Engineered wood flooring

[StepOne]

Hi,

We are going to put down engineered wood flooring in our living area, which is above the bedrooms in our upsidedown house!

Currently we have the original floor boards from the sixties. They are in pretty good condition but there are some area with creaks and squeaks and some bits which have been cut and lifted in the past for radiators etc.

My plan was to lay 4mm plywood over the whole area then 20mm engineered wood on top. I'm thinking that the thicker the better in terms of noise traveling to the rooms below. And that plywood screwed down at small intervals will stop the squeaks.

The builder is not impressed with this and thinks he would just fix the squeaky sections and put 14mm boards down. His main concern is that my way will cause problems with a 25mm step at all doorways ( although there are only a couple of these) and also at the top of the stairs which lead down to the bedrooms.

So my question really is - will there be any noticeable difference in noise from above between the two methods. Using 14mn boards will be cheaper but I'm happy to pay more if we get a silent floor....

Thanks
StepOne

[richlist]

Wouldn't a 25mm (1 inch) step be dangerous ?

I have 6mm waterproof ply laid in my bathrooms and that creates an awkward area to overcome with different floor coverings and doorbars at the thresholds.

Soundproofing will be virtually non existant i.e. there won't be any......unless you insulate the floor properly.

[redsturgeon]

Wouldn't a 25mm (1 inch) step be dangerous ?

I have 6mm waterproof ply laid in my bathrooms and that creates an awkward area to overcome with different floor coverings and doorbars at the thresholds.

Soundproofing will be virtually non existant i.e. there won't be any......unless you insulate the floor properly.

Correct, there will be no practical difference between the two methods in terms of sound transference.

John

[Lanark]

No amount of wood will hide the sound, so I agree with your builder fixing the squeaks should be the first step.

I have seen a couple of houses where the floor level has been raised by new flooring and it always looks terrible.

In old houses they place a layer of white ash from the fireplace underneath the floorboards for sound proofing.

[Mike88]

Let's hope you will never need to access central heating pipework beneath the new floor.

[PrincessB]

I'm thinking that the thicker the better in terms of noise traveling to the rooms below.

I would research noise deadening underlay.

As an example, there are often problems with noise transfer through stud partition walls and on one occasion I chanced across some kind of panel which was 3mm thick with a technical spec that said it would block sound as well as several inches of lead. Can't provide a link for that, I saw it years ago.

I did a search on 'ultra thin underfloor soundproofing' and one of the results was this:
https://www.noisestopsystems.co.uk/how- ... of-floors/

While the prices might be a bit alarming, the site has some useful information which might assist. Must admit that the specification sheets are a light light on how the noise reduction figures.

Some more searching turned up another company who offer more technical detail and samples:
http://www.soundservice.co.uk/quietfloor_plus.html

No affiliation to either link, just offering some options to start your own research.

B.

[csearle]

We are going to put down engineered wood flooring in our living area, which is above the bedrooms in our upsidedown house!

Let's hope you never need to gain access to the electrical wiring below this barrier.

If you do make the wiring inaccessible then at least have every last cable therein replaced before you start so that the floor won't need ripping up (alternatively the ceiling below won't need ripping down) for a very long time.

Chris

[AsleepInYorkshire]

If you're chosen method of reducing sound between the floors worked (and it won't) you would still not have dealt with the other issue connected with sound transmission in structures. Flanking sound.

The existing floor boards need to be silenced first. Obviously make sure you know where all the electric and water services are and then screw down the existing boards. Remove the service traps formed in the past and make sure they are replaced and ensure there are complete edge noggins. You could elect to lift the existing floor boards and drop a sound absorbing material in the joist voids. Expensive though.

The thickness of the new floor above the existing will make no difference to noise transmission. It's standard practice to lay a 2mm underlay below these kind of floors which reduces sound impact noise.

Sound transmission in structures is a difficult problem to resolve. It's more difficult in existing structures where flanking sound transmission will undermine efforts to remediate the problem.

AiY

[johnstevens77]

We are going to put down engineered wood flooring in our living area, which is above the bedrooms in our upsidedown house!

Let's hope you never need to gain access to the electrical wiring below this barrier.

If you do make the wiring inaccessible then at least have every last cable therein replaced before you start so that the floor won't need ripping up (alternatively the ceiling below won't need ripping down) for a very long time.

Chris

We had an engineered floor laid down on the ground floor after a loft conversion. Plumbing work downstairs involved routing an outlet for a Joule cylinder pressure release valve. This disurbed a drain pipe conection from a downstairs shower. About 3 years later, we noticed damp under the front door mat inserted into the wooden floor, initialy thought to be from faulty cavity wall filling. That was corrected but did not solve the problem which was getting worse, I then discovered a puddle of water on the ground in the void. The upshot was that all the downstairs floor boards, engineered wooden floors and carpets had to be replaced, the shower and bathroom rebuilt and 4 rooms redecorated. Fortunately covered by insurance but what a hassle. So if you have any work done, it is not only the electrics that you need to think about, verify the integrity of the plumbing at the same time.

john