The first thing you want to do is talk to your neighbors, here is an excellent article on the subject Noisy Nuisances: What are Your Rights? and another Nolo Law Noise FAQ. To sum this article up talk to your neighbor, write a letter to your neighbor, ask for mediation, call the police and finally sue your neighbor. You would probably like to avoid the last two solutions. However, if you would like some information on suing your neighbor, you can read these articles Hardwood Floors Incite Real Estate Riot, and Westcon.

I found it helpful to keep a noise diary of all the noise my neighbor made. I also bought a sound meter of eBay so I could measure the amount of noise they were making, this may be a little extreme. However, I wanted to make sure I was not being overly sensitive.

If your past the love thy neighbor stage you can try a white noise generator or sound conditioner. In my bedroom, I use an air cleaner, it makes plenty of white noise. I learned this trick while attending college, where I bought myself a big window fan and it drowned out everything including the fire alarm (bad).

If you can, try to tackle the noise from above. Offer your neighbor to help pay for new flooring. Of course you will want to lay down some type engineered product(s)to absorb impact noise and block airborne noise. You could try Impact Acoustical Floor Treatments, Ekasonic, Subfloor Plus Foam, Impact Line, Kinetics Sound Rated Floor System, QuietWood, QuietFoam , or Green Glue. The above products are part of a system, so read the fine print, other materials may need to be used to achieve good results. But before you start laying down underlayment, be sure to read this information from SoundProofing America Soundproofing Wood and Tile Floors, flooring information from Super Soundproofing and Dealing With Impact Noise. Also, do not forget high quality thick carpet padding.

If you can, try to tackle the noise from above. Offer your neighbor to help pay for new flooring. Of course you will want to lay down some type engineered product(s)to absorb impact noise and block airborne noise. You could try Impact Acoustical Floor Treatments, Ekasonic, Subfloor Plus Foam, Impact Line, Kinetics Sound Rated Floor System, QuietWood, QuietFoam , or Green Glue. The above products are part of a system, so read the fine print, other materials may need to be used to achieve good results. But before you start laying down underlayment, be sure to read this information from SoundProofing America Soundproofing Wood and Tile Floors, flooring information from Super Soundproofing and Dealing With Impact Noise. Also, do not forget high quality thick carpet padding.

First, some information on structure noise from the Specifications Construction Institute, Noisy Neighbors, and the Institute for Research in Construction.

1. Use Resilient Channel and MLV (Mass Loaded Vinyl). This usually requires that you have open studs. So if you already have an existing ceiling in place this may not be your best choice. More information on this type of soundproofing can be found at the following websites: SuperSoundProofing Company, and Soundproofing America.

2. Your going use Sound Clips/Isolation Mounts and in most cases they will connect to flurring channels. There are several of these types of clips on the market: Aero-Support, Super Sound Clip, and Springers and Hangers. More information on this subject can be found here: SoundProofing America, and SoundClips Vs. Resilient Channels.

3. Soundproofing an existing ceiling with mass loaded vinyl. You will want to attach
flurring strips to the existing ceiling and attach the MLV to the strips as outlined here: Mass Loaded Vinyl Installation.

4. Soundproofing an existing ceiling with mass loaded vinyl backed with foam. More info on this procedure can be found here: Decoupled Mass Loaded Vinyl for walls and ceilings.

6. You can also increase the effectiveness of any above methods by replacing the sheetrock with an engineered pre-dampened sheetrock product. You could either use QuietRock or Supress.

7. The most interesting and promising method of soundproofing your ceiling is using The Green Glue Company's Green Glue. This product is a viscoelastic dampening material, basically it can convert noise and vibration to heat. See my other posts about Green Glue and download the Pratt School of Engineering's paper of QuietRock vs Mass Loaded Vinyl. QuietRock also incorporates an viscoleastic dampening material. You can use Green Glue for existing or new ceilings. This method also requires less labor and is less expensive. Check out these articles Upgrade Existing Floors and Dealing with Impact Noise.

For some additional thoughts and info on Green Glue go here: Green Glue SoundProofing, , The Green Glue Revolution, and check out the Green Glue thread at AVS Forum sign-up required.



