Soundproofing floor?

16 years ago

I just bought a condo, it used to be an apartment building until the 80's when it was converted to condos. It is a 2 floor building, my unit is on the second floor. I am lucky in the fact that there is a full block firewall that goes from the footing all the way up to the attic, this leads to good sound proofing between units. Another nice thing is that the units are separated by stairwells so any noise that escapes thru the block wall (sheetrocked on both sides) will get trapped in the stairwell and not enter the next apartment.

Other than the block firewalls and the brick outside sheathing, the rest of the building is typical wood framing with 10" floor joists. So that leaves one problem, the downstairs neighbor...

I haven't even closed on the condo yet and don't know who the neighbor is. I am a very considerate type of person, I wouldn't be able to watch TV loud or walk around at night if I knew my downstairs neighbor could hear it, it would always be on my mind. The problem here is that I like my big screen TV and killer surround sound system.

So my question is about floor sound proofing. How does one limit the sound that is transmitted thru the floor of a wood framed building? I assume my building has the typical sheetrock (it's actually plasterboard) underneath and 3/4" plywood on top of the joists with insulation in between. How much further can one go to limit sound travelling thru? Would another layer of plywood help? More insulation inside the floor? A different type of insulation?

How is this done? Thanks!

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Comments (8)

lucy
16 years ago
Carpetting. Anything else that you asked about would have to be answered by someone else.
ihatenoise
16 years ago
carpeting will not do much of anything.
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ihatenoise
16 years ago
Btw the way you could try quietrock.com or homasote.com
fotostat
Original Author
16 years ago
It sucks in this situation. The walls are so thick that I can't hear a thing, not one thing since I've been here. However, I can hear the downstairs neighbor walk on their hardwood floor, I can hear them talk, and I could hear the guy snore in the morning.

It's not that bad since they usually shut their TV off and go to bed around the time I am ready to go to sleep. But it's just not right, I could only imagine what they hear coming from my place.

FWIW, I have wall to wall carpeting.
fotostat
Original Author
16 years ago
Is insulation usually used between the first and second floor in a wood framed building (2"X10" floor joists)?

Would it help to pull up the carpet, wood, and then insert insulation?
lucy
16 years ago
Insulation is only ever used on outside walls or attics - there's no 'cold' to insulate against in flooring or ceilings (except on the top floor).
fotostat
Original Author
16 years ago
Insulation has sound deadening properties, no?
tangogirl
16 years ago
Try a cork underlayment with a Pergo or DuPont laminate floor with foam. DuPont Elite already has the foam attached, and it is an in-stock item at Home Depot. I just installed it in my coop in NYC because I wanted to minimize the sound to my neighbor below me in a room that I wanted to use as a work room/yoga/workout room. Prior to laying down the cork, my contractor screwed down all the squeaky boards on the existing old, oak floors. Google Pergo, DuPont Elite, and cork underlayment and you'll find useful information that may work for you.

I donÂt plan to jump around but I wanted to deaden the sound as much as possible. A sprung floor (raised and on thick pieces of foam) would be the best sound insulation, but your floor would be raised so high that most of your doors would have to be cut down to open. I wanted a sprung floor, but the doors situation was a problem and it was 2-3 times the price of the DuPont Elite laminate. I wanted to use Pergo, but couldn't find it in stock anywhere and I needed it ASAP. If you want wood, this may not be the solution for you, but laminate was fine for me as it is for one room that I intend to use as a rec/work/work-out room. Note that laminates can have a clacky sound, but the cork does deaden the sound quite a lot so I think the person below won't hear it as much.