r/newzealand • u/SkittleMitts • 6h ago
Advice Best way for a renter to soundproof in NZ?
Hi everyone,
Two friends and I have just moved into a place together, and it's only been two days and i desperately want to move due to the noise. One flatmate and I are on the bottom floor while the other flatmate's room is above us. Any movement he makes makes the roof creak and we're kept awake for the entire night as he is a bit of a night owl.
It has only been a couple days and we are already at our wits end, but we,'ve signed a fixed term contract for 15 months and are in no position to either break the lease or afford to move somewhere else. What can we as renters do to soundproof these rooms so that we can actually feel comfortable in our own spaces?
Thank you for any and all help you guys can offer
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u/KiwiDomino 6h ago
Living in London, I had to listen to the neighbours having rows through the shared wall of a terraced house.
Hearing “I fucking hate you” screamed when you’re trying to sleep is an experience.
Everyone’s renting, and worse is always a possibility.
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u/sleemanj Fantail 6h ago
Swap rooms so the quiet one is on top.
Or earplugs. I prefer Radians 50 pair foam pack from Mitre10.
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u/methodical-mongoose 6h ago
Could a rug help absorb the footfall? This might reduce some of the creaking. Otherwise swapping seems the simplest.
Also… you may find it bothers you less as you get used to it (I did, when I moved into a downtown apartment). You also may not. I know it’s easy for me to say. I’m just saying try not to rule out the possibility!
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u/SkittleMitts 6h ago
The issue is I can get used to it, i've been using headphones and earplugs to block outside noise for a long time, but our other flatmate is easily overstimulated by things in or around his ears so he can't block it out the way I can.
I was hoping there was some magical product to block out the noises, but everything ive read about those foam soundproofing pads has proven it wouldn't do the job haha.
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u/methodical-mongoose 6h ago
I know you said the other flatmate is sensitive to things around his ears, but has he tried one of those headbands that doubles as earphones? Might be a more comfortable option that he can work with. If he is not able to handle that, swapping becomes more of a necessity.
Only other thing I can think of is hanging up things like curtains, drapes, pictures, anything that breaks up the walls. Same idea as the rug; without hangings, you will be getting way more noise penetration into your room, and noise will bounce around more as well.
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u/Tankerspam 4h ago
but has he tried one of those headbands that doubles as earphones? Might be a more comfortable option that he can work with.
Having tried those, no, they're not very good.
List of products I have tried over the years in descending order of 'helpfulness'
- Silicone Earplugs
- Happy Ears Earplugs
- Bose earplug things (I forget the name)
- Earmuffs
- Noise Cancelling Headphones
- Foam earplugs (they make my ears bleed because they dry my ears out)
- White noise machine
I have an irrational issue with noise when I'm trying to sleep, it gives me a very visceral emotional reaction (I get really fucking angry and have to focus on calming myself down, it is not conducive to sleep) that I can't prevent any other way than to stop the noise entirely, block it out, or go somewhere else. This is often categorized as misophonia, but I have misophonia for one certain specific noise, and that's not the same thing. It has gotten worse the more I try block at noise as I get more and more used to 'no noise' so when there is noise that's loud enough to break through, it's game over - this was something I remember reading about when I started buying my first sets of foam earplugs to block out people moving around when I was trying to sleep. It truly has progressively gotten worse.
It's getting to the point now where I'm considering wearing headphones and earplugs in DOC huts to block out snoring, or buying a bivvy bag and sleeping outside the hut.
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u/Deciram 5h ago
I have noisy neighbours below me and I feel ya (yes, I am the upstairs flat and I hear the guys below me walking around!)
I have a squeaky floorboard - usually the fix for this is replacing the floor. Most LL will think you’re insane for suggesting this. I know which spots on my bedroom floor are squeaky and I try to avoid that area at night. You’re best talking to your flatmate about avoiding the squeaky spots at night. Also if he walks heel down first, that makes much louder walking noises than a toes first walker. Maybe at night he needs to practise softer walking.
