sound proofing the home

[bilfsr]

I have a rambler over a basement. Currently in a remolding process in the basement. Need suggestions on how to sound proof the floor upstairs/ or the ceiling down stairs, depending on how you look at it. Any how the floor joist were filled with insulation.However the noise from upstairs tranmitts very loud down stairs. Any thoughts on how to kill some of this noise would be appreited. Thanks in advance, Jeff

[Spearo]

There is a sound proof insulation for celling/floor joist (special order) and also a sound proof rigid insulation in 1/2" thick to go over the joist,special order also! You can then cover it with your 1/2" drywall for living space or 3/4" fire code for garages. Check your local code for how thick is legal.

[mackaroni]

if you install sound insulation in the ceiling prior to drywall make sure you keep it 6" back from light fixtures on each side or use an insualted housing to avoid fire /overheating issues and meet code requirments.

[timber]

rock wool insul. is the best if you can stand it. An old trick in the commercial trade is styrofoam egg cartons. And ummm I dont' think you are going to find 3/4 drywall unless they have changed something since the mexicans ran me out of business. You will find 5/8 fire though, most all counties require that on cielings now, and walls in attatched garages. But they are comming out with new stuff everyday. Call capitol bldg supply or global either one should be able to tell you what is the best on the market at the present time...

[CSLUG]

Sound travels through solid material better then air. If you wish to control the sound you need to break the transmission points. Meaning you can add all the insulation you want between the joists, but the sound isn't traveling through that dead air space.... It's traveling though the joists. The same principle as putting your ear to train tracks.

Adding mass in the form of thicker drywall without breaking the transmission path is the worst thing you could do.

[BUDC]

Would accustical tile suspended ceiling do it?? Not the cheapest answer, but it looks good and seems it would work well. The newest thing I've seen and know nothing about is application of sprayed foam. It is sprayed like paint then puffs up. I have used the canned stuff to close up around pipe and wire holes. This looks like a new use for the same thing.
From a retired Firefighter, please use something at least fire retardent.: thumbup:
budc

[TEAM BILL ME]

Well, if you are putting down new floorcovering upstairs you could use 1/4 cork under the flooring.
Alot of highrise condos in OC MD require this or other soundproofing.

[Bryansfish]

My buddy had kind of the same issue and he had these Co. come in and they sprayed it with a type of foam insulation. He said it did a pretty good job.

[Windbreaker]

When I remodeled my basement I had a serious problem with sound penetration through the floors. You could be in the basement and clearly hear a conversation from above. i researched the heck out of a way to soundproof. My house is 50 yrs. old with 1x6 subfloor layed at a 45* angle to the floor joists and oak flooring on top of that. One good way to help muffle the noise is with jute underlayment and carpeting. But I did not want carpeting because of my dogs.
There are special metal studs that attach to your ceiling joists that help break the solid transmission of noise. Your sheetrock is then attached to the stud. These studs only add 1/2" thickness to your ceiling. There is also a special sound deadening addhesive to apply when installing the sheetrock. This allows you to use less screws. The less screws, the less sound transmitting. 5/8" sheetrock is preferred.
Unfortunetly, I could not use the metal studs. My ceiling joists were layed to be flat on top and not on the bottom. So I layed 1x4" diagonal to the floor joists that allowed me to adjust and have a flat area to attach my ceiling. I layed in 10" insulation between joists. Special sound insulation is a waste as told to me by experts. I then attached 3/8" sheetrock between the 1x4s. I used the adhesive and few screws. I also caulked the edges of the sheetrock against the 1x4s. Then I installed 5/8' sheetrock on the 1x4s. The space between the two layers of sheetrock is a key to soundproofing.
I know this sounds like a lot of work. It was! But it was worth it! I can hear when someone walks across the floor with hard soles slightly but the vioce transmission is little if any.
But if your joists lay flat, I would use the metal stud installation method.
I might also add, where i had can lights in the ceiling, I encapsulated the fixture with sheetrock to cut down on the noise and keep insulation off of the fixture. This is important!
Bob
240-687-7231 for questions
There is also sound deadening sheetrock available. But is is EXPENSIVE! I thought I might have a serious problem with noise transmission from the surround sound TV I was going to install on my stairwell wall. So I installed this special sheetrock on that wall and used a solid core door for the stairs going upstairs. That sheetrock is $110. for a 4x8x5/8". It works. This is the same stuff that sound studios use.