night. We couldn't hear any voices or other sounds other than the child running around. The estate agent was present and we stupidly didn't ask more questions about it! Now I'm getting worried that we may be making a very expansive mistakes if we went ahead. We are also expecting a baby and our life is not going to be quiet Saturday mornings anymore so maybe we won't be that bothered as we'd have our own child making noises. We have a surveyor visiting Tuesday and we wanted to ask him to keep an ear out and maybe to pass us onto the tenants to cheekily ask them some more questions. We have emailed the estate agents with some more questions from the tenants as well about the frequency of the noise, whether it wakes them up at night etc but I doubt we'll get sufficient info from the estate agent! The tenants have lived there for 4 years, that's a good sign I guess.
I need some advice on how I can investigate the noise pollution into the day further before we commit to this flat.
user1471538283 · 19/03/2023 12:29
I honestly wouldn't if I were you. I'm currently living underneath a child who runs around the apartment all day and it's horrible. I'm in a modern soundproofed apartment.
Also as you are having your own baby soon might a ground floor be better for you? Lugging a baby, groceries, a stroller etc a couple of times a day soon gets old.
SquashPenguin · 19/03/2023 12:33
I lived on a first floor flat with a family upstairs. They drove me completely insane. I left because of the noise they made. The kid used to run up and down and up and down over and over and OVER. It used to bang on the radiators as well. The seller is never going to admit to high noise levels. I was very wary of noise made in my flat and would panic if I dropped anything in case I disturbed downstairs.
C4tastrophe · 19/03/2023 14:13
The 1970’s were not the heyday of construction.
If it’s wooden or laminate floors upstairs then you’ll hear everything.
Ask the surveyor to identify the floor construction.
Fisherstevens · 19/03/2023 15:11
You could check the lease and see if there's any mention of laminate floors etc being prohibited. Ideally you need carpets and good underlay above to muffle the sound transfer. Why don't you introduce yourself and ask the neighbours above about noise more generally - and use it as an opportunity to take a look at what flooring they have!
If you are noise sensitive then you may be best to walk away now, you already know that you can hear footfall and that there's a child upstairs. I wouldn't take the risk.
crosstalk · 19/03/2023 16:23
Yes, check the lease. If the people upstairs have installed laminate or wood floors when it's forbidden in the lease (which will also be in yours) then you can demand it's sorted out before buying and face neighbour confrontation or just leave it alone. It's not just kids - it can be loud music/tv, people scraping chairs along the floors, loud arguments.
mamaison · 19/03/2023 16:35
What if the upstairs occupants change and it’s childless people who are up late socialising and playing music while you try to get your young DC to sleep?
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.