I have a snowbird condo in Florida, where I spend ~7 months a year. It is a ground-level unit in a 4-unit building, with 2 units at ground level and 2 units upstairs.
I am extremely noise-sensitive.
When I was looking for a condo, I thought this unit would be suitable for my needs, as it is surrounded by preserves (native vegetation) and furthest away from road noises, pool and tennis court noises, fountain noises, entrance gate traffic and noise, etc. What is now aggravating me is the noise from my upstairs neighbors. They are basically a quiet, retired couple in their 70s. I realize that I am in a multiple-unit dwelling and can deal with the random daytime noises of the occasional vacuum cleaner, a chair being scooted across the floor, a washing machine draining, kitchen food prep (often sounds like pounding...scallopini, anyone?), articles being dropped on the tile floors, etc. What I cannot deal with is being woken up by my neighbors. For whatever reason, since the master bedrooms are "stacked", I am often awakened by their footfalls (these are dull "thud, thud, thud" noises, not the sharp clacking of hard-soled shoes or high heels on tile). This is driving me crazy. So if they arise at 5:57am, so do I...or at 7:16am, so do I, etc. Then while lying in bed fuming at my rude awakening, I can then hear them sliding drawers open and closed, and clomping around the bedroom some more. They must've recently installed a TV, as I couldn't fall asleep the other night due to hearing male and female voices on a TV. (The TV volume didn't seem particularly loud, but my brain seems to fixate on any noise in an otherwise quiet room.) And, the other morning, I heard a new noise, just several short bursts (1-2 sec. ea.) of an electric motor running, not sure if it's from a motorized bed or recliner, perhaps?
I bought a white noise machine, but it doesn't prevent me from being awakened from a sound sleep when these footfalls occur. And I've tried, but cannot get used to, sleeping with earplugs.
I never hear any noises from the unit next door, except for one time when a contractor was installing a new shower door.
I'm now trying to figure out a solution:
>>sell this condo unit and move (expensive, plus I've now got a social network here)
>>abate the noise (cost depends on the method chosen, likely approx. $2000-$3000).
The ceiling is drywall, topped by a 12"-15" air space where the duct work, and electrical & plumbing reside, topped by the floor of the upstairs unit which seems like it may be reinforced concrete, as there are lengthwise ribs on the bottom side of the concrete.
One of the sound deadening companies I spoke with said that basically my ceiling is acting like a speaker --- any noise upstairs gets transmitted through the flooring materials and, as everything structural is solidly attached, my ceiling drywall is vibrating (similar to a speaker) as a result. Their suggested solution is to remove the ceiling drywall, install isolating clips and channels, to which 2 sheets of 5/8" drywall (glued together on site with a product called Green Glue) are installed. The isolation of the new ceiling drywall from the structure, plus the increased mass of the double-thickness of the drywall is supposed to significantly reduce the noise I would be able to hear. (But he still made it clear that it wouldn't be soundproof.)
Another company I spoke with suggests removing the ceiling drywall, putting in some R-13 or R-20 (higher # is better) batts of fiber insulation, followed by a somewhat loosely-installed (looseness allows for better noise dissipation) layer of their Acoustiblok sound barrier (which is basically a 1/4" thick very dense viscoelastic polymer sheet which weighs 1 lb/sq. ft.) followed by a single layer of 5/8" drywall. The man I spoke with not real helpful. When I pressed him further as to how much his solution would fix, he said I'd still probably get 'flanking noise' (noise in my walls through the drywall). When I explained that I never, ever hear anything from my next door neighbor, he finally reluctantly conceded that I may not get flanking noise. (I spent some time combing through their site and they did have one story about an application where a home theater was successfully located adjacent to a baby's room. )
Of course, both of these solutions are dependent on the contractor knowing what to do and then following those directions to a T. (Noise seems to be a bit like water, it will find the tiniest hole to get through.)
