Neighbors breaking Condo HOA rule on hard-surface flooring?
I recently purchased and moved into a ground floor condo in an upscale community. The two-story buildings are 22 years old, but appear very well maintained. Concrete block construction/stucco.

Per HOA restrictions, second floor unit owners who install hard-surface flooring in the living areas/bedrooms are required to "install a sound absorbent underlayerment of such kind and quality as to substantially reduce the transmission of noise to adjoining units, and must obtain written approval of the Board of Directors prior to making any such installation."

My upstairs neighbors are a middle aged couple, both average sized, with a medium dog. They have hard-surface flooring in most, if not all, of their unit; unsure what type.

Right away, I was shocked at the level of noise coming into my unit from above. I had previously lived in a ground floor apartment building that was over 30 years old, definitely not as nice as this community. The noise here is much, much worse.

Noises are frequent and very clearly audible:

* When they open/close their sliding glass doors, it sounds like rumbling thunder.
* Thudding footsteps with creaking (normal walking, not running)
* Dog's nails clicking.
* Other noises harder to ID - lots of thumps and bumps. Sounds like maybe: furniture being pulled across the floor, drawers/cabinets shutting hard, dog toys rolling and bouncing.
* Rarely hear voices or TV - if I do, it's very muffled and not a problem.

I've explained to my neighbors the type of noises I'm hearing, and asked them to please try to keep it down. The situation has not improved. I'm thinking the problem may not be their activities upstairs, but a failure to install the required "noise absorbent underlayment"?

At this point, I've had it. I'm seriously considering making a formal complaint to the HOA, but I'm worried that maybe my neighbors DID follow the rules, and these buildings are just not as well-constructed as they appear from the outside. I'm hesitant to create issues for others if I'm not in the right…

How likely is it that my neighbors are in compliance with the rules, and yet I am still hearing all this noise daily?

Thank you so much for any guidance!
[{"id": "fi8it6t", "text": "You shouldn't be hearing dog toenails.\n\nThey probably bought cheap snap-lock floating bullshit plastic flooring.", "replies": [{"id": "fia3dhv", "text": "Thank you for the validation. That noise in particular is the one that seems most suspicious to me, too - pretty sure the the rule  that underlayerment must \"substantially reduce the transmission of noise\"  would include blocking out the sound of dog toenails clicking on the floor :)", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fi8p3bg", "text": "&gt; How likely is it that my neighbors are in compliance with the rules, and yet I am still hearing all this noise daily? \n\nIt is super unlikely that they installed the floor without padding. Different building designs and materials contribute to noise diffusion and transfers differently. The sliding doors causing a thunder sound indicate that sound is transferring to your unit through the structure, not through the air. \n\nMost anything you do, aside from maybe offering to buy them a rug, will damage your neighbor relationship. Instead of expecting your neighbors to change, (most of the changes they can make wouldn't do much for you anyways) you should make changes on your side. Look into adding insulation in the crawlspace/gaps between your ceiling and their floor. This is common area so you'll need the Board's approval. You can also look into wall hangings and furniture that do more to absorb sound.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fi94qm2", "text": "I assure you that an underlayment isn't going to make that big of difference in noise reduction. It's more or less the overall quality (or lack-off) of the construction/insulation between floor levels.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]