The only thing I would like to mention is that if there is a significant amount of low frequency (bass) in the music that he is listening to, it is going to be an up-hill battle. Also, if the area is connected to the rest of the house via heating/cooling duct work, that can also be a “path of least resistance” out of the room, so I would take a close look at that as well.

If you would like to send me a few quick photos of the situation, I would be happy to be a bit more specific. My E-mail is ted@stopnoise.com. Also, please feel free to call me if you would like to discuss it further!
Thank you!
-Ted

Been following some of your posts but didn’t see anything about this. My son partitioned off part of an area on the 2nd floor for himself- attaches 1/2 in plywood partitions to the floor and ceiling. He works out in there and listens to music (it’s his private space. Will putting wonderboard or some acoustical sound board or ??? directly onto the exterior of the plywood reduce sound coming from that room? It’s most the sound of music and fans that we hear.

thanks

therese

Good morning. Although I don’t have a list of contractors throughout the country that can do installations I do have a few companies in your area that have purchased our products in the past that I could refer you too if you would like. More often, I would have you give me a description of the problem situation and I would make a few recommendations of products to help and you would have a local sub or general contractor take care of the installation.

If you would like to describe the situation you are experiencing I would be happy to help – and a few digital pictures of the area in question may be of assistance as well. Feel free to contact me if you would like!

-Ted

I have an issue with soundproofing a master bedroom that will require a contractor here in Seattle to help me resolve.
any suggestions?
Thanks,
Irene

Just in case other readers also have a similar problem, I’m going to post a bit of what I answered in our e-mails.

To sum up your situation for those interested, you are having a problem with a dance studio in a 2 story commercial building with the studio being one of 5 tenants on the second floor. The dance studio shares the southern wing of the second floor with therapists’ offices. The shared wall was built with soundproofing in mind and was treated when constructed. The problem comes in when the studio installed its own flooring. The problem is that the therapists are hearing all the percussive sound whenever there is any jumping, leaping or landing on the floor. Obviously you want to remedy the situation so that both tenants can peacefully remain.

Impact energy (walking, running, landing, etc.) is an extremely violent type of energy and can be transmitted really well by a structure. If this is really the energy you are dealing with, it only leaves a few options.

The first involves tearing out and re-installing the floor of the dance studio to try and limit the amount of energy getting into the subfloor. The challenge here is that if the structure was engineered for people walking, rather than people landing from a few feet in the air, the problem because an inadequacy with the structure and there may not be an underlayment system in the world that will effectively reduce the problem.

The other option is to move the therapists’ offices. The problem is that these offices are generally VERY quiet environments and can be distured by even normal, everday types of noises. With someone jumping, landing, and shaking the joists and concrete slab, it is really impossible to eliminate that energy from traveling through the floor and shaking the floor and walls in an adjacent space.

But, if you do want to try the underlayment route, the product that I would feel the most comfortable recommending is Acoustik Underlayment. This is a product made from recycled rubber and offers some of the best IIC numbers when added to the construction of a floor/ceiling assembly. I am a bit hesitant to recommend this, however, simply due to the amount of energy being introduced into the structure by a landing person.

Unfortunately I do not have any representation in California, but I would be happy to do what I can from here to determine if there is a solution for you and if so, what the best solution may be.

With footfall types of sound problems there are a few things that come into play. The BEST way to try to eliminate the problem is to get some kind of underlayment down onto the floor above. The best product for this is, by far, the Acoustik Underlayment. This is a construction grade product that goes onto the subfloor and because of the fact that the floor would have to be torn out and re-constructed, it is not a likely option for an occupied situation. The advantage here is that it takes the energy out before most of it gets into the structure.

You can float a new ceiling in your unit with a product called the RSIC-1 Clip System. They are a resilient channel isolation clip. I have had a number of customers get some good reduction numbers from this approach, but it does have limitations. Because the joists are screwed into the studs that are holding up your walls, there is a strong possibility that some energy will be passed to the walls as well. Additionally if the structure itself is insufficient and is shaking, whatever is hanging from the joists will also be shaking.

Please let me know what you think of these options for your situations and any additional questions.

I live in West Hollywood, California, and I have the overhead neighbor footstep problem in my condo that was previously mentioned. I am interested in your products, but I am also interested in having it professionally installed, and I was wondering if you could give me more information on possible solutions and their cost. Do you have representatives in the Southern California area who could set up a consulation with me? Thanks, Robert

Would you be able or willing to send me a sketch of the room showing the general location of everything and maybe a digital photo or two so that I could have a look at it and help lay out a plan of attack for you?

The dBA panels may or may not be the best for you, that is going to depend on the room itself. Most of our products can be glued or mounted directly to the wall. The “best” approach may be to use a few different products in specific locations.

If you are able to send me a bit more information about the room, please use ted@stopnoise.com and include your contact information.

Thank you!!!
Ted

I am interested in your dBA panels as it looks like I can just glue them on the drywall. Using the calculation, it appears I need 108 sq ft of product. Is that right? Also, how do I choose between the 1″ or 2″ thickness?

Finally, where should they be placed? I presume the ceiling and back wall where the stereo is pointing? How far apart do I install the panels from each other in order to be effective?

Many thanks!

Unfortunately I have never had much luck with panels being painted – especially fabric-wrapped panels. The difficulty becomes the fact that the paint not only clogs the pours in the fabric, but it also hardens as it dries. A porous, soft surface will absorb sound, or with fabric, it will let it pass through into the acoustical core. Whereas a hard, non-porous surface will reflect sound. If you DO decide to paint these, use as light of a spray as you can.
Good luck!

Sorry to hear that you’re having problems with your living situation. Just about EVERY time a similar problem is expressed to me, the only way to start to reduce the sound that is bothering you is to put each compressor (or the lot) on some kind of spring isolator which can significantly limit the amount of vibration energy that is currently getting into the structure. Typically these machines are not overly loud but because of the nature of the machine, they can introduce a massive amount of vibration energy that will transmit itself down, through the roof, joists and physically move/shake your apartment.

There are quite a few different models and types of spring isolators but in most cases, one of the Type C Spring mounts are used: http://www.acousticalsurfaces.com/mounts_springs/spring_isolators_c_cip_ciw.htm?d=24 so that the machines do not fall off of the isolators.
Please let me know what additional questions you have!
-Ted