---
title: "Floor-noise finder"
description: "Describe footsteps, hollow sound, creaks or voices and find your next checks. Separate the noise problem before choosing flooring or starting a complaint."
canonical: "https://monkeyfloors.com/tools/floor-noise-finder"
language: "en-AU"
---

Tool

# Floor-noise finder

Describe the sound, where it seems to start and what you want to do next.

## Start with the sound

Record what you hear, where you hear it and what activity appears to cause it. Footsteps call for impact-noise questions; voices and music call for airborne-sound questions. Creaks and hollow sound in your own room need an installation assessment.

A description cannot identify the sound path or choose a treatment. Read the [soundproof flooring guide](https://monkeyfloors.com/soundproof-flooring) or use the [noise complaint steps](https://monkeyfloors.com/tools/noise-complaint-steps) to prepare a discussion.

Use this guidance to prepare an inspection or conversation. An acoustic assessment may be needed to identify the sound path.

## How this tool works

Your answers select guidance about impact sound, airborne sound or an installation inspection, followed by practical next steps.

The distinctions draw on the ABCB sound insulation handbook, AAAC guidance and ASTM field-test scope. The tool does not use a microphone, measure noise or diagnose a building.

### Sources

1.  [ABCB, Sound Transmission and Insulation in Buildings Handbook (2022 NCC)](https://ncc.abcb.gov.au/sites/default/files/resources/2023/Sound%20Transmission%20and%20Insulation%20in%20Buildings%20handbook%202022.pdf)
2.  [AAAC, Explanatory notes regarding the impact sound insulation rating, Version 2.0 (May 2023)](https://www.aaac.org.au/resources/Documents/Public/AAAC%20Guideline%20for%20Apartment%20and%20Townhouse%20Acoustic%20Rating%20-%20Explanatory%20Note%20V2.0.pdf)
3.  [ASTM E1007-25, field impact sound transmission](https://store.astm.org/e1007-25.html)

## Questions, answered

### Can this tell me which underlay will fix the noise?

No. A sound description cannot establish the building construction, sound path or a suitable floor assembly. The result helps you ask the right questions.

### Can a sound rating explain a squeak?

A tapping-machine impact rating does not adequately evaluate the creaks or booms that human footsteps can excite. An installation inspection is a separate next step.

### Does the tool record sound?

No. It uses only the answers you select and runs in your browser. It does not request microphone access or send your answers to Monkey Floors.

## Goes well with

Guide

### [Soundproof flooring: a quieter home, from the floor up](https://monkeyfloors.com/soundproof-flooring)

Understand impact and airborne noise, compare evidence for flooring and underlay, and plan the right next step for a quieter Australian home.

Open

Tool

### [Test report reader](https://monkeyfloors.com/tools/test-report-reader)

Type in the figures from a flooring or underlay test report. See what each one measures, lab or field, and whether it can be compared with your by-law.

Open

Tool

### [Noise complaint steps](https://monkeyfloors.com/tools/noise-complaint-steps)

The sourced steps for a hard-floor noise complaint in NSW, Queensland and Victoria, with timelines and the evidence to gather.

Open