Laying a wooden floor in a flat raises a question nobody asks in a house: noise for the neighbour below. It is both a technical and a legal subject, and it is better dealt with before the works than after a formal complaint.
Two noises, two problems
- Impact noise — footsteps, a dropped object, a chair being pulled. It travels through the building structure down to the flat below. That is the building's concern.
- Noise inside your own room — the resonance you hear as you walk. It bothers only you, but you will hear it every day.
These two are treated differently, and a good answer to one is not necessarily good for the other.
What the building's rules say
This is the first document to consult, before choosing any product. Many building regulations — especially in renovated older blocks — contain a clause on floor coverings.
The most frequent wordings:
- An obligation to keep carpet in some older buildings. Such clauses still exist and have been upheld.
- A minimum acoustic performance, expressed in decibels of reduction.
- A general non-degradation clause: the new covering must not perform worse than the old one.
That last one is the most widespread and the most treacherous. If you remove carpet to lay a wooden floor, you almost mechanically degrade the performance — and you are in breach, even if your floor is well laid.
Ask before, not after
The sensible approach:
- Ask the managing agent for the building regulations and read the section on the use of private areas.
- If there is a restrictive clause, write to the agent describing your project and the acoustic performance planned.
- Keep the technical data sheets for the underlay and the floor. In a dispute, that is your evidence.
A neighbour who complains can bring an action, and the burden of proof falls on you.
The technical solutions
| Solution | Effect on impact noise |
|---|---|
| Floating floor + standard underlay | Weak — often insufficient |
| Floating floor + high-performance acoustic underlay | Good, the common solution |
| Glued floor on a decoupling acoustic membrane | Very good, and removes resonance in the room |
| Floating screed on insulation | The best performing, but heavy works |
Look for the impact sound reduction figure — often written ΔLw and given in dB — on the product data sheet. The higher, the better. A value of 19 to 22 dB is a common order of magnitude for an acoustic underlay.
The floating floor trap
A floating installation can be excellent for the neighbour below and unpleasant for you: the underlay absorbs downward transmission, but the void under the boards acts as a sounding box in your own room. Many people discover that knock after installation.
Gluing down onto an acoustic membrane solves both problems at once. It costs more, it needs a flat subfloor, and it is what we recommend in a flat whenever it is possible.
The habits that help, on top
- Felt pads under every chair. A chair dragged across a wooden floor is the noise neighbours report most, well ahead of footsteps.
- Rugs in the circulation areas.
- No heels in the hallway — a shoe rack by the door settles a great deal.
One point of common sense
Tell the neighbour below before the works and explain what you are doing to limit noise. It costs nothing and turns a potential conflict into a non-issue. Most neighbour disputes about wooden floors start with works discovered through the sound of a hammer.