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Bedroom in apartment: Need ideas to buffer sounds from ceiling/neighbors

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Bedroom in apartment: Need ideas to buffer sounds from ceiling/neighbors 888eight888 06-22-2006
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Posted by 888eight888 on June 22, 2006, 10:52 pm
Hello,

Between the ceiling and the floor of the upstairs apartment and mine;
there is no insulation. Not only can I hear every footstep, but the
neighbors are extremely active; something is constantly hitting the
floor unannounced. (Don't ask - I don't know, either.)
The landlord doesn't want to pay for/put in any insulation. Apparently,
it would involve ripping up the ceilings.

As far as putting something on my side of the ceiling; I've heard that
Home Depot has "foam boards" and I've heard of ideas regarding putting
up layers of rugs, etc.

I need clarification on how to and what materials to use, (as cheap as
possible), that I could affix, screw in or whatever to the ceiling and
possibly something on the walls (?) that would successfully reduce the
amount of noise.

If you have specifics regarding materials, posting a link to Home Depot
web pages would be helpful.

http://www.homedepot.com

Otherwise, the general name of a material is good enough.


It's a rental, so I can't go crazy with marring the ceiling. But I
guess I could put in screws that can later be filled in.

I am just going to do something to the bedroom only; roughly a 20 ft.
by 12 ft area.

Whatever ideas people have; don't worry about how it will look; I could
always drape something over whatever work is there.

Thanks A LOT for any input.


Posted by on June 22, 2006, 11:15 pm
Does the apartment above you have carpet. A cost effective idea might
be to donate a rug to your upstairs neighbors.


888eight888 wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Between the ceiling and the floor of the upstairs apartment and mine;
> there is no insulation. Not only can I hear every footstep, but the
> neighbors are extremely active; something is constantly hitting the
> floor unannounced. (Don't ask - I don't know, either.)
> The landlord doesn't want to pay for/put in any insulation. Apparently,
> it would involve ripping up the ceilings.
>
> As far as putting something on my side of the ceiling; I've heard that
> Home Depot has "foam boards" and I've heard of ideas regarding putting
> up layers of rugs, etc.
>
> I need clarification on how to and what materials to use, (as cheap as
> possible), that I could affix, screw in or whatever to the ceiling and
> possibly something on the walls (?) that would successfully reduce the
> amount of noise.
>
> If you have specifics regarding materials, posting a link to Home Depot
> web pages would be helpful.
>
> http://www.homedepot.com
>
> Otherwise, the general name of a material is good enough.
>
>
> It's a rental, so I can't go crazy with marring the ceiling. But I
> guess I could put in screws that can later be filled in.
>
> I am just going to do something to the bedroom only; roughly a 20 ft.
> by 12 ft area.
>
> Whatever ideas people have; don't worry about how it will look; I could
> always drape something over whatever work is there.
>
> Thanks A LOT for any input.


Posted by JohnH on June 22, 2006, 11:35 pm
http://www.naturestapestry.com/generator.html (or similar)

You can even get free noise generator programs for your PC (winamp has
a plugin).

We live in a _very_ quiet area; the downside is when we travel we are
therefore highly sensitive to noise. I use the winamp noise plugin on
my laptop and crank it all night ; it works like a charm even in the
noisest places.


Posted by Greg Esres on June 23, 2006, 12:58 am
<<Between the ceiling and the floor of the upstairs apartment and
mine; there is no insulation. >>

I had a similar problem that ended about 8 months ago when I moved
into a house. Until then, I'd had off and on problems with my
upstairs neighber, depending on who was living there at the time. My
research on the web and newgroups indicated that effective sound
insulation required 1) mass, and 2) layers. Not very practical in a
rental.

I learned to sleep wearing a sound insulating headset, like the one
you wear when shooting or using loud power tools. I stretched the
headband so that it didn't fit very tight; this was enough to mask the
sounds, while being confortable enough to sleep in.

However, I couldn't hear my alarm in the morning and had there ever
been a fire, I would have been burned alive. ;-)

For lighter sounds, I found that a pillow or folded towel on my head
works well.

I feel your pain.

Posted by buffalobill on June 23, 2006, 1:37 am
read more first at:
http://www.audioalloy.com/

888eight888 wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Between the ceiling and the floor of the upstairs apartment and mine;
> there is no insulation. Not only can I hear every footstep, but the
> neighbors are extremely active; something is constantly hitting the
> floor unannounced. (Don't ask - I don't know, either.)
> The landlord doesn't want to pay for/put in any insulation. Apparently,
> it would involve ripping up the ceilings.
>
> As far as putting something on my side of the ceiling; I've heard that
> Home Depot has "foam boards" and I've heard of ideas regarding putting
> up layers of rugs, etc.
>
> I need clarification on how to and what materials to use, (as cheap as
> possible), that I could affix, screw in or whatever to the ceiling and
> possibly something on the walls (?) that would successfully reduce the
> amount of noise.
>
> If you have specifics regarding materials, posting a link to Home Depot
> web pages would be helpful.
>
> http://www.homedepot.com
>
> Otherwise, the general name of a material is good enough.
>
>
> It's a rental, so I can't go crazy with marring the ceiling. But I
> guess I could put in screws that can later be filled in.
>
> I am just going to do something to the bedroom only; roughly a 20 ft.
> by 12 ft area.
>
> Whatever ideas people have; don't worry about how it will look; I could
> always drape something over whatever work is there.
>
> Thanks A LOT for any input.


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