You arrive home and think"peace and quiet at last". A few seconds later, the silence is broken by loud footsteps from the flat overhead, barking dogs, banging doors or even the sound of your neighbour's TV.
Structure-borne sound, on the other hand, travels in solid bodies such as steel, concrete or wood. Typical examples are impact sounds or walls that literally vibrate when loud music is played. Structure-borne sound itself is not audible. However, it transforms into airborne sound on the surface of solid bodies, where it then becomes audible.
"Curtains in front of the window, cushions, thick carpets or upholstered furniture absorb noise," says Ines Wrusch, an interior designer in Hamburg. However, if the noise is caused by the structure of the building, tenants can do little about it. Mutual consideration and thick carpets can help muffle the sound of loud footsteps in the flat above or in the stairwell, which is often contentious among residents. But they do not solve the problem.
"The sound is then transferred to the adjacent walls and the neighbours have a problem," says Becker.