Could you live in an apartment under someone with Hard wood flooring

hollydolly

hollydolly

SF VIP
Location
London England
...who have children ?...I couldn't.. and apparently it's a scourge.

This country has thousands of flats , and many people are living in just such a scenario... loud noises from above not quietend by carpet or other noise lessening materials..
Today a Millionaire is suing his neighbours due to the noise caused by only having a wood floor , and the noise this is creating from their children..


A high-flying businessman is taking his millionaire neighbours to court, claiming he is being 'tortured' by the noise of the banker's young family upstairs after they installed creaky wooden floors.

Sergey Grazhdankin and his wife Maria have lived happily in a gated art deco development in West Kensington, London, since 2011.

But the 42-year-old investment manager said their quiet life in their £1.1million three-bedroom apartment has been 'shattered' since a wealthy family moved in upstairs.

The couple say they have since been subjected to a constant assault of noise – including children playing and crying, creaking joists, footsteps and noisy conversations – from City banker Mehdi Guissi and his wife and family upstairs.

Since their arrival, the couple say they feel like they're living in a flatshare due to the wooden flooring which they claim was installed incorrectly.

Mr Grazhdankin, who runs an insurance services company, is now suing his neighbours over the alleged 'nuisance' caused by the noise in a case which has run up around £250,000 in lawyers' bills.

The insurance businessman wants his neighbours – who bought their apartment for £1.1million in 2018 – to tear up their floor and relay it correctly so an acoustic barrier limits the din.
Businessman complains millionaire neighbours are 'unbearably' noisy
 

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oldaunt said:
Why do you think I live in the woods with no neighbors? I would have to hurt someone. People have no consideration.
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Yeah, there's this concept called "consideration for others" that is seemingly missing these days from most peoples vocabulary. This is especially true when you're living in apartments (flats). Everything you do can likely be heard by your neighbors. Hell, the same is true of row houses.

Same is true of "personal freedom" these days. It now seems to be interpreted as "I get to do whatever I please, no matter how it affects the lives of others". If your personal freedoms impinge of the freedom of others, so be it. Where, instead, life is a balance. It's not really conducive to happy living, is it?

I'm sure the floor looks great - but.... something else these days, going to have a chat with your neighbor over a problem is more likely to start arguments and fights than it is to resolve anything. Sometimes I think we're doomed.
 

It depends on your upstairs neighbors. I lived in an apartment for over 20 years. I got used to the normal muffled sounds from upstairs. I guess they got used to my 600 watt stereo. But, if you have inconsiderate idiots stomping all over the place is another thing. Your neighbors can make anything a heaven or a hell.
Then I moved to the sticks-and total silence. It took me a while to get used to that. Now, whenever I hear a noise, it puts me on alert. "What was that???????" (BTW, those growling noises I heard at night were my stomach.) Living in the apt., those noises wouldn't have bothered me.
 
I've been in that situation a couple times. When me and my kids lived in a basement apartment I could hear the young couple above my bedroom at night. When I lived in the apartment I recently moved out of, the upstairs neighbor had a very active 5yr-old son, and children under 12 weren't allowed to use the playground unsupervised.

The noise was unavoidable. I didn't begrudge the young couple's secks life anymore than I did the stir-crazy 5yr-old rolling his trucks across the dining room floor and up and down the hall.

When that boy's mom came down to talk to me one evening, it was the first time she heard what I could hear from up there, and she was shocked. She apologized like a half-dozen times. I told her not to worry about it. I knew she couldn't be outside supervising him all day every day "Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat..." nor laundry, nor meal prep, nor a bath and all that.

If you live in an apartment or any adjoined residence, this is just something you have to accept. Of course, if your neighbors are pounding and stomping around just to be malicious, you don't put up with it.
 
This is one reason when I bought my condo I only looked at ones on the top floor. I also only wanted to buy one in any of the 5 buildings all built by the same builder between 1978-1982 because I knew how quiet they were because they are well built.

