Noise from above in a newly built apartment

Hello everyone,

after having read some posts and informed myself on the internet, I would like to describe my concern or problems here and hope that one of you can give me some tips.
I live in a self-built two-family house on the ground floor; I have rented out the apartment above me. For some time now, I have noticed some more or less disturbing noises from the upper apartment, including:

- Impact noise (dull sound) when walking in almost all rooms [floor is laminate or tiles in kitchen and bathroom]
- When the windows upstairs are opened or closed, the sound comes through the wall
- Even the opening and closing of the curtains in the bedroom I can hear in the morning [the tenant mounted the curtain rods on the wall]
- Also sometimes the switching of the light switch and the opening and closing of a wardrobe drawer in the bedroom [wardrobe stands against the wall]

The laminate has integrated impact sound insulation (2mm), there was about 1 cm distance kept from the wall.

Especially in the morning in the bedroom and in the evening in the living room, these noises are very annoying and unbearable in the long run.
Do you have tips
a.) what the cause might be or what the disturbing factors are
b.) what can be done about it?

For the impact sound, I see the options either to remove the floor upstairs and add more impact sound insulation underneath or to lower the ceiling in my ground floor. Which is more effective and still feasible?
What can be done against the sound transmission through curtain/wardrobe? (comes through the wall)

Also, when I am in the living room and bedroom, I hear the opening and closing of the entrance door in the stairwell - do you have any tips here?

I really don’t know what to do - you spend a lot of money on a new build, put a lot of time and energy in it, and then something like this...

Thank you in advance for your answers!

Best regards
mcmon

It all sounds like no attention was paid to the sound insulation between the two residential units during construction. Not only should the floor be impact sound insulated, but the screed should also be decoupled from the wall. With us, it was a blue foam that was laid all around. Then 2 mm of impact sound insulation is almost negligible, especially with laminate. I think cork flooring is better suited here.

You won't be able to do much if it shouldn't get very expensive. All of this should have been considered during the shell construction. How was it built? How long ago is it? Was anything agreed upon regarding soundproofing? Can the construction company still be held liable?

You will hardly be able to forbid your tenant from closing their curtains or operating the light switch. They will also have to continue using drawers.

What you can try: Avoid direct contact with the wall, possibly install rubber spacers. The same goes under the cabinet feet.

If someone is so sensitive to noise, I wonder why a two-family house was built...

The screed was decoupled with blue foam, and Poroton was used for construction. Of course, I cannot forbid installing light switches or anything else, that is clear - a first step is certainly to install rubber-mounted gaps to the wall and ceiling. But regardless of the price, what would the options be?
- new floor in the upper floor?
- lower the ceiling and soundproof?

Can sound transmission possibly be carried through the baseboards despite the insulation strips?

Normally, I am not sensitive to noise - I have previously lived in a multi-family house, where it was significantly quieter or not...
Thanks for your answers!

Well, if work was sloppy, just one area that was missed is enough, and you have structure-borne sound transmission. In semi-detached houses, this often happens with the staircases anchored in the wall.... that's when the sound insulation between the houses is cut back... And suddenly it sounds as if a herd of elephants is trampling through the house when the neighbor quickly stomps down the stairs.

I am not an expert, maybe you should really hire a building surveyor here. They either know what can be done or recognize the construction botch, if it can still be recognized.

Thank you very much for your reply! I will take care of finding a building surveyor or a building acoustician who can identify possible causes... in the hope that we can counteract them.