soundproofing for urban people

What can you hear through a "normal" wall? The average American home built after the 1940s probably uses gypsum board nailed onto wood studs over a hollow enclosure. The STC rating for that setup is 30 decibels. According to this chart , normal conversation is still audible through a 30 STC wall. That should be no surprise to some of you apartment dwellers. A single sheet of 5/8" drywall with fiberglass insulation provides an STC of about 40. You can still hear loud speech through this setup. If you use Roxul batts, you increase that STC rating to about 45. If you use a soundproof drywall (like QuietRock) and insulation, you increase the coverage to 50 STC.  Double drywall with Green Glue inbetween, plus Roxul insulation increases it to 56 STC. You can read about this at the Welk and Sons Drywall site. The cost difference is noticeable: 5/8-inch "dampened" dry wall is about $80 per sheet compared to $10, but might prevent you from having to do more s

I found a YouTube video posted by Tone N.W. and it annotates the steps he took to soundproof his bedroom ceiling after his upstairs neighbor tore out her carpeting and began walking around on bare hardwood floors above his home. As you know, hardwood floors can be your worst enemy. A hardwood floor that's nailed directly onto a subfloor and then directly on top of wood joists is like a microphone into the rest of the building, and that impact noise travels through all the framing and right into the adjacent rooms (or apartments). He said that he learned everything he needed to know from this document from The Soundproofing Company in Michigan. Here's what they did: They tore off the original drywall ceiling. It looks like a previous owner had added cross strips of wood on the joists already, and they removed those too. (If you read his notes, it sounds like he regrets the extra labor in this step.) He and his wife cut drywall and added it to the upstairs subfloor in

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

This is yet another video extolling the virtues of using Roxul "Safe and Sound" insulation.  Because Rockwool is fire-resistant, you can insulate with it up to the cans that support the recessed lighting without fear of overheating the lights (and burning out the bulbs) or igniting a spark. However, any time you open a hole in your ceiling, you invite the opportunity to transmit noise between floors. Remember: if you're going to spend money on drywall, get something like QuietRock or Supress that dampens noise. This is your one chance to get it right – don't cut corners on the materials and regret it later!

Recessed lights need to be insulated. If you cut holes in your ceiling for recessed lighting, this opens up a "window" for cold air or noise. So how can you insulate them safely? This 5-minute video from Dr. EnergySaver  is as pertinent to soundproofing as it is to thermal insulation. You have to cut holes cut in your ceiling to accommodate recessed lighting cans. If you don't have insulation in your ceiling at all, the hole makes an existing noise problem worse. If you do have insulation, you already know that you need to keep the insulation material away from the heat of the can. This video demonstrates a rockwool product that you can put over the can in order to prevent heat/electrical issues. Of course you need to have an attic or someplace where you can access the recessed can from above the ceiling, not from below. It's a great solution if it fits your space! I found these covers for $15 each at Amazon . You can subscribe to  Dr. EnergySaver 's ch