› Flat Chat Strata Forum › Talkin’ ’bout a renovation › Renovations are not so easy under the new laws › Current Page
Dingo – I understand and empathize with you and your point about acoustic underlay and a ground floor apartment. I too have a ground floor apartment which I have approval to renovate with a timber flooring. My scheme’s by laws are sensible. They have relaxed the flooring by-law conditions for only the ground floor apartment flooring due to there being no apartments underneath. All other apartments except ground floor apartments floors must have carpet in bedrooms and must conduct acoustic tests on their flooring.
My ceilings are ‘popcorn’ ceilings. What are yours?
Perhaps your scheme too can also see the sense in not requiring the same level of acoustic underlay for the ground floor apartments as those on the floors above the ground floor. It would be difficult for anyone to mount an argument that your flooring is causing a nuisance or is interfering unreasonably with the enjoyment of their apartment if you have no one living below you.
In your situation, if there is no by law about acoustic underlay, and the Act does not specify a particular type of acoustic underlay, then I would not feel compelled to use the ‘gold standard’ underlay. I wouldn’t use the cheapest underlay either but would use a mid priced underlay. A good acoustic underlay rather than the best acoustic underlay should suffice in your situation.
You could argue that being a ground floor apartment with no apartments underneath makes it unreasonable for you to be compelled to use ‘gold standard’ underlay.