We are first time home buyers of a condo conversion in San Diego. We moved in at the end of November 2006. In April we got new upstairs neighbors. Ever since it has been hell. They are very nice people, but it sounds like they are constantly moving things and never sit still. The wife is a heavy stepper and so are their friends. We have asked them 3 times to be aware of the people below them. They apologize, it stops for a few days then starts all over again. I have recently written them a letter stating the noise continues and we need to come up with a solution. I even included a log of when we hear them. we literally hear them every minute they are home till they go to bed. They then came back to us and said that they can only tip-toe for so long and it is what it is and maybe the complex needs better insulation. I then explained to them that we only hear one person walking around not two. So clearly it is the heavy footed person and guests we hear. When the husband is home alone we don't hear anything. When my boyfriend went upstairs to talk to them again, I could barely hear him and he is 200lbs and flat footed. And because it is about every minute continuing to log it will be...... well... Not to mention what recourse do we have? Any legal help? We can't call the police on walking or constantly moving furniture. Our HOA says that anything with homeowners is between homeowners unless it is on the HOA property.. We have done it the nice way (SEVERAL TIMES), now our only option is to fight fire with fire.. I want to make noise so when they mention it to us we can make an agreement. Or say "we are simply trying to MASK the noise you are making"... Hmmm this sux! I hate to have to feel and be like this.

We are having this dilemma in real time. they just stained the 1st floor of our 2013 built home. I wanted to refresh because the kids beat them up with scooters, etc when we first moved in and also the color ambered a lot over the years and was looking VERY orange... so we said let's just do the first floor since the 2nd is in relatively good shape but does have that more warm/amber tone. So now we have a custom blend downstairs going up the front stairs and the existing Early American on White Oak on the 2nd floor. See pics... I thought I could live with it, but now I'm 2nd guessing and wondering if we need to do the 2nd floor too... thoughts, photos welcome!

I'm around, I thought this thread had died. We are going with wide plank white oak also from Carlisle. It will have a veiled white stain and clear satin finish. In fact, we just placed the order today..so I can't say how it looks but we got a great deal on it that we couldn't pass up. We will be doing the stair in the white oak as well, and I'm really happy with this plan. We considered so many different options and I got to where I was paralized and unable to make a decision. I feel that starting the new color at the stairs makes the color/species change look more intentional, if that makes sense. And going with carpet would just be too many different floors and colors in one area. This was a diy job, and it was very labor intensive, but not too challenging. Applying the tung oil on site was particularly inconvenient, luckily the white oak we are getting will come prefinished from Carlisle (it was a very customized order that a client placed and didn't purchase). I will post pics when we finish the install. Can't wait to cover up the painted plywood subfloor! kiki did you end up getting the walnut?

The guidance for floor colouring/materials is pretty easy to deal with when it comes to different levels in the home (assuming it isn't a split level). The upper level of a home is often a different material or a different colour. That is both normal (to see) and allowed (in design circles). The stairs, as you have pointed out, should match the 'main living space'. You already have that. So you are already set up to do what you want with the upper level. The LVP looks to be a 'tone-on-tone' type of colour compliment. I'm in favour of that idea. I find it looks a bit more sophisticated then a completely different colour upstairs. But I digress. You will want to be aware that LVP/LVT does NOT like underpad. That means if you want/need noise reducing underlayment (like cork or felt) then you cannot use vinyl. You just can't put a pad underneath and hope the noise goes away. Vinyl is a different beast. I'm a fan of nice laminate. It has a great deal to offer a home without deleting your entire bank account. A nice/high-end laminate will cost (about) the same as a low-mid grade vinyl ($3/sf). A high end laminate (as you know) will out perform a low or midgrade vinyl. Always. The ONLY place vinyl 'wins' is in wet/splash areas such as bathrooms, entrances and kitchens. Everything else is the domain of laminate, etc. If you are not sure of how much noise you are going to have to live with (once the upstairs is covered in vinyl) then go ahead and pull up the existing floor (is it carpet) and then live on the subfloor floor for 2x weeks. That will give you a VERY good idea how noisy vinyl can be. Sorry - long story short: your CHOICE of colour is very nice. I like it. Tone-on-tone is a great way to deal with a different level. Just be aware of the limitations of the material.