Plus all the rules discourage children such as no playing in our courtyard, no riding bikes, playing, etc anywhere outside on our property. The builder wrote kid unfriendly rules into all the ccrc’s. As a result it’s quiet with very few kids.
 
I think some sort of effective sound abatement should be mandatory in all multi-unit dwellings. It's most likely not used in an effort to save money but there's simply too many people that absolutely have zero concern whether their noise level is tolerable or not.
 
I lean toward end units of 4 condo buildings. That said haven't found one for sale. It seems they have better parking and more yard

going around the ends. Still they are way overpriced. Might as well live in a Motel and travel more if a Retiree is still paying the

house payments, ins and Taxes plus H2O, heat and power bills. Add upkeep and you are paying + $100 a night to live in your home

purchased for $180,000.
 
hollydolly said:
Mr Grazhdankin, who runs an insurance services company, is now suing his neighbours over the alleged 'nuisance' caused by the noise in a case which has run up around £250,000 in lawyers' bills.

The insurance businessman wants his neighbours – who bought their apartment for £1.1million in 2018 – to tear up their floor and relay it correctly so an acoustic barrier limits the din.
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Gee, he's spending so much on lawyers that I wonder if he could have successfully convinced his upstairs neighbors to replace their floor if he paid for it.

I lived under a family with a 5 yr old once, it sounded like they had an elephant, I was quite surprised when I met the elephant and it was a tiny girl. I guess young children must do a lot of jumping, leaping and bouncing. Our apartments were carpeted and that didn't seem to help at all. I was a lot less annoyed by the noise after finding out it was a child, in the words of Shakespeare "youth must be served" (I thought Erma Bombeck had tacked on 'perhaps with gravy', but chatgpt couldn't find that quote, so maybe it was a different humorous writer).

Where I live now since it is 55+ I don't have to worry about noisy kids. And the realtor told me there are several inches of concrete between the floors so that noise isn't a problem. The only time I've heard noise through the floor above me was three days of what sounded like Santa's workshop but that I imagine was them getting new flooring or carpet installed.

On the other hand, there is a guy that moved in cattycornered above me that sings opera sounding songs every evening. One of the other people said he is praying. I don't know what religion prays in Opera, but it doesn't last long and I don't notice if I'm watching TV. We can all hear him tho, so he might do it on the balcony maybe.

I can sure sympathize tho with that rich person under the noisy family. I guess there is a good reason penthouses are more expensive.
 
The place where we live has wooden stairs and wood floors and landings.

A few years ago we had new neighbours. Both in their early twenties with one kid. By the time they left, five years later, they had four kids! (Obviously needed somewhere bigger than a two-bed..)

During all that time, even though they had a rear lawn, none of the kids was ever allowed to play outside. They would spend most of the time running (stomping) all over those wood floors, making (as you can imagine)one hell of a disturbance.

Local social services didn't seem concerned about the situation at all, only asking if the parents were on drink or drugs

Thankfully the pair eventually left. Hallelujah! :rolleyes:
 
hollydolly said:
...who have children ?...I couldn't.. and apparently it's scourge.

This country has thousands of flats , and many people are living in just such a scenario... loud noises from above not quietend by carpet or other noise lessening materials..
Today a Millionaire is suing his neighbours due to the noise caused by only having a wood floor , and the noise this is creating from their children..


A high-flying businessman is taking his millionaire neighbours to court, claiming he is being 'tortured' by the noise of the banker's young family upstairs after they installed creaky wooden floors.

Sergey Grazhdankin and his wife Maria have lived happily in a gated art deco development in West Kensington, London, since 2011.

But the 42-year-old investment manager said their quiet life in their £1.1million three-bedroom apartment has been 'shattered' since a wealthy family moved in upstairs.

The couple say they have since been subjected to a constant assault of noise – including children playing and crying, creaking joists, footsteps and noisy conversations – from City banker Mehdi Guissi and his wife and family upstairs.

