I read an interesting article this morning:
Traffic Noise Causes Heart Attacks
Whilst traffic noise and laminate flooring impact noise are two different kinds of noise, it is interesting (and rather worrying) to note the similarities - invasive, erratic, irregular and outside the control of the person being subjected to the noise.
Also, as noted in the article, "the researchers found that there was a 40 percent higher risk of a heart attack in people exposed to traffic noise exceeding 50 decibels — a relatively quiet level of noise;" The noises that I experience from the laminate flooring above me are generally louder than the traffic noise from the busy road outside. I would love to see a study done into the actual effects of laminate flooring noise on health - a study that takes the 2005 DEFRA Study a step further than simply saying "laminate flooring creates a noise problem but all we are going to do is produce a leaflet no-one is obliged to adhere to, evern if they bother to read it."
The World Health Organisation (WHO) have produced studies on the effects of noise on health. They also raise the issue of noise creating heart attack risk ~
"Acute noise exposures activate the autonomic and hormonal systems, leading to temporary changes such as increased blood pressure, increased heart rate and vasoconstriction. After prolonged exposure, susceptible individuals in the general population may develop permanent effects, such as hypertension and ischaemic heart disease associated with exposures to high sound pressure levels (for a review see Passchier-Vermeer 1993; Berglund & Lindvall 1995). The magnitude and duration of the effects are determined in part by individual characteristics, lifestyle behaviours and environmental conditions. Sounds also evoke reflex responses, particularly when they are unfamiliar and have a sudden onset." (Section 3.4 Cardiovascular and Physiological Effects)
It is not a huge leap of the imagination to suggest that people jumping, running, thumping, banging, door slamming and dancing on laminate flooring - ie force feeding random, loud, impact noises into a neighbour's property are in fact risking their neighbour's lives.
Why is there no legislation about this type of noise?
Showing posts with label impact noise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label impact noise. Show all posts
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Friday, 16 January 2009
Removing Shoes Is Not The Answer
Many people are told to believe that removing their shoes will improve the lives of the people living under their laminate flooring. This is a fallacy and merely indicates the ineffective policies employed by local councils.
Living underneath laminate flooring is equivalent to having one's home transformed into a drum, albeit a badly played drum.
Removing shoes merely equates to swapping the wooden drumsticks for a pair of woolly timpani mallets.
The thumping and thundering impact noises merely change tone, they do not go away.
People with laminate flooring need to take full responsibility for their noise and install high grade acoustic soundproofing and ensure the flooring is installed properly (without the laminate being in contact with the walls) or not have laminate in flatted properties at all.
Living underneath laminate flooring is equivalent to having one's home transformed into a drum, albeit a badly played drum.
Removing shoes merely equates to swapping the wooden drumsticks for a pair of woolly timpani mallets.
The thumping and thundering impact noises merely change tone, they do not go away.
People with laminate flooring need to take full responsibility for their noise and install high grade acoustic soundproofing and ensure the flooring is installed properly (without the laminate being in contact with the walls) or not have laminate in flatted properties at all.
Friday, 2 January 2009
Living with laminate flooring noise affects personality
I am a different person when I spend time away from home. I can relax, I can sleep easily, I awake feeling good about the coming day. I can focus on anything I want to knowing I will not be ripped from my own thoughts by loud, harsh noises raining down from above.
Returning to my home I feel the dread closing in, as if I am walking into a prison cell. Even if the noise is not present when I enter, I know that it will come. Almost immediately I feel myself transform into another person - a person who is anxious and fearful, jumpy and depressed. It is like a light goes out inside me knowing that I have to live here until change comes.
The noise did come and it came loud. Three hours and three pairs of outdoor shoes running around all over the property upstairs. Three hours of doors slamming, furniture grinding and random thuds and bangs. It was impossible to find a place in my home, the place that is supposed to be my sanctuary from the world, to sit without noise. Loud noise.
Currently I do not have a bedroom. I sleep in whichever room I guess will have the least disturbance. I don't always guess right.
Life, like the chairs on the laminate flooring above me, grinds on.
Returning to my home I feel the dread closing in, as if I am walking into a prison cell. Even if the noise is not present when I enter, I know that it will come. Almost immediately I feel myself transform into another person - a person who is anxious and fearful, jumpy and depressed. It is like a light goes out inside me knowing that I have to live here until change comes.
The noise did come and it came loud. Three hours and three pairs of outdoor shoes running around all over the property upstairs. Three hours of doors slamming, furniture grinding and random thuds and bangs. It was impossible to find a place in my home, the place that is supposed to be my sanctuary from the world, to sit without noise. Loud noise.
Currently I do not have a bedroom. I sleep in whichever room I guess will have the least disturbance. I don't always guess right.
Life, like the chairs on the laminate flooring above me, grinds on.
Sunday, 21 December 2008
Noise Weekend
Yesterday I wanted to spend the day organising gifts, wrapping, writing cards and relaxing with my partner. We planned to do all these things and then watch a couple of classic films we rented.
