Hello,
I don't know where to post this thread so I'm trying this part of the forum.
My husband and I live in a turn-of-the-century apartment that has proven to be noisy between floors. When we moved in, the family living above us was on an overseas assignment, and their apartment was rented out for the first two years to a couple in their 40s. We heard virtually nothing from them.
Now the family above has moved back, and all of a sudden it's like having a herd of elephants living upstairs. It's so noisy that we can sometimes hear what they say. Having a sleep-in is impossible, and yes, it's generally disheartening. They walk heavily and run around quite a bit, and I can assure you, it makes noise. Pictures and lamps vibrate. We've mentioned it to them, but nothing changes. It's also difficult for them to change the way they are - speaking loudly, walking heavily, etc.
Now to my question. We've started considering if there's any method to insulate between the floors. We can't install plasterboards on the ceiling because we have stucco and don't want to remove it. We also can't ask them to insulate their floor as they have original flooring. Is there any method to insulate between the floor and ceiling? I guess the joists were previously filled, but that filling may have settled and no longer insulates at all. Can new insulation be injected - or is this an impossible dream on my part? :S
I don't know where to post this thread so I'm trying this part of the forum.
My husband and I live in a turn-of-the-century apartment that has proven to be noisy between floors. When we moved in, the family living above us was on an overseas assignment, and their apartment was rented out for the first two years to a couple in their 40s. We heard virtually nothing from them.
Now the family above has moved back, and all of a sudden it's like having a herd of elephants living upstairs. It's so noisy that we can sometimes hear what they say. Having a sleep-in is impossible, and yes, it's generally disheartening. They walk heavily and run around quite a bit, and I can assure you, it makes noise. Pictures and lamps vibrate. We've mentioned it to them, but nothing changes. It's also difficult for them to change the way they are - speaking loudly, walking heavily, etc.
Now to my question. We've started considering if there's any method to insulate between the floors. We can't install plasterboards on the ceiling because we have stucco and don't want to remove it. We also can't ask them to insulate their floor as they have original flooring. Is there any method to insulate between the floor and ceiling? I guess the joists were previously filled, but that filling may have settled and no longer insulates at all. Can new insulation be injected - or is this an impossible dream on my part? :S
I recognize that problem.
The filling in the floors consists of inorganic construction debris in the form of sand, crushed brick, and gravel, and is usually about 40-50cm thick in houses from the turn of the last century. It hasn't settled as you think, but it does a very poor job of soundproofing.
If you want to keep the stucco and the neighbor's original floors, the only way to address the insulation issue is to tear up the original floors (5.5cm thick planks fastened with 20cm long clippings with T-heads), excavate the filling, insulate, and then lay the original floor back again. You will probably need great persuasion skills to convince the neighbor of the absolute necessity of this.
Unfortunately, you'll probably have to learn to live with the problem, or alternatively, step by step, teach the neighbor a new way to walk.
The filling in the floors consists of inorganic construction debris in the form of sand, crushed brick, and gravel, and is usually about 40-50cm thick in houses from the turn of the last century. It hasn't settled as you think, but it does a very poor job of soundproofing.
If you want to keep the stucco and the neighbor's original floors, the only way to address the insulation issue is to tear up the original floors (5.5cm thick planks fastened with 20cm long clippings with T-heads), excavate the filling, insulate, and then lay the original floor back again. You will probably need great persuasion skills to convince the neighbor of the absolute necessity of this.
Unfortunately, you'll probably have to learn to live with the problem, or alternatively, step by step, teach the neighbor a new way to walk.
Oh, well, I strongly doubt that our neighbors will agree to something like what you describe.
It will probably be a matter of teaching them step by step (haha), or hoping that they get a new foreign assignment again...
Thanks for your reply!
It will probably be a matter of teaching them step by step (haha), or hoping that they get a new foreign assignment again...
Thanks for your reply!