Q. We moved into our first property, a ground floor London flat, in October last year. Until recently, we never heard anything from upstairs but our neighbours above recently installed laminate flooring. The noise transmission is a real problem. Before we make a hash of it, could you advise how to broach this sensitive subject with our neighbours who are a lovely couple only living a normal life, albeit on flooring which echoes like a cave!

A. The issue must be handled delicately as you do not want to inflame the situation nor get into a dispute with your neighbour, something which would have to be declared to any prospective buyer in the future. I would ask one of the couple down for a coffee when both are in, where it might be easier to demonstrate to them the sound transmission from their flat to yours. If you say that you can hear every detail of their conversation, this could embarrass them into keeping quieter. If the problem does not resolve itself and a rug doesn’t do any good, you could offer to have a builder (at your cost) uplift and relay their flooring over special sound insulation boards such as produced and sold by specialist acoustics firm DomesticSoundproofing.co.uk, but I fear this would be disproportionately expensive. Sadly, your situation is typical of the issues caused by the modern vogue of installing cheap, thin wooden or laminate flooring. If problems persist, your neighbours refuse and you really cannot live with the noise, you may need to, reluctantly, up the stakes by contacting your local EHO (Environmental Health Officer) and keeping a noise diary. The EHO will be able to advise if the level of noise constitutes a statutory nuisance.

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Neighbours

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