The noise began - thundering, thumping, vibrations, doors slamming and people running and jumping. I could not sit in our lounge because the noise was so bad and every time I entered the room my heart rate increased and I felt stressed. It is made worse because the owner of the flooring knows that the flooring creates noise and so it seems that we are being bullied by noise. I went to the back of the apartment and I could still hear the bangs and feel the vibrations.
Eventually it got so bad that we left our home. We went to the cinema but there was nothing that we wanted to see, we have seen all the good films recently as we have been driven out most weekends. We found a quite place to eat a meal and we found ourselves killing time so that we wouldn't get home until after 9pm when the children seem to be put to bed and the noise is less than a crescendo.
Unfortunately the noise was still going on. I had nowhere to go. No matter what room I was in I was being subjected to thumping and banging and vibrations. I went to bed feeling stressed out, anxious and depressed. Doors were being slammed after 11pm.
This morning I was roused from sleep by thumping and rattling being force fed into my home and life by someone above me. Three hours later and the noise has not subsided. It is in every room. I feel hopeless and depressed. I look outside at the weather and cannot think of anywhere that I can go to escape this noise. I feel trapped.
There are people running, jumping and banging and what sounds like wrestling above my head, my lights are actually shaking and there is nothing that I can do about it.
The noise began - thundering, thumping, vibrations, doors slamming and people running and jumping. I could not sit in our lounge because the noise was so bad and every time I entered the room my heart rate increased and I felt stressed. It is made worse because the owner of the flooring knows that the flooring creates noise and so it seems that we are being bullied by noise. I went to the back of the apartment and I could still hear the bangs and feel the vibrations.
Eventually it got so bad that we left our home. We went to the cinema but there was nothing that we wanted to see, we have seen all the good films recently as we have been driven out most weekends. We found a quite place to eat a meal and we found ourselves killing time so that we wouldn't get home until after 9pm when the children seem to be put to bed and the noise is less than a crescendo.
Unfortunately the noise was still going on. I had nowhere to go. No matter what room I was in I was being subjected to thumping and banging and vibrations. I went to bed feeling stressed out, anxious and depressed. Doors were being slammed after 11pm.
This morning I was roused from sleep by thumping and rattling being force fed into my home and life by someone above me. Three hours later and the noise has not subsided. It is in every room. I feel hopeless and depressed. I look outside at the weather and cannot think of anywhere that I can go to escape this noise. I feel trapped.
There are people running, jumping and banging and what sounds like wrestling above my head, my lights are actually shaking and there is nothing that I can do about it.
Saturday, 20 December 2008
Laminate Flooring Noise Fragments Minds
Laminate flooring, by its nature, creates a singular canvas for sound. Each board is fitted to adjacent boards so closely that noise transfers without interruption from the point of impact to the outer edges of the flooring. If laminate flooring is installed throughout an apartment it is essentially a one piece sound conductor of every impact sound that takes place upon it. This means a thump in the front lounge can be heard in a back bedroom.
Living under an apartment where laminate was installed without acoustic soundproofing, where the laminate is butted right up against the skirting/walls and where the construct of the building means the upper floor and the ceiling below are one piece means that every sound is force fed into the apartment below.
There is a myth that rugs help but it is just that - a myth.
Impact noise on laminate floors is a unique way to disturb a person's life. It is not a constant noise like a television or a stereo, it is a random noise in pattern, frequency and decibels. One never knows when a footstep is going to fall or if it will be followed by running, jumping or stamping. Once the noise begins, one never knows when the noise will end. One can try to disconnect from the noise, but the longer one is subjected to these interruptions the less possible this becomes.
Living with laminate flooring noise essentially means that ones thoughts become ruptured by other people's noise. Attention to a television programme, or concentration on reading become fragmented as time goes on. In fact that is the best description one has for the longterm effect of laminate flooring impact noise on the mind - fragmented.
Living under an apartment where laminate was installed without acoustic soundproofing, where the laminate is butted right up against the skirting/walls and where the construct of the building means the upper floor and the ceiling below are one piece means that every sound is force fed into the apartment below.
There is a myth that rugs help but it is just that - a myth.
Impact noise on laminate floors is a unique way to disturb a person's life. It is not a constant noise like a television or a stereo, it is a random noise in pattern, frequency and decibels. One never knows when a footstep is going to fall or if it will be followed by running, jumping or stamping. Once the noise begins, one never knows when the noise will end. One can try to disconnect from the noise, but the longer one is subjected to these interruptions the less possible this becomes.
Living with laminate flooring noise essentially means that ones thoughts become ruptured by other people's noise. Attention to a television programme, or concentration on reading become fragmented as time goes on. In fact that is the best description one has for the longterm effect of laminate flooring impact noise on the mind - fragmented.
Thursday, 1 May 2008
Laminate Flooring Noise and Sleep Disturbance
"WHO guidelines say that for good sleep, sound level should not exceed 30 dB(A) for continuous background noise, and individual noise events exceeding 45 dB(A) should be avoided."
