One way to soundproof a ceiling

This video (from Quiet Solutions) shows one way to soundproof a ceiling. This involves removing the drywall that's already on the ceiling in a downstairs room and replacing it with soundboard, a resilient channel (to keep the new drywall from touching the ceiling joists), and a layer of soundproof QuietRock drywall.

I can't vouch for the soundboard he recommends in the video, especially because he mentions that there's wood in it (and wood is typically a sound transmitter), and I wonder if a layer of Homasote 440 would be more effective, but you get the idea: fill the hollow areas with insulation, separate the joists from the ceiling below, and use a sound absorbing material on the joists themselves.

My downstairs neighbor had something done on his ceiling below mine, but it was slightly more complicated in terms of labor, and a lot more expensive than this solution. Take a look....it shows you the basic concepts of how to keep sound from going upwards. Of course, you'd have to get cooperation from a downstairs neighbor to do it....

How to soundproof a ceiling

Comments

Blow-in cellulose and your hollow walls

It's not too late to insulate. A few years ago, most American homes had no insulation in them. When a homeowner did insulate, it was usually with fiberglass batts. Then along came some better products. One of them is blow-in cellulose insulation. Does it work? I can attest to this: YES. I've used it in walls and ceilings, and it works quite well for airborne noise. If you live in an uninsulated home and you hear your neighbors voices coming through your walls or ceilings, cellulose will dampen that noise or mute it entirely. It doesn't work for all types of noise. But it doesn't eradicate impact noise. You might still hear the sounds of someone walking across a bare hardwood floor with their shoes on, for example, or hear wall-mounted cabinets opening and closing. There are other solutions for that, and by combining different solutions you can control most structural noise and create more privacy. Low cost Blow-in insulation is inexpensive. You can hire a

Combining QuietRock and Green Glue together

Two great products work great together. As I've mentioned before, I'm experimenting around with ways to reduce some of the noise problems in my apartment on a tight budget. I think I've found the best combination to date: adding a layer of QuietRock 510 over an existing layer of gypsum drywall with a layer of Green Glue inbetween. This was sort of the best of both worlds: taking a pre-made, sound-dampened drywall and then adding it over a powerful, viscous layer of glue....onto drywall that was already on the wall studs. No demo needed. In this project, I basically added two sound-dampening layers to the original 1950s drywall (one layer in the QuietRock and the other layer created by the Green Glue) to address " flanking noise ": feet, furniture, and shoes pounding on the bare floor of my downstairs neighbors' apartment. The amount of banging, bashing, and foot-stomping sounds coming from their very "wooden" apartment has been severe, and I&

Example from Roxul: insulating a home theatre room

I liked this video from Roxul because the presenter clearly explains the difference between the two types of noise: airborne and low-frequency noise, which I will add to here. The lower frequencies travel through the wood studs. A low frequency travels from your wall surfaces, floors, and ceilings if they sit directly on those studs. Lower frequencies include bass from your stereo, impact sounds from walking or pounding, trucks driving outside, and maybe the spin cycle on a washer. Roxul insulation mitigates the other kind of noise -- airborne noise -- which can include talking and TV (without bass). This insulation product is dense and does a really great job of blocking airborne noise. However, used alone, it doesn't stop low-frequency noise. The presenter shows how to insert Roxul batts between the studs, which you've seen before. Then he installs a resilient channel to keep the drywall from touching the wood studs. The resilient channel's job is to reduce the lo

soundproofing for urban people

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