Putting Floorboards in Apartment: Approval / Costs?

[li21]

Hi all
I was just wondering.. do we need strata approval or anything to rip out carpet in an apartment and put in wooden floorboards?

I've noticed that every apartment in our block that I have seen has carpet.. and very similar carpet.

Would putting floorboards in the whole place be a problem in terms of noise, accoustics etc when in an apartment block?

Also what are the general costs to floor a whole 2 br apartment with floorboards? Roughly/average price inc labour?

Alot more than tiling I imagine?

Cheers

 

[depreciator]

Yep, you'll probably have noise issues. Of course, there are things that can mitigate this. Floating timber would be quieter. Most people would just go ahead and do it and then ignore the problems it creates for the residents below, but that's not wise when you have to live in the same block.

Scott

 

[marg4000]

You will have to get permission from the body corporate.

When you do so, include noise abatement measures you will take. If you are on the ground floor you may not have the same problems as if your floor will be directly over someone else's home.

We replaced a carpeted hallway with tiles, and were totally shocked at how much difference there was in noise and echoing. Of course we got used to it but the initial change was significant.

Yes, you can go ahead and "just do it", but don't be surprised if you have to rip it out if someone complains and their complaint is justified. Do unto others....
Marg

 

[julie]

floorboards upstairs appalling

Hi all
I was just wondering.. do we need strata approval or anything to rip out carpet in an apartment and put in wooden floorboards?

I've noticed that every apartment in our block that I have seen has carpet.. and very similar carpet.

Would putting floorboards in the whole place be a problem in terms of noise, accoustics etc when in an apartment block?

Also what are the general costs to floor a whole 2 br apartment with floorboards? Roughly/average price inc labour?

Alot more than tiling I imagine?

Cheers

My new neighbours upstairs have just ripped up the carpet and had floorboards put down. I went to warn them that you can not put floorboards above the ground level due to noise issues. They said they had permission. I can not believe the noise - it is torture. Ever step, clunk, clunk, clunk. They seem nice people but obviously do not understand the sheer torture of living under it. I did think it was not allowed but as I am renting I have not complained and will have to move out as it is simply intolerable. Hope this helps.

 

[buzzlightyear]

My new neighbours upstairs have just ripped up the carpet and had floorboards put down. I went to warn them that you can not put floorboards above the ground level due to noise issues. They said they had permission. I can not believe the noise - it is torture. Ever step, clunk, clunk, clunk. They seem nice people but obviously do not understand the sheer torture of living under it. I did think it was not allowed but as I am renting I have not complained and will have to move out as it is simply intolerable. Hope this helps.

Julie I can only empathise. I stayed with a friend recently and she lived in a apartment complex built around 10 years ago and upstairs had put a floating floor. I was only there for a few days and it was quite infuriating. She is also renting and now had enough of the noise and is going to move!

 

[li21]

Doesnt sound good at all..

What about sound deadening? is there any sort of under-lay that would reduce noise in wooden floorboards?

 

[gecho1]

timber floors

If you direct stick timber to the existing floor the noise will travel and echo. There is not a heck of a lot you can do to minimise the noise in this situation. We have in the past run cleats on the concrete first and then laid our boards ontop so the noise wasn'ttravelling directly through the concrete, but it was a full reno and all doors needed to be modified.
A floating floor has a THIN foam layer between the floor and the concrete. this will NOT insulate downstairs against noise. t's sole purpose is to insulate YOU from any noise created when the floor moves across the concrete. If you do not put the foam down, not only do you risk moisture issues, you will also hear the grit scratching under foot-think nails down a black board.
If you really like the look of timber, you could try vinyl planking. We use this quite a bit in commrcial jobs. looks the goods, and is fairly cheap to lay.
check out this link
http://www.classicfloorcoverings.com.au/products.htm

good luck guys and hope this helps

Ade

 

[Angelissa]

We put a floating 8mm floor in our apartment not long ago. I knew I would need an acoustic underlay and found that the flooring companies I got quotes from were able to provide information on the acoustic underlay that they had available.

I went to the body corporate for permission and gave them the brand, thickness, sound deading rating from tests conducted (I can't remember what its called anymore unfortunately). They were relatively happy with the detail of information and only requested that the frequently walked on areas had rugs. I also make sure I never wear heels around the apartment as that can be loud!

 

[Ana]

You can get different types of underlay to help with the sound insulation. A lot of people also keep carpet in the bedrooms and have floating floors in the living areas and hallways.

As Angelissa mentioned you can get different thicknesses of floorboards as well (they do differ in price) and as long as you let the body corporate know it should be ok. It is a fairly common thing these days.

The last appartment we did, we used 12mm floorboards and some sound insulating underlay. We also went and let the apartments next to us and under us know that we would be doing the floors over 2 days so that they were more understanding about the working noise. After the reno we went and visited the apartment below while my partner walked and dare I say skipped above us to test it and there was minimum noise. Some of that may also depend on how thick the concrete is between floors in your building.

I hope this has helped in some way. We have a great flooring person that we use for all our renos who is really efficient, picks up all our materials and cleans up after he does the installation too. I would happily recommend him, depending on where your reno is located. He is in Melbourne, but also does some work in Queensland.

Wishing you every success,

Ana

 

[Wake]

In NSW you don't need owners corporation permission to change floor coverings, regardless of what level you live on. By-law 14 states:
(1) An owner of a lot must ensure that all floor space within the lot is covered or otherwise treated to an extent sufficient to prevent the transmission from the floor space of noise likely to disturb the peaceful enjoyment of the owner or occupier of another lot.
(2) This by-law does not apply to floor space comprising a kitchen, laundry, lavatory or bathroom.

