Finally Installing Soundproofing!?

1

Hello everyone! For those who are long-time posters, you may recall I’ve long had issues with noise in my shared space. I rent my basement and live upstairs with my children, who are generally well-behaved but do generate some of the typical sounds of family life and footsteps on hardwood floors. We have area rugs but they only do so much.

Now that my kids get up early for school (about six a.m.), I’ve only been hosting on the weekends to reduce the likelihood of unhappy guests. I’m considering finally adding soundproofing so I can keep my calendar open more. I know this will be a bit of a project as it may involve demoing the ceiling.

I’ve had rockwool recommended to me from a family friend who soundproofed his condo.

Has anyone soundproofed a similar space with the goal of reducing noise for occupants who heard footsteps overhead? What worked for you?

2

I had rockwool recommended for a basement space because it does well if there is any moisture. Not sure about soundproofing but it makes sense.

3

If footsteps on hardwood are your problem, you will need carpeting.

4

I believe I need to add resilient channeling between the drywall and joist to reduce vibrations from the footsteps overhead.

5

In my old house in Canada, my bedroom was right over the kitchen, and I could hear everything from down there. The floor in my bedroom was wood planks and the ceiling in the kitchen was drywall. I was thinking at one point to insulate between the joists, but my boyfriend at that time was a carpenter and told me that the wood joints would still transfer sound.

So I’m sure that insulating between the joists will help reduce the sound, but won’t eliminate it completely.

BTW, what time does school start for your kids? Getting up at 6am for school sounds awfully early.

6

The school bus comes at 7:30. The elementary schools start early here so the teens can have the later start time and sleep in.

7

I’m by no means an expert on soundproofing your home but I’m generally interested in home renovations etc so I did join some FB groups who focus on these kind of things and I can only recommend doing that.

Having said that the biggest lesson I’ve learned about issues that you are describing that only materials with high mass will reduce vibrations on a much more efficient level than other lightweight isolating materials.

Of course it depends on the floor/ceiling structure itself what types of isolation can even be installed. So this may vary greatly.

If you have a decent ceiling height in the studio below you might want to consider a false/suspended ceiling which is attached to the walls to further reduce vibrations from the floor above.

Maybe this helps. Good luck!