Sound reaches a flat through the air, through impacts on floors and through the building’s structure. A renovation can improve things with independent linings on party walls, suspended ceilings with absorbent infill, resilient layers under new floors and careful sealing of gaps and service penetrations. Results depend on the building, and noise travelling through the structure is hard to stop from one flat alone. Requirements for new buildings are set by the CTE noise document; how they apply to a renovation depends on its scope.
Why are some apartments so noisy?
Many blocks on the coast were built quickly, with thin brick party walls, hard floors laid directly on the slab and services running through shared shafts. Sound travels easily through such construction. Add tiled floors, which reflect rather than absorb sound, and open windows in summer, and noise becomes one of the most common complaints of apartment owners.
Before deciding on any work, it helps to understand which kind of noise you are dealing with, because each needs a different response.
How does sound get into a flat?
- Airborne noise — voices, television, music — travels through the air and passes through walls, doors and gaps.
- Impact noise — footsteps, dropped objects, furniture dragged across a floor — is generated in the slab above and radiates into the room below.
- Flanking transmission — sound that bypasses a wall or floor by travelling through connected elements such as the structure, a continuous slab or a shared service shaft.
- Service noise — waste pipes, lifts, pumps — passes through shafts and fixings.
Treating one path while another stays open gives disappointing results. That is why soundproofing is usually a combination of measures rather than a single product.
What can be done on walls?
The usual approach on a party wall is an independent lining: a metal frame set slightly away from the existing wall, filled with an absorbent mineral wool and closed with one or two layers of plasterboard. The gap and the absorbent layer reduce airborne noise passing through. The lining costs some floor space, so it is typically used on the wall that matters most, often the bedroom wall shared with a neighbour.
Sockets and switches on that wall need care: a back box cut straight through the lining creates a weak point. Gaps at the edges of the lining are sealed with flexible material rather than rigid filler.
What about footsteps from above?
Impact noise is best stopped at its source — a resilient layer under the floor of the flat above — which is not in your hands. From below, the most common measure is a suspended ceiling on resilient hangers with absorbent infill. It reduces the noise that radiates from the slab, though it will not remove it entirely, and it lowers the ceiling height somewhat.
If you are replacing your own floor, laying it on a resilient underlay reduces the impact noise you send to the flat below. That is a courtesy to your neighbours, and in some communities it is expected.
Do the rules require sound insulation in a renovation?
Requirements for protection against noise in buildings are set by the Technical Building Code’s noise document, the CTE DB-HR. The Ministry’s application guide for DB-HR includes clarifications on how its insulation requirements apply to existing buildings. Whether, and to what extent, they apply to a particular renovation depends on its scope; we have not verified a general rule for interior apartment renovations, so this point is to be verified case by case with a technician.
In practice, most owners who soundproof a flat do it because they want a quieter home, not because a rule obliges them. Our role is to build the measures properly; acoustic design for demanding cases belongs to a specialist.
Which details make the biggest difference?
- Sealing gaps around pipes and cables where they pass through walls and floors.
- Avoiding rigid connections between the new lining or ceiling and the existing structure.
- Choosing solid internal doors with seals for bedrooms.
- Insulating waste pipes where they pass through living spaces.
- Placing wardrobes and storage against noisy party walls, where the layout allows.
Window noise from the street is a separate issue. Replacing windows can help, but in an apartment block the exterior appearance is often a community matter; check before planning it.
When in the renovation should soundproofing be planned?
At the very start, together with the layout and the services. A wall lining changes room dimensions, so kitchen units and wardrobes must be drawn to the finished wall. A resilient ceiling has to leave room for lighting and any ventilation ducts, and the electrical design must place points so they do not pierce the acoustic layer carelessly. A resilient underlay under the floor changes the finished floor height, which affects door trims and thresholds.
Adding soundproofing after a renovation is possible, but it means taking down new ceilings or cutting into new finishes. Planned from the outset, it is simply part of the masonry and plasterboard stage. If a new layout is part of your plans, our layout guide explains how partitions and room positions can also help, for example by placing storage or bathrooms between bedrooms and a noisy party wall.
Should you talk to the neighbours first?
Often, yes. Noise is a shared problem, and sometimes the most effective step is on the other side of the wall or floor: a rug or an underlay in the flat above, a television moved away from a party wall. A friendly conversation costs nothing and can make your investment more effective. It also prepares the ground for the works themselves, which will be noisy for a while; under Spain’s horizontal property law you must inform the community’s representative before carrying out works in your flat in any case.
Official sources
- Código Técnico de la Edificación – Guía de aplicación del DB-HR (protección frente al ruido)
- Ley 49/1960 de Propiedad Horizontal (BOE, consolidated text)
Bauman Raymond Attila · Reforma Pisos Málaga · Avenida Antonio Belón 3, Marbella. Last reviewed: 05/11/2026.
