Can anyone tell me, firstly: if it is common to remove existing timber floors add sound proofing material and then relay what was there. Secondly: if this is a massive and aweful job. Thirdly: if this is going to cost me ridiculous amounts to get done. Thanks in advance. A

Its not what I would call common - and it is unlikely to work as well as you are expecting, as soundproofing is a pretty involved business if its done well.

Filling the area below the floor with rockwool or something is about as much as you can do on the cheap; after that you are looking expensive noise absorbing matting...then mounting the bearers and joists on isolation blocks and other 'remove entire floor and rebuild' options...if you are building a sound studio, this may be what you need.

How much noise are you actually trying to get rid of, and where is it coming from?

Also see here

I was told i would need to install sound proofing if i was to have floor boards as im on the 3rd floor of a unit block. So ... I guess any noise likely to be heard by the folks below ... Im not sure how much they would hear ... I originally thought rugs over the bare timber would do but Im not sure and dont want to spend money getting boards polished only to receive an order to recarpet the place ...

Best to opt for a floating floor with acoustic underlay. soundproofing a proper hardwood floor wood be very expensive.

Pulse

Hi A, THe most cost effective method is to leave the existing flooring their. Remove all carpet if any. If the floor is already a timber floor , thats ok. All you do is to install battens over it, But on the underside of the battens at every 450 centers you place a 8mm shearflex 50mmx75mm acoustic pad available from g p embelton. This will give you the sound barrier you will need to satisfy the body corp , then once the pads and battens have been installed , all you do is install over the battens the timber of your choise. or you can go for the floater with underlay as mentioned earler. Depends wether you want a perminate or tempory system

........... Why dont you do a sound check on the existing timber floor first before you do any thing. Peel back any carpet, and you go down to the unit directly below you and have a friend in shoes do some tests to see if you can hear any noise. Some tapping, some walking from room to room, and any general stuff you would do on a floor with shoes and without shoes. If you can hear any noise then do the sound proof thing, But you may find that their may be no noise coming through.

OK, cool, i will do that 1st, I have only had a small peek under the lino and the boards look really wide, about 3 normal boards wide ... but it was only a tiny section i saw. Ideally I think that might look cool so I will do the sound test first, being concrete ceilings (i know this as i have to get a cornice fixed and will have to remove half the roof $$$ouch) ... maybe not too much noise would permeate, still if there is noise, which is a fair chance, i will need a handy back up plan (i.e. new boards with acoustic underlay, as above i think) and back up funds before i start gutting the joint....

OK , you may have a win. YOU said that you have lino down, well if the down stairs are fine with no sound with lino down, then there is a fair chance that you will have no problem with polished existing boards. If you have concrete ceilings , the floor framing on top of it may be enough to dampen any sound. Do the sound check, i think you will find that you will be fine. And you may just need to get your existing floor sanded and coated.