Replies

1. 
   UncleDunc | Apr 20, 2004 09:58am | #1

   Carpet, cork, acoustical tile, overstuffed furniture, Walkman, willow switch. The first three can be applied to walls as well as floors and ceilings. The last, of course, is applied to the children.

2. 
   AdamB | Apr 21, 2004 07:38pm | #2

   There is a ton of stuff out there on soundproofing a home, the only draw back is that most of it applies during the construction phase.

   One thing that would help is some interior insulation in the walls.  Are you in a position to put in or have put in some in the walls?  If so I would recommend a blown in product, here is a link to some info about how to do that.

   I found this semi-old breaktime thread. 

   Carpets, are a good idea, but you might not like to cover up the wood floors.

   I heard somewhere, that a flat paint rather than a semi-gloss or a highgloss absorbs sound better.  I have no idea if this is true.... but there you go.

   Adam
3. 
   RickD | Apr 21, 2004 10:20pm | #3

   cover the walls as much as possible; rugs, tapestries, plants, sofas; I think sound tends to bounce off the walls, up to the high ceilings, and back down.  It's hard to cover the ceiling, so rugs on the floor (persian, throw, sisal or whatever) do take some of the bounce away

4. 
   csnow | Apr 21, 2004 11:15pm | #4

   This is a common problem with modern 'open floor plan' designs, soaring ceilings, and wood floors.  Takes some planning to avoid.

   A trick from the restaurant biz is to drape flags or tapestries from the ceiling.  Most folks think they are just decoration, but more often than not these are to dull the 'gymnasium effect' echo from 100 conversations and food prep, particularly if they have wood floors.

   Blown insulation would help somewhat, particularly with higher frequency sounds.

5. 
   WayneL5 | Apr 22, 2004 12:58am | #5

   If the rooms where the noise comes from have almost all hard surfaces you can lower the intensity with some absorbsion:  carpet, upholstered furniture, drapes, etc.  But, the most you can hope to reduce the sound level even with completely covering all the surfaces with acoustic absorbing material is only about 3 decibels.

   You can reduce the noise going into rooms above by installing resiliant channel to the ceiling, then installing a layer of Homosote and a layer if drywall, or two layers of drywall.  You'll still leak some sound up through the walls, though, and you can leak a lot through any penetrations, like recessed lights.

   Between rooms you may have most of your noise through the doors rather than the walls.  Several manufacturers make doors for residences specially designed to be quiet.  I think one brand is Safe & Sound, or something like that.

   I have to ask, though, why the kids are up to make noise when you are trying to sleep in the bedrooms?  Shouldn't they be in bed, too?  With summer coming, things should get better, because they'll be outside all day.

   Here's a web site with lots of laboratory tested information on sound reduction.  http://www.usg.com/Design_Solutions/2_3_4_acoustictips.asp