The DEFRA study on Laminate and Hardwood flooring says: "Impact noise from footfalls** is quite unique as the exposed dweller feels they are unable to avoid it, no matter which room they are in. Impact noise from footfall can occur at all times of the day and night dependent on the living style and sleep patterns of the upper occupants."
On the same page of the DEFRA study Table 3.1 displays the typical impact performance of floors in various dwellings. The table shows impact noise transmission of hardwood flooring ranges between 59 dB and 72 dB.
If it is the case that simple footfall transmissions at their lowest level measure 59 dB and WHO guidelines state that individual noise events exceeding 45 dB should be avoided during sleep, then it is not unreasonable to suggest that laminate flooring creates a noise problem that causes sleep disturbance.
**As stated in a previous post, footfall is only one type of impact sound experienced by those living below properties where laminate flooring has been installed.
The DEFRA study on Laminate and Hardwood flooring says: "Impact noise from footfalls** is quite unique as the exposed dweller feels they are unable to avoid it, no matter which room they are in. Impact noise from footfall can occur at all times of the day and night dependent on the living style and sleep patterns of the upper occupants."
On the same page of the DEFRA study Table 3.1 displays the typical impact performance of floors in various dwellings. The table shows impact noise transmission of hardwood flooring ranges between 59 dB and 72 dB.
If it is the case that simple footfall transmissions at their lowest level measure 59 dB and WHO guidelines state that individual noise events exceeding 45 dB should be avoided during sleep, then it is not unreasonable to suggest that laminate flooring creates a noise problem that causes sleep disturbance.
**As stated in a previous post, footfall is only one type of impact sound experienced by those living below properties where laminate flooring has been installed.
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
The Mechanism of Impact Noise and Hard Floors
In 2005 the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) commissioned Napier University to carry out a study on the noise implications of laminate and hardwood floor surfaces. This study covered many areas and will likely be referred to more than once on this blog.
Quite often it appears that the noise generated by laminate flooring is misunderstood or denied by both the owners of the flooring and the various authorities receiving complaints. The DEFRA study contains a fantastic diagram showing the sound transmission mechanisms of footfall noise. It should be noted, however, that footfall noise is not the only source of impact noise travelling through and across laminate floors. Impact noise is also caused by running and jumping, doors and cupboards closing, drawers opening and closing, light switches, plugs in sockets, vacuum cleaners, sweeping brushes, washing machine vibrations, furniture being moved, items being thrown, bounced or dropped and noise from pets.
As demonstrated by the diagram, there are three mechanisms of noise transmission that act upon the room below. Forced transmission occurs at the point of impact and directly transmits the impact noise through the floor into the dwelling below. Flanking transmission also occurs, best described as the impact noise travelling across the laminate flooring and transmitting sound to the adjacent walls - this noise will also travel to the rooms below. Finally, specific low frequency transmission occurs when the forced motion causes the floor to deflect and compress the air in the lower room changing the air pressure at the eardrum.
The DEFRA study suggests that impact noise "typically occurs within the range of frequencies between 40Hz to 2500Hz, although with a dominance at the 63Hz to 250Hz low frequencies." The study also showed that the installation of laminate or hardwood surfaces can increase noise transmission by up to 21decibels compared with traditional carpeting.
Whilst the main body of complaints are generated from dwellings underneath laminate flooring, there are a number of complaints from residents in adjacent flatted, terraced and semi-detached housing.
Quite often it appears that the noise generated by laminate flooring is misunderstood or denied by both the owners of the flooring and the various authorities receiving complaints. The DEFRA study contains a fantastic diagram showing the sound transmission mechanisms of footfall noise. It should be noted, however, that footfall noise is not the only source of impact noise travelling through and across laminate floors. Impact noise is also caused by running and jumping, doors and cupboards closing, drawers opening and closing, light switches, plugs in sockets, vacuum cleaners, sweeping brushes, washing machine vibrations, furniture being moved, items being thrown, bounced or dropped and noise from pets.
As demonstrated by the diagram, there are three mechanisms of noise transmission that act upon the room below. Forced transmission occurs at the point of impact and directly transmits the impact noise through the floor into the dwelling below. Flanking transmission also occurs, best described as the impact noise travelling across the laminate flooring and transmitting sound to the adjacent walls - this noise will also travel to the rooms below. Finally, specific low frequency transmission occurs when the forced motion causes the floor to deflect and compress the air in the lower room changing the air pressure at the eardrum.
The DEFRA study suggests that impact noise "typically occurs within the range of frequencies between 40Hz to 2500Hz, although with a dominance at the 63Hz to 250Hz low frequencies." The study also showed that the installation of laminate or hardwood surfaces can increase noise transmission by up to 21decibels compared with traditional carpeting.
Whilst the main body of complaints are generated from dwellings underneath laminate flooring, there are a number of complaints from residents in adjacent flatted, terraced and semi-detached housing.
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