Since my ceiling was put in I can hear upstairs. Has my builder messed up?

Hi there, unfortunately new ceiling are less sound proofing , Lath and plaster ceilings are superior sound proofing when coated with thick lime plaster. It's very difficult to block foot noise , a dense insulation could have been used, or a thicker underlay on the floor above . Some times a false lower ceiling so no impact and extra dead space can help. Ideally though , Depending on how bad the ceiling was, you could have overboarded the lath and plaster , just meaning to plaster board and fix with longer screws. Hope this is somewhat help full

It sounds like your builder could have used a standard plasterboard, it would have been advisable to use Gyproc Soundblock, slightly more expensive but it does what it says on the tin, the high volumes of noise experienced in many areas today, you may sometimes require a board that delivers exceptionally high levels of sound insulation. Gyproc Soundbloc high mass core gives the board vastly superior protection from the effects of noise. It is easy to install and has a good impact resistance. You will experience the noise more now as it sounds like the old ceiling was a lath plaster. Apart from reducing the risk of cracking, lath-and-plaster is superior to plasterboard for its sound-proofing properties. Traditional lime plaster is much denser than the gypsum from which plasterboard is made, and this helps absorb low-frequency sound. Also, the way the plaster oozes between the laths leaves an irregular surface which cuts down reverberation and echo, similar to the "egg box" acoustic lining materials used in recording studios. Hope this explains a little bit for you......

He would of removed the old Lathe & Plaster, With regards to what he replaced it with, He replaced it correctly by the sounds of things, unless you instructed him to reduce the sound from upstairs, then some form of acoustic barrier and double boarding & skimmed

Hi it seems your builder only used one layer of plasterboard instead of two sheets that are requiresd and used no fiberglass insulation between the joists.so all your got is a open space between your ceiling and there floor . I hope this makes sense Paul at totalplastering

Hello, The builder that done this work for you had removed lantern plaster made up of horse hair and lime plaster the batten strips that you saw was the way they held the mix to the ceiling before painting the ceiling. and when you take this down it makes a lot of mess and loads come from a small area. he would have taken the battens off and re-placed 12/inch plaster board to the area and fixed to the joist, then plastered the board. but to help sound proof he could have used lagging as you would have in the attic. but you can still sound proof the ceiling to stop the noise to a good level if you wanted to by? Should you wish to have this done contact me ill be happy to help you.

did he put any insulation between the joists before plasterboarding the ceiling