hello all, my first time posting.
i need suggestions. I live in a tree family house in NYC. Typical brick house with 3″x10″ wood beams supporting each floor. 1/2″ sheetrock nailled to the bottom to make the lower floor ceilling and 3/4″ subfloor made of planks(various widths) and a 3/4″ tongues and groove hard red oak flooring. The cavity between the beams is hollow. What is the best sound proofing i can use to reduce noise between floors.
Sheet goods over thesheetrock to double up the ceilling, blown insulation…….
I’m not sure if the sound is from the hollow space or ……..
I don’t want to demo the whole place.
Thank you for your help.
Didier
Replies
You could look into sound-proof drywall...I think there was a mini write-up on this or a similar product in FHB some time back.
http://www.quietsolution.com
I don't have any first hand experience with it - I think what type of noise or sound you are trying to reduce is a factor as well.
i'm trying to reduce footsteps as well as voices. thank you.
The first thing I'd do is insulate the space with unfaced bats or blown insulation. If the wiring is in poor condition or very old it probably should be replaced prior to insulating since an overloaded wire that is simply warm now, might get really hot with insulation packed around it.
If the existing ceiling is to remain intact I'd add rows of sound channel to support a new layer of 5/8" sheetrock. The sound channel helps separate the new sheetrock from the path followed by the noise through the floor joists.
Seal all openings such as gaps around light fixtures and baseboard. Sound travels quite well through air passages.
If the existing sheetrock is coming down you might be able to use something such as polyurethange glue or caulking to force into gaps that allow the floor to flex and squeek.
If you insulate and hang a second layer of sheetrock from sound channel you'd be surprised at the difference.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
hey Don, one of my best friends lives in ID. Challis. Anyway, "sound channels". What are those? where can i find more info on sound channels? Or are you telling me to somehow create another hollow space below the ceiling? Wouldn't anything i attach to the ceiling still transfer vibrations from above?
Thanx all for any help here. I really appreciate it.
Didier NYC.
Back in college I worked on a fire crew and were sent to Callis for a few weeks back in the late 80s. It was pretty strange since a mine or something like that closed down and most of the men in town had moved leaving a very large percentage of women. Good strange, but strange nonetheless. :-)
The sound channel (resilant sound channel) is a simple stamped metal track of fairly thin gauge shaped like a lazy "S". The track is typically installed across the joists so only a small part of the sound is transfered where the track crosses. In your situation you'd place a 1/4" or so shim where a screw attaches the track to the joist to bridge over the existing sheetrock.
Any good lumber yard would know what you're talking about, but if you want the guys with the most details look to a specialty sheetrock supply house.
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Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
Here's a picture of some sound channel installed incorrectly.
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Here's a better pic to visualize what's going on:
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Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
Edited 10/27/2006 10:33 pm ET by IdahoDon
Thanx Don, just a couple more Questions. Any special idea or method for taping the sheet to the wall. The wall would tranfer the vibration back to the 'suspended' sheet. Maybe I'll just stick a quarter round or some moulding instead of tape. That might help.
Why is the sound chanel instaled incorectly in your pix? What am i not catching (seeing)?
Thanx again Don.
Didier NYC
In that pic, it is installed parallel to the nailer board, instead of perpendicular. 4' of sound channel should only touch about 6" (4 vertical boards spaced 16" apart) of wood, giving much less surface to transmit vibration.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
You should tape the sheetrock normally.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
I've done this type of work in nyc over the years.
Try blowing the bays full of insulation. Cellulose is a good choice. A few small holes are all you need to do the work. Tape and repaint and the damage has been kept to a minimum.
Quite often that's enough to cut down the volume to an acceptable level.
If not you can always add another layer to the ceiling to break the path of transmission from the structure above.
If you do, look into framing grid for sheetrock. It makes a minimal amount of contact with the existing ceiling because it's hung from wires every 4'.
Good luck...Buic
If you do decide to open the ceiling to add bat insulation, use mineral wool batts. It is more expensive than fiberglass, but performs much better.
On a light note: I once consulted the National Research Council here in Canada for advice on reducing sound transmission in old floors and the Scientist they referred me to suggested adding mass. One way he suggested to do that was to drill holes and fill the joist spaces with an inch of sand! Can you imagine some poor homeowner cutting a hole in his ceiling to install a light fixture and watching his kitchen become a dune.
thank you all for your help. I'm gonna spend the buck for a sound barrier high mass vinyl something or other i saw and suspend some additional 5/8" sheetrock.
To follow up on your light note though, the web sites i have visited to find the hardware did mention that mass was a very effective sound barrier. It reduces vibration which seems to proliferate 'structural sounds'. The sand in the ceilling might not be so bad. It certainly has gap filling ability. LOL.
Thanx again for everyones help. It sent me looking in the right direction.
Didier.