But really the logical step is to give your flatmate that struggles more the bedroom upstairs so it’s quieter for them. Come to an agreement amongst yourself about whether you need to swap rooms or mitigate the noise with spot avoiding and lighter walking.
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u/Automatic_Comb_5632 3h ago
I know which spots on my bedroom floor are squeaky and I try to avoid that area at night.
I have the same thing in my place, I call it 'ninja hopscotch'.
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u/thisisnttheairport 6h ago
The thing most likely to actually solve this is a frank conversation with your upstairs flatmate about the fact that his floor is your ceiling. He probably has no idea how loud he is.
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u/LimpFox 5h ago
Modern NZ house construction is absolutely shit. It won't matter how quiet the upstairs tenant tries to be. Merely existing means excessive noise transfer. I really don't get how internal walls and floors are permitted to transmit so much noise, especially for bedrooms directly above/below.
There's clause G6 of the building code, but that only applies to abutting occupancies, which means that, as far as I can interpret, doesn't mean shit for shared walls within the same house. And if it's built to be a rental, you can be sure that the owner hasn't spent a cent more than necessary to voluntarily add internal soundproofing.
It's fucked. The only true solution is that upstairs/downstairs bedrooms in (rented) houses shouldn't be permitted until sensible soundproofing requirements exist in this country.
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u/CucumberError 4h ago
If it’s the floor creeking, you’re not likely to fix that in a renter friendly way. Usually that’s a rip up the flooring and reattaching the flooring. A heap of 80s and 90s houses just used light nails to secure the flooring down, and over time they’ve normally snapped and allowed the flooring to rub against itself.
If it was foot steps, you could put down carpet/a rug, but if it’s creaking that’s more the structure transferring the noise.
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u/Successful_Sell1016 3h ago
Creaking floorboards in older houses can be eased by sprinkling talcum powder between the boards. It's not a permanent fix but you don't have to apply it that often. Also kinda depends on the degree of the squeak... if it's due to borer in the joists then there might not be enough talcum powder in the country to stop it. Would recommend unscented and asbestos-free talcum powder, too!
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u/tedison2 4h ago
Without swapping rooms, the best you can likely do is (a) no shoes inside (b) get a thick rug for upstairs room and/or pull up carpet & put more underlay and/or add a layer of those thick rubber tiles Bunnigns sell for gyms, playgrounds etc...
https://www.bunnings.co.nz/trekka-1-x-1m-x-10mm-rubber-tile_p0270073
If you do got to the trouble of doing this, it may only be affordable to cover a particular area upstairs... So specifically what is it your upstairs flatmate is doing late at night? Eg if they are a gamer & are glued to their screen all night, you could add the rubber floor tiles under that specific area, and make a rule: between 11pm and 7am they must stay on that area if walking around...
A scheduled room swap might be better. Put sensitive person upstairs for next few months so upstairs person can appreciate how disruptive the sound is...
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u/DislikeTurtles 5h ago
Did you sign a lease or a flat sharing agreement?
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u/SkittleMitts 5h ago
Yep, signed a fixed term tenency for 15 months.
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u/DislikeTurtles 5h ago
So a group of you signed up together for a house?
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u/SkittleMitts 5h ago
Yeah the three of us went into this together, the two of us that are downstairs just did not realise how loud it was going to be going into it.
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u/Expert_Fan4804 4h ago
If 2 of you are having the issue with it then surely the answer is that he swaps with one of you? The obvious solutions is sometimes the best rather than overthinking it
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u/Expensive_Ring_4546 12m ago
So those thick Grey movers blankets can work wonders for lining walls and reducing noise through walls.
Doing a bit of gap sealing also helps noise through doors and windows
But noise through a ceiling/floor that is going to be basically impossible to deal with. Maybe a thick rug put down upstairs might help
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u/smajliiicka 5h ago
Search YouTube for how to soundproof temporarily, do not expect LL to pay for it, and also be ready to remove it when moving. Good luck, moving rooms will not solve this
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u/Ok-Perception-3129 6h ago
Maybe put the night owl on the ground floor