My wife and I have moved into an apartment in a newly constructed condominium building. Above our apartment, there is another apartment (the top one in the building) that has a large terrace extending over about half of our apartment and about 1/3 over the apartment next to ours. On the terrace, which has decking on the floor, the apartment occupant has placed about twenty large, heavy flower pots and some other heavy garden furniture. There are no concrete floors between the levels. When activities occur on the terrace, it resonates dully through our ceiling, and every footstep also thuds dully, probably amplified by the deck flooring on the terrace. We find it strange that a "garden terrace" with wooden decking can be located above rooms in the underlying apartments, and my question is whether there are specific building codes regarding, for example, sound insulation when a building with such a layout is constructed, and if so, what these building codes dictate. The question does not concern what level of disturbances is generally reasonable in multi-family buildings.
If this is a cooperative housing association, where you are co-owners, you might be able to communicate your issues to the association's board.
And then bring up the issues of noise sensitivity as a question at the next annual meeting.
Perhaps it is easy to isolate footstep sounds etc. from the terrace’s wooden decking down to you by placing the wooden joists on some kind of rubber underlays.
And then bring up the issues of noise sensitivity as a question at the next annual meeting.
Perhaps it is easy to isolate footstep sounds etc. from the terrace’s wooden decking down to you by placing the wooden joists on some kind of rubber underlays.