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Contact Details

Elmbridge Borough Council
Civic Centre,
High Street,
Esher,
Surrey,
KT10 9SD
Tel: 01372 474474
|General Enquiry

Noise and Hard Floor Surfaces

Image of shoes on hard flooring Research has shown that the trend for installing hard flooring surfaces has led to an increase in noise disturbance to neighbours - particularly in apartments and flats. Such floorings include:

timber laminates
sanded floorboards
ceramic tiles.

This can lead to significant stress for affected occupants, and tension and disputes between neighbours.

I'm thinking of installing laminate flooring, what should I do?

Seek expert advice on the best resilient underlay to place beneath the floor. The underlay is there to provide sound insulation between you and your neighbours, particularly to the 'clatter, click' of impact noise. Not forgetting that the right underlay can extend the life of your floor.
Use rugs in areas of high foot traffic.
Avoid wearing shoes indoors - particularly hard soled and heeled shoes. Instead, why not wear soft soled slippers or no shoes.

My neighbour has installed laminate flooring and I'm constantly disturbed by the noise of them walking, what should I do?

Contact the |Environmental Health & Licensing Division to discuss your specific complaint in more detail.

Further information

A guide entitled |Noise control from laminated and wooden flooring is available to download from the |DEFRA website.