As a licensed General Contractor doing Home Inspections in Orange County California I get some interesting work. A Newport Beach California contractor who was replacing the flooring in an expensive Newport Beach condominium called me. The new owner of a condo wanted the 80’s vintage look gone and had decided to go with the new and trendy distressed wood look. The Home Owners Association in this Newport Beach Condominium required that the new flooring be quieter than the floor he was replacing because there was a unit below.

My Home Inspection business still includes doing construction related inspections for construction defects cases and for insurance company claims involving property damage. Someone who recommended me in that network referred me this contractor to me.

I purchased an Analog Sound Level Meter that records decibels. I then went into the condo below and set my meter up in each area of the house where the flooring was to be replaced. The flooring contractor in the upper condo walked around each room while wearing leather heeled business shoes while I recorded the decibel readings with my camera.

The contractor removed a two-foot square section in each area of the upper condo where the flooring was to be replaced and laid down the proposed new flooring on the plywood floor sheeting with the sound barrier material in place. I then took decibel readings under the same conditions with the same leather heeled shoes in the condo below.

I wrote a report, which included the photo documentation of the sound levels recorded, and I included photos of the rooms, the flooring, and the db. meter and even a photo of the shoe we used. I included the weight of the contractor who wore the shoe for the test.

We submitted this report documentation on my General Contractors letterhead to the HOA. They approved the request for new flooring and the contractor completed the job. Afterwards I amended the report to include the final db. readings with the actual new flooring installed.

A few months after this work took place the flooring contractor called me again to do another condo in the same complex. He says more home owners are coming forward to repeat the process.

That’s what it’s all about – happy customers and repeat business.