Couple transform a noisy London home

Silent Walking Surface prevents noise travelling through to downstairs flat

In particular, Neil noticed that in the lounge, kitchen and hallway, sound carried through from their neighbours in the basement flat below. Neil explains: “We were so excited to have finally bought our dream house and couldn’t wait to move in. It was on our first night that we realised how much noise we could hear from the flat below. We immediately felt very conscious of not only hearing our neighbours but how much they could hear us – we felt like we were treading on eggshells. We started looking into sound solutions straight away and that’s when we came across British Gypsum’s Silent Walking Surface.

The installation saw the existing flooring lifted up and skirting boards removed. 100mm of Isover acoustic insulation was then placed between the joists to insulate the floor cavity. Gypframe floor channels were laid over floor joists and lined with 19mm Gyproc Plank, to add mass to the walking surface. The original floor surface was then re-laid. The couple found the installation extremely easy and quick with minimal disruption to them.

Neil says: “We couldn’t believe how fast the installer completed the job. We were advised it would only take a few days, which was a huge surprise as we thought it would take at least a fortnight.”

Everything was complete in four days and we didn’t have to do anything to prep for the installation apart from move some furniture. The best thing is that the system itself doesn’t actually increase the floor level by much, only 7mm, so you can’t see a difference, but it really works. The team have been great and helped us to solve the problem we’ve had for the last couple of months.”

With Silent Walking Surface now in place, Neil has since noticed that the noise travelling through the kitchen, lounge and hallway has been completely removed and he is happy with the result.

Neil adds: “British Gypsum’s Silent Walking Surface is a great solution and has decreased the level of sound between our house and the basement flat below dramatically. We cannot hear a thing now. Since the renovation the sound issues we had no longer exist and we love being in a noise-free house. We’ve always had a really good relationship with our neighbours, they are a wonderful couple, but it’s even better now because we can’t hear them and they can’t hear us.”