Do Ground Floor Apartments Really Need to Carpet Their Floors ?

The New York Times is an unlikely place to find an interest strata title topic discussed.

But, in this Real Estate Q&A [don’t ask me why I’m reading the NYT real estate section] I came across this interesting discussion about carpets in apartments which got me thinking about the position in Australian strata buildings.

In most strata buildings controls on floor coverings under strata laws, by laws or rules apply universally to all strata lots regardless of their location in the building or their configuration.

But, if those controls are meant to control noise transmission from hard floors [usually impact rather than airborne noise] then what’s beneath floor makes a difference.

In the NYT discussion, the questioner says that even though the building house rules require wall to wall carpeting, their ground floor apartment has always had hardwood floors, no one lives below it, and they’re aware of other uncarpeted apartments, so, why does their apartment really need carpeting?

It’s a good question that makes a lot of sense to me.

After all, noise transmission from floors is unlikely to be a problem if there’s nothing below a strata apartment, it’s a carpark or utility area or it’s part of the same lot [as in multi level apartments or townhouses].

So, maybe the controls on hard floor and floor coverings in strata buildings need to be more flexible.

You can read the Q&A here.