As we have such a wealth of knowledge and experience on this forum, I'm tossing this issue out there to see what other ideas you may have to offer.
omni
I am extremely noise-sensitive.
When I was looking for a condo, I thought this unit would be suitable for my needs, as it is surrounded by preserves (native vegetation) and furthest away from road noises, pool and tennis court noises, fountain noises, entrance gate traffic and noise, etc. What is now aggravating me is the noise from my upstairs neighbors. They are basically a quiet, retired couple in their 70s. I realize that I am in a multiple-unit dwelling and can deal with the random daytime noises of the occasional vacuum cleaner, a chair being scooted across the floor, a washing machine draining, kitchen food prep (often sounds like pounding...scallopini, anyone?), articles being dropped on the tile floors, etc. What I cannot deal with is being woken up by my neighbors. For whatever reason, since the master bedrooms are "stacked", I am often awakened by their footfalls (these are dull "thud, thud, thud" noises, not the sharp clacking of hard-soled shoes or high heels on tile). This is driving me crazy. So if they arise at 5:57am, so do I...or at 7:16am, so do I, etc. Then while lying in bed fuming at my rude awakening, I can then hear them sliding drawers open and closed, and clomping around the bedroom some more. They must've recently installed a TV, as I couldn't fall asleep the other night due to hearing male and female voices on a TV. (The TV volume didn't seem particularly loud, but my brain seems to fixate on any noise in an otherwise quiet room.) And, the other morning, I heard a new noise, just several short bursts (1-2 sec. ea.) of an electric motor running, not sure if it's from a motorized bed or recliner, perhaps?
I bought a white noise machine, but it doesn't prevent me from being awakened from a sound sleep when these footfalls occur. And I've tried, but cannot get used to, sleeping with earplugs.
I never hear any noises from the unit next door, except for one time when a contractor was installing a new shower door.
I'm now trying to figure out a solution:
>>sell this condo unit and move (expensive, plus I've now got a social network here)
>>abate the noise (cost depends on the method chosen, likely approx. $2000-$3000).
The ceiling is drywall, topped by a 12"-15" air space where the duct work, and electrical & plumbing reside, topped by the floor of the upstairs unit which seems like it may be reinforced concrete, as there are lengthwise ribs on the bottom side of the concrete.
One of the sound deadening companies I spoke with said that basically my ceiling is acting like a speaker --- any noise upstairs gets transmitted through the flooring materials and, as everything structural is solidly attached, my ceiling drywall is vibrating (similar to a speaker) as a result. Their suggested solution is to remove the ceiling drywall, install isolating clips and channels, to which 2 sheets of 5/8" drywall (glued together on site with a product called Green Glue) are installed. The isolation of the new ceiling drywall from the structure, plus the increased mass of the double-thickness of the drywall is supposed to significantly reduce the noise I would be able to hear. (But he still made it clear that it wouldn't be soundproof.)
Another company I spoke with suggests removing the ceiling drywall, putting in some R-13 or R-20 (higher # is better) batts of fiber insulation, followed by a somewhat loosely-installed (looseness allows for better noise dissipation) layer of their Acoustiblok sound barrier (which is basically a 1/4" thick very dense viscoelastic polymer sheet which weighs 1 lb/sq. ft.) followed by a single layer of 5/8" drywall. The man I spoke with not real helpful. When I pressed him further as to how much his solution would fix, he said I'd still probably get 'flanking noise' (noise in my walls through the drywall). When I explained that I never, ever hear anything from my next door neighbor, he finally reluctantly conceded that I may not get flanking noise. (I spent some time combing through their site and they did have one story about an application where a home theater was successfully located adjacent to a baby's room. )
Of course, both of these solutions are dependent on the contractor knowing what to do and then following those directions to a T. (Noise seems to be a bit like water, it will find the tiniest hole to get through.)
As we have such a wealth of knowledge and experience on this forum, I'm tossing this issue out there to see what other ideas you may have to offer.
omni