Technorati Tags: soundproofing, ceiling, footfall, impact noise, sound clips, mass loaded vinyl, upstairs neighbor, sound isolation clips, resilient channels, flurring, green glue

You can now buy QuietRock 500 1/2" drywall exclusively at selected Lowe's stores. The say that you can "Experience an increase in noise reduction from 25% to 65%, depending on how you use it." There is no other information provided regarding the soundproofing qualities of QuietRock 500. If you follow this link you will find that QuietSolutions does not provide acoustic tests for QuietRock 500. However, they do provide the chart that you see above.

At the price of $29.96, this is the cheapes QuitRock yet. I believe QuitRock 510 is $40 a panel. Visit QuietSolution for a list of stores that carry QuietRock 510.

A 4 x 8 sheet made from post-recycled products is placed on your existing wall and requires a minimum existing drywall that is at least 3/8 inch thick. You simply hang the product, align the seems, spackle the seams, then finish the wall.

The manufacturer claims that the dB2-4walls can reduce airborne and structural noise up to 75% between rooms. Their acoustical tests show a standard wall with wood Studs 2” x 4”, 16” on center, and with 5/8" drywall went from an STC of 34 to 39 or a reduction of 8db above 200 HZ. Keep mind that these tests are done in a laboratory, so most likely you will not be able to achieve the same results.

You might be saying that 8db is not much, but be aware that each three decibel increment affects a 50% change in sound pressure levels. Thus, a 3 dB drop reduces sound exposure by 50%, while a 6 dB drop reduces exposure by 75%. Though reducing the decibel level produced by a sound source from 80 to 77 may not seem like a major change, it would actually represent a 50% reduction in audible sound.

You can visit the manufacturers site here.

Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics plans to relocate the Green Glue Company from North Dakota to Granville, N.Y. Saint-Gobain will manufacture Green Glue, a high-performance soundproofing material for the construction market, at the company's Granville plant. Saint-Gobain acquired Green Glue in 2008 and will transfer seven jobs associated with the product line.

Acoustiblok Inc. has signed a 50-year agreement with Arabian Plastics Compounds Co. LTD to produce and market soundproofing products in Saudi Arabia and throughout the Middle East.

Called Acoustiblok Mideast, the new joint venture was two years in the making, a release said.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, but the value of it was said to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Acoustiblok, based in Tampa, manufactures soundproofing material for use new and existing commercial, residential and institutional buildings.

The initial cost of setting up production of Acoustiblok in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is about $30 million. The manufacturing facility will be in operation late this year.

When the agreement was finalized in Saudi Arabia, Acoustiblok introduced Thermablok, an insulation product launched specifically for the Arab climate and now available for use in the United States.

A leader in soundproofing solutions, Sound Isolation Company is announcing three new distribution locations in San Francisco, New York City and Boston. Sound Isolation Company can now expedite delivery of their products with local availability in these 3 major markets with this increase in distribution capacity. As a part of their strategic growth plan to increase the convenience and accessibility of their sound control products, these additions move Sound Isolation Company forward again.

"Investing in San Francisco, New York City and Boston distributors instantly expands our national presence. This puts us in a great position moving forward. Rather than pulling back and reducing our capacity in a slower economy, we have a commitment to grow and improve our services," said Jody Cook, President of Sound Isolation Company. "We are optimistic that these new locations will be immediately successful. We continue to build on our leadership position in the soundproofing industry and better fulfill builders', developers' and consumers' needs."

Sound Isolation Company's first expansion was in the Houston, Texas area in early 2005. San Francisco, added in March 2007, was an important step to cover the west coast for Sound Isolation Company and broaden their distribution reach to the Pacific Northwest region. Added next in March 2008, New York City was an immediate success, covering the entire NYC and surrounding areas. And now Boston, added in April of this year, brings the ability to quickly deliver to the greater New England area.

Since starting in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2001, Sound Isolation Company has been engaged in sound solution practices with the goal of providing products quickly; this has motivated their expansion to the four corners of the country. Along with today's announcement, Sound Isolation Company is planning their next locations in Seattle, Nashville and Chicago.

About Sound Isolation Company
Sound Isolation Company is a leader in soundproofing solutions with over a decade of industry experience. Specializing in simple, reliable products to create privacy between spaces, their projects range from multi-family construction, urban re-development to luxury home theaters and recording studios. More than just products, Sound Isolation Company provides design, education and hands-on experience on the consumer, commercial and industrial levels. Sound Isolation Company is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina with multiple distribution locations in New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Florida, Texas, Minnesota, Washington and California, as well as Toronto, Canada.