- This topic has 5 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 12 months ago by .
-
Topic
-
All,
Longtime lurker, first time poster.
We are looking to replace our badly worn ~20yr old carpet in our highrise apartment. We are considering a floating bamboo floor, however I’m very much aware of the possible noise issues.
I have found a underlay, ‘Angel Step’ which looks ok from the data sheet.
Does anyone have any real life examples of where they have sucessfully installed a floating floor and which underlay did you use / recommend.
Any help appreciated,
theyallexist.
-
Replies
-
Check your building’s by-laws for specifics. Our building has very detailed and prescriptive rules (including 11mm Regupol dense foam insulation). I didn’t agree that the by-law should be so prescriptive – better technology could come along before the ink on the by-laws was dry – but we went along with it anyway. There have been no complaints so far (about 9 months) so I’m happy.
In the absence of a by-law – and even when there is one – the only thing that matters is whether or not the noise will transmit to the units below and adjacent. When we were looking for our timber floors I was offered all sorts of magic solutions and had flooring salesmen telling me that the by-laws didn’t count because “boring old farts” on EC committees would be over-ruled by the courts.
Needless to say, we went elsewhere (Precision Flooring) to be precise and even though they were expensive, they did a great job. You may find someone who will do the job more cheaply and just as well but I would be looking for a guarantee that they would replace the floor and insulation free of charge if the EC received valid complaints that there was too much nois.
Nothing quite works quite as well as properly insulated carpet but there are some flooring systems that do the job adequately.
If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
A strata manager recently said to me that a wooden floor is just always going to be noisy, no matter what. Carpet, insulation, rugs… whatever, there is always going to be extra noise transmitted. Be it actual hoofs-on-floor or the extra echo effect produced by wooden floors. All you need is one, even slightly inconsiderate member of one household with a wooden floor, and everyone else’s life can be hell. Sad but true in my experience.
I know an architect who put a one foot layer of sand between a two level 50s apartment block of 4 Two up, two down) in Rose Bay; it hardly helped at all.
Also, don’t let anybody tell you it’s only the people underneath that it will effect. We hear the wooden floor two levels below us.
Section 117 of the NSW Strata Schemes Management Act sets a subjective standard in saying that the lot is not “to be used or enjoyed in such a manner or for such a purpose as to cause a nuisance or hazard to the occupier of any other lot”. If perceived footfall noise is accepted as a “nuisance”, then this says that the floor covering must prevent it, irrespective of the readings achieved on a decibel meter or whatever else is the favoured measuring device. This is supported by the court ruling in the case cited elsewhere in this Forum. In effect, if a person below (or anywhere else) can make a credible case that the noise is causing a nuisance, then the law is breached (unless the complainant can be shown to be a vexatious nutter). Building by-laws can reinforce the provision of the Act (the law of the land) but cannot purport to negate it. Marketers of ‘floating’ floors are fond of saying that they meet the requirements of ‘strata’, but the only requirement that counts is that set out in the Act.
For the record, I live in a top floor apartment, fully carpeted except for kitchen and bathrooms. I wouldn’t have it any other way. My 1940s childhood on the North Coast left me with a perception that wooden floors meant you couldn’t afford lino.
Is ‘vexatious nutter’ a legal term? If not, it’s time it was.
If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.