Browse Forums Renovation + Home Improvement 1 Mar 11, 2012 10:13 am Hi there everybody. We currently have an 1880's two-storey Victorian terrace with timber mid-floor construciton and floorboards on the upper level. After two years and three weeks of renovation madness, we have finally moved in. The terrace is not strata titled, and I purchased it 50-50 with my brother. Our family of four live downstairs, and my brother resides upstairs, and he is also renovating. He has ripped up the carpet, and now all we can hear are elephants upstairs, day and night. My brother upstairs has also complained of hearing everything we do and say downstairs. For our building permit, we had to install a fire rated ceiling throughout. We have brand new 16mm CSR Firecheck screwed into steel furring channel with two layers of R3.5 yellow batts stuffed into the shallow mid-floor cavity. The impact noise (footsteps etc) is unbearable. Would re-installing a product such as Bradford SoundScreen batts actually make a difference? I believe that carpet over an acoustic underlay will be the only option, however the owner of the property upstairs says that he is unwilling to put down carpet. HELP!!!! At the moment, we can't sleep at night for the noise of the herd of elephants, and we have reached a stalemate. My brother insists that he does not want carpet or a floating floor. We cannot bear the noise any longer, and with two young children (3yo and 1yo) we can't tolerate thundering footsteps at 1am any longer. I've been looking at the Bradford acoustic insulation page: http://bradfordinsulation.com.au/Produc ... ation.aspx On the ACOUSTIC INSULATION page, there is a table of data outlining the differences between STANDARD batts and SOUNDSCREEN plus batts. I'm not sure what "STANDARD" batts represent on this table... Carpet on particle flooring on 245mm joists at 600mm centre: Standard insulation vs SoundScreen Plus doesn't seem to be a huge difference in Sound Absorbsion and Impact performace. Any experience or advice would be VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!!! Thanks, ANDY Re: Elephants upstairs :: sound proofing a mid-floor structu 2Mar 11, 2012 4:44 pm sorry I had to laugh while reading your post, you have to love family don't you? How about you look into a sub ceiling for yourself, lined with a sound proof buffer? Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Elephants upstairs :: sound proofing a mid-floor structu 3Mar 13, 2012 8:16 am Michelle, I have definitely considered installing a sub ceiling... I could definitely see the benefits of this. I could lower the ceiling by 200mm, dynabolt it into the masonry walls therefore removing the transfer of vibrations. A new sub ceiling would go some way to stopping the elephant noises, however there is such a huge transfer of ambient / conversational noise transferring through the ceiling from downstairs to upstairs, putting down a 3mm rubber acoustic matting, underlay and carpet would fix all these problems for both parties. Anyway, in the past 96 hours, it seems as though we might have reached a compromise. Carpet upstairs seems to be the only sensible way forward, especially because this two year rebuild downstairs has finally come to an end, and my wife and two kids are just settling in after three weeks of living here. I really don't think that we could survive having the plasterers in again and having to stop the plaster, put up new cornice and paint again. The ceilings are 4020mm high which requires lots of strong young lads heaving 16mm fyrcheck up the scaffold etc. etc. etc. Re: Elephants upstairs :: sound proofing a mid-floor structu 4Mar 13, 2012 8:17 am As an addendum, this is an email I received from Bradford Insulation this morning: Thank you for your enquiry. When it refers to ‘standard’ batts, it refers to our Glasswool Gold batts. I’ve attached a copy of our Red Book which lists all our Fire and Acoustic systems. Section E of the Red Book covers all ceiling/floor applications. http://www.gyprock.com.au/downloads/dow ... d_01c5.pdf In the Red Book, you will see a section under barefloor called Ln,W+c1. This measures impact. Removing your existing Glasswool Batts and replacing with a Soundscreen batt would not make a big different. The only way to reduce impact vibration noise would be, as you say Michelle, through a sub ceiling. ANDY Re: Elephants upstairs :: sound proofing a mid-floor structu 5Mar 13, 2012 4:14 pm expensive task no doubt. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com There is no reason why building contract reconciliation cannot be done prior to handover, if the builder won't do it get someone to do it for you. Why would you pay for… 3 6690 8 4173 Hi all, I've received the unwelcome news that our certifier (BCA Certifiers) has merged into the McKenzie Group. A quick Google revealed McKenzie is the mob that… 0 4245 |