Subjective Judgments of Footstep‐Noise Transmission through Floors

The current procedure for assessing impact transmission through floors involves comparing the spectra of transmitted noise produced by a standard tapping machine. An obvious weakness in the method is that it does not really simulate footsteps. One is more interested, however, in how well the method rank‐orders floor structures as compared with the impressions of an apartment dweller listening to his upstairs neighbor. This project was intended to provide a partial answer to this complex question. Subjective comparisons were made of the “loudnesses” of footsteps on a concrete slab floor with various added structures. Comparison with FHA ratings indicates that the ratings exaggerate the differences between floors in the most unacceptable range, but that there is a reasonable degree of correlation among the important range of floors. A variation of the FHA procedure that improves the correlation is also reported.