A high-flying London couple have lost their second legal battle over noisy wooden flooring in their upstairs neighbours' £1.1million flat.
Sergey Grazhdankin, 44, and his wife Maria failed in their High Court bid to force their neighbours to remove flooring they claimed made their lives "torture" in their West Kensington home.
The couple had previously won £16,087 in compensation when banker Medhi Guissi and his wife Meriem El Harouchi installed wooden floors in 2018.
Justice Adam Johnson rejected their latest appeal, ruling there was "no realistic prospect" of success in their argument that ongoing creaking sounds remained excessive even after carpets were installed.
The dispute began when Guissi and El Harouchi bought the flat above the Grazhdankins in 2018 and began major renovations.
The new owners replaced carpeted flooring with wooden floors, including an acoustic barrier meant to reduce noise.
Grazhdankin told the court they previously had an elderly neighbour and rarely heard noise from above.
"During the week, we are woken up daily between 5.30am and 7.30am by the noise from above," Grazhdankin said in his statement.
MORE NEIGHBOUR ROWS:
His wife claimed they could tell "not only if they're at home but also who exactly of the family is at home, which room they're in and sometimes what kind of activity they are engaged in".
The Grazhdankins complained the acoustic flooring was incorrectly installed, with screws driven through it against manufacturer instructions.
In 2023, Judge Tracey Bloom ruled in favour of the Grazhdankins at Central London County Court.
The judge found the noise after the removal of old carpets was "unbearable" and kept them awake at night.
She noted the incorrectly installed sound-restricting flooring was as useful as a "piece of plywood" laid across the floorboards.
The court awarded £16,087 in compensation for the period before new carpets were installed.
However, Judge Bloom agreed with an expert witness that ongoing creaking after carpet installation did not constitute a legal "nuisance".
Guissi and El Harouchi subsequently fitted carpets in most areas of their flat.
In the High Court appeal, Grazhdankin's barrister Mark Lorell argued there could be "no comparison" between their experience and normal house creaking.
He claimed Judge Bloom had wrongly "allowed it to stay in place" despite being "very critical" of the upstairs floor.
But Justice Johnson found the original judge had properly evaluated expert evidence about the creaking noise levels.
"The evidence before the judge included the results of testing by Mr Rogers and Mr Anderson," he said, noting that while both detected creaking, only one considered it significant.
The ruling means the upstairs neighbours can keep their wooden floors in place with the carpet covering.
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Sergey Grazhdankin, 44, and his wife Maria failed in their High Court bid to force their neighbours to remove flooring they claimed made their lives "torture" in their West Kensington home.
The couple had previously won £16,087 in compensation when banker Medhi Guissi and his wife Meriem El Harouchi installed wooden floors in 2018.
Justice Adam Johnson rejected their latest appeal, ruling there was "no realistic prospect" of success in their argument that ongoing creaking sounds remained excessive even after carpets were installed.
The dispute began when Guissi and El Harouchi bought the flat above the Grazhdankins in 2018 and began major renovations.
The new owners replaced carpeted flooring with wooden floors, including an acoustic barrier meant to reduce noise.
Grazhdankin told the court they previously had an elderly neighbour and rarely heard noise from above.
"During the week, we are woken up daily between 5.30am and 7.30am by the noise from above," Grazhdankin said in his statement.
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His wife claimed they could tell "not only if they're at home but also who exactly of the family is at home, which room they're in and sometimes what kind of activity they are engaged in".
The Grazhdankins complained the acoustic flooring was incorrectly installed, with screws driven through it against manufacturer instructions.
In 2023, Judge Tracey Bloom ruled in favour of the Grazhdankins at Central London County Court.
The judge found the noise after the removal of old carpets was "unbearable" and kept them awake at night.
She noted the incorrectly installed sound-restricting flooring was as useful as a "piece of plywood" laid across the floorboards.
The court awarded £16,087 in compensation for the period before new carpets were installed.
However, Judge Bloom agreed with an expert witness that ongoing creaking after carpet installation did not constitute a legal "nuisance".
Guissi and El Harouchi subsequently fitted carpets in most areas of their flat.
In the High Court appeal, Grazhdankin's barrister Mark Lorell argued there could be "no comparison" between their experience and normal house creaking.
He claimed Judge Bloom had wrongly "allowed it to stay in place" despite being "very critical" of the upstairs floor.
But Justice Johnson found the original judge had properly evaluated expert evidence about the creaking noise levels.
"The evidence before the judge included the results of testing by Mr Rogers and Mr Anderson," he said, noting that while both detected creaking, only one considered it significant.
The ruling means the upstairs neighbours can keep their wooden floors in place with the carpet covering.
Find Out More...