Since their arrival, the couple say they feel like they're living in a flatshare due to the wooden flooring which they claim was installed incorrectly.

Mr Grazhdankin, who runs an insurance services company, is now suing his neighbours over the alleged 'nuisance' caused by the noise in a case which has run up around £250,000 in lawyers' bills.

The insurance businessman wants his neighbours – who bought their apartment for £1.1million in 2018 – to tear up their floor and relay it correctly so an acoustic barrier limits the din.
Businessman complains millionaire neighbours are 'unbearably' noisy
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Wow, such a pricey flat! I would never pay that amount of money to live in a flat!
 
hollydolly said:
to tear up their floor and relay it correctly so an acoustic barrier limits the din.
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Too bad the upstairs owners couldn’t go after the company that didn’t do it properly. If the couple cheaped out my not having it done right, they deserve to be sued.

palides2021 said:
Wow, such a pricey flat! I would never pay that amount of money to live in a flat!
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Based on the prices I see on HGTV House Hunters for these fancy places in London, that’s a bargain. Think what it costs for a fancy place in NYC.
 
I can imagine adding a false ceiling with foam insulation in the room that really bugs you, say your bedroom would sure cut out a lot of the tromping. $2000 ?
 
Many seniors are wanting hard surface floors in their condos or rentals. They need easy movement of wheelchairs and rollators. I’d sure want to check what the sounds are like from above before purchasing a new place.

I know of one place in town that looks great. There’re always places for sale because of the noise issues. A newbie in town would never know this.
 
hollydolly said:
...who have children ?...I couldn't.. and apparently it's scourge.
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Oh absolutely not! I have a hard time tolerating being in a hotel room for just overnight when there are kids stomping around in the room above me. I always wonder what kind of sugary snacks they're being fed to be able to run back and forth for [what feels like] hours like that. 🥺
 
CallMeKate said:
Oh absolutely not! I have a hard time tolerating being in a hotel room for just overnight when there are kids stomping around in the room above me. I always wonder what kind of sugary snacks they're being fed to be able to run back and forth for [what feels like] hours like that. 🥺
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you and me alike...it drives me nuts in hotel room with all the furniture dragging, etc... I rarely stay in hotels for that reason.. preferring Air B&B's
 
Holly, when the trial is settled, let us know the results. Before the $250K for legal bills, I would have sucked it up and moved out.
 
As a twentysomethng in the military, learned how to sleep at all hours of the day in barracks despite others coming and going at all times of the day. Given ear plugs and noise canceling headphones, one can learn to cope with lots of different sounds and or sensual unpleasantries but there are limits. Even with earplugs, I cannot stand trying to sleep with loud snorers nearby as enough sound goes right through one's skull to annoy. Likewise would find with another hardwood floor above my residence populated by practicing tap dance enthusiast, impossible.
 
I have lived in apartments..growing up and later as a young wife.. but we always lived on the top floor. I've been in friends' homes where you can't hear the TV because the people above had their washing machine on... or friends who tell me that they can't nap during the day because upstairs dwellers dogs bark so loudly.. or are roused abruptly during a deep sleep by the barking suddenly of dogs.. or again.. someone's kids rolling wheeled toys across the floor and so on...or people dragging chairs or tables across the floor..

Not for me,

While I'm house hunting at the moment, I have considered an apartment but it has to be a top floor with a lift..
 
I once owned and lived in a 2-level condo (cute place) with paper-thin walls. You could almost hear people brushing their teeth next door. The noise from above was unbelievable. Conversations that sounded like they were in my unit .. and the racket from their washer & dryer, late at night. I had to sell, as I was getting no peace.

There is supposedly a by-law here that requires carpet or rug on a specific percentage of wood floors, I believe.
 
I'm more of a country guy, so don't think I would fare well in that situation. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind country sounds at all (Roosters, cows, and the like), but somehow living under someone's feet just doesn't suit me. I would rather live in a tent.
 

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