As stated in previous posts you can now get acoustic underlay for floating floors which can help, and we recommend rugs in high traffic areas, not wearing heels and other common sense measures. However none of these things guarantee a peaceful life for your neighbours and in my experience as a strata manager, unless the unit is in a very solid old building, non carpet traffic areas in units are not a good idea.

Also, the onus is on the suffering resident to prove that sufficient steps haven't been taken to prevent noise transference - not any easy thing to do.

Wake

 

[cgw]

Also they are very cold in winter. I know people that now have mats around their bedroom floors to soak up the cold.
Noise - don't you notice when you go to a restaurant that has wooden floors u have to shout to get heard. Wait until they have a dinner party for 6, and notice the noise level of the talking?
I hate them.

 

[Whozat]

I'd say be kind to the people downstairs and don't put in hard flooring.

Whozat

 

[Oscar]

Like many have said, there are some simple measures you can take to minimize noise transfer.

I have laid floating floors in IP and have had no reported issues for 10 years. But did take certain steps -

- Notified the owners corporation in writing of my intentions
- notified the neighbors as a courtesy before the work began
- provided the owners corporation with the acoustic layer technical details and results from Australian Standard tests
- With each new tenant I "respectfully request" that they use rugs in the living room and avoid the wearing of hard soled shoes and stilletoes in the apartment.

 

[bunnywabbit]

Bumping this up.

I'm a newbie at this, and have just started my research on timber flooring. I'm planning to rip the carpet out in my apartment (on the 9th floor), and want to install floating timber flooring.

I'm just wondering, the noise issues that have been mentioned in this thread, is it due to the tenant walking around in shoes (and heavy-footed tenants)? Being an Asian, we normally go barefoot indoors. Will that help minimise the noise?

 

[li21]

Bumping this up.

I'm a newbie at this, and have just started my research on timber flooring. I'm planning to rip the carpet out in my apartment (on the 9th floor), and want to install floating timber flooring.

I'm just wondering, the noise issues that have been mentioned in this thread, is it due to the tenant walking around in shoes (and heavy-footed tenants)? Being an Asian, we normally go barefoot indoors. Will that help minimise the noise?

hey Bunnywabbit...
I ended up putting Floorboards in and biting the bullet and going with the CHEAPER underlay which is not certified to be soundproof. (thinner white stuff).

The certified underlay (thicker green stuff) cost many times this ..

But the suppliers kept telling us not to bother with it as it make no difference if you have a concrete floor. (We're top floor unit built on conrete slab)
even the suppliers are recommending we dont go with the expensive stuff ,then surely they must be telling some truth.

They said they would provide a sample of the soundproof stuff so that we could show strata thats "what we have" in case anyone complains.

Anyhow, as the boards were being done, I found out the unit was already using the non certified stuff anyway in the other parts that already had floorboards. And no one had complained for years.
The previous owners had a dog too so it would have run around and made nail noises as it moved around the unit.

We usually walk barefoot but occasionally walk through with shoes and have cats that run around too.. Never any complaints.
I think you should be right as long as you have a concrete slab

PM me if you want more info

 

[Whozat]

... I can not believe the noise - it is torture. Ever step, clunk, clunk, clunk. They seem nice people but obviously do not understand the sheer torture of living under it. I did think it was not allowed but as I am renting I have not complained and will have to move out as it is simply intolerable. Hope this helps.

Julie I can only empathise. I stayed with a friend recently and she lived in a apartment complex built around 10 years ago and upstairs had put a floating floor. I was only there for a few days and it was quite infuriating. She is also renting and now had enough of the noise and is going to move!

A friend of mine in a unit also has wooden floorboards above and finds it noisy. Not just the footsteps, but any movement of furniture too. No matter the underlay, I think floorboards are not appropriate for units.

I suggest that people are reluctant to complain so you don't learn about what they are really experiencing. Also if it is tenants below, they will move on rather than complain as in the situations above.

 

[CROMAL099]

As an owner of a ground floor unit, with an upstairs unit who installed floorboards with no mention to the body corporate, I can tell you it is a huge annoyance.

I have mentioned the floorboards at our AGM but as yet nothing has been done.

The upstairs unit is occupied by tenants who sound like elephants! (I am not kidding). Not to mention the constant banging, dropping things and god knows what else they do up there.

If you are a considerate person, think twice and do not do this to your downstairs neighbour.

 

[CROMAL099]

Also I am now looking at what I can do about the floorboard situation and the noise from the tenants.
Any information would be appreciated

 

[marg4000]

As an owner of a ground floor unit, with an upstairs unit who installed floorboards with no mention to the body corporate, I can tell you it is a huge annoyance.

I have mentioned the floorboards at our AGM but as yet nothing has been done.

The upstairs unit is occupied by tenants who sound like elephants! (I am not kidding). Not to mention the constant banging, dropping things and god knows what else they do up there.

If you are a considerate person, think twice and do not do this to your downstairs neighbour.

"Mentioning" an issue is usually not sufficient.

I suggest you immediately write a letter to the body corporate outlining your concerns and request immediate action to minimise the noise issue. Follow up every 2 or 3 weeks with another letter.

Remember, it is the squeaky wheel that gets the oil. Don't let this get put in the "too hard" basket.
Marg

 

[Wake]

You should lodge an application with the CTT for mediation yourself. The issue is noise from within one lot affecting a resident within another lot. Although the owners corporation can write to the resident of the offending unit asking that they use rugs, no shoes inside etc etc, if it has to go further it is you that will have to go to mediation to present your case and try to reach a suitable outcome.

It is not appropriate for the strata manager or representative of the executive commitee to attend on your behalf in this type of case, as it is not the common property that is involved.

Application details can be found here
http://www.cttt.nsw.gov.au/Divisions/Strata_and_community_schemes/Mediation.html

Good luck.