Reducing impact noise from above!

Hey guys- Great forum. Good to be here. I have a music rehearsal room located in an old school. There's a business directly above it. And a family living there illegally after hours. It's a concrete floor. I can hear impulse noises very well, but also kids crying- heck, I can even hear the guy speaking Spanish into his Nextel. I'm ok when they're not there, but they make a racket when they are there. This is driving me crazy- I guess I'm going to have to build a room. I'm looking to do it inexpensively(myself) because I'm on a tight budget...but I'm not very knowledgable about construction. I can build a wall, but not sure how to connect the walls together with a ceiling, etc. I can't find a simple construction book that will help dummies like me. I've done plenty of research here into wall construction, theory, etc. but the part where the walls and ceiling come together- I have a problem with that. I'm looking to build a 10 by 15 room with an 8 foot ceiling I guess. To reduce impact noise from above. I guess floating the floor would be a good idea too. Any advice in the right direction(books, ideas, etc.) would be appreciated. Anyone in the Delaware area on this board?

Welcome to the forum!! My first attempts at solving your problem would be to get the authorities to kick out the family that isn't supposed to be there in the first place. Especially if this is the biggest of your problems. Next, you didn't say how tight your budget was. To some people, it's $200 to build a whole studio, to others, it's $50K. We need to have some ballpark number to work with. Just a guess but your money might best be spent in the area ABOVE you instead of in your area. What I mean is that impact noise is going to be very dificult to get rid of once it's "in" the structure. It's much easier (and cheaper) to prevent it from ever getting into the building than trying to eliminate it once it's there. You might consider offering to have carpet (with a thick pad) installed in the business above you. It sounds like voice frequencies are what you need to knock down the most and that's about all carpet is good for. It will also absorb (or cushion is probably a better word) footsteps and such. Carpet is much cheaper than building a complete room and probably a lot more effective [b]IF/[b] impact noise is what the biggest problem is. But... If you've got a concrete floor and you can hear conversations through it, I'd wonder about the construction!! Are you sure the source of the noise from above isn't through A/C ducts or something else? I don't think 4" or more of concrete (and I would think it would have to be AT LEAST that thick) would pretty much stop the noise. Now perhaps the cheapest (although also the meanest) way to solve your problem is to play louder. Get some of your friends and crank it up. If the family is living there illegally, who are they going to complain to? You could drive them out. :twisted: Like I said, not nice, but very cheap. About your last point: If you've been reading here a lot and don't quite get the construction details of joining walls and ceiling, you probably shouldn't be building ANYTHING. As sharward will say here before too long (and rightfully so), you are going to need permits to do any kind of construction. This is not just to give the city a little more money to spend on fixing pot holes, it's also to make sure that what you do is actually safe for human use. If you want to learn the basics, take a field trip to where they are putting up a house and see how they are doing it. The technique is the same, just no shingles. If your concrete above is so thin that it's transmitting conversations, it's unlikely that your floor is much better and therefore more than likely it's not going to support a proper floating floor (concrete slab lifted off the current floor with a dampening material like Sylomar and then the walls and ceiling built on top of that new floor). Read Paul Woodlock's studio build from the beginning to see what's involved in building a real floating floor and you'll see what I mean. Sorry if this seems a little discouraging but it's better to know now what you're dealing with before you waste a lot of money on things that won't help you in the end. len

Thanks Len, Yes, I'm complained several times about the family through a 3rd party- they usually disappear for a little while then come back... I will continue doing some research about materials and construction. I'm sure I could afford $2000 spread out over a few months. Not feasible to get carpet installed upstairs... I do have someone who can help me, I guess it'll just be 2x4's and some drywall on staggered studs, maybe some green glue and a decent door- I'll have to look into ventilation...

You will need something larger than a 2x4 for the ceiling joists since they will be holding up a lot of drywall. There is a span calculator in the reference section that will help you select the right size for the distance you need to cover. You want to OVER spec a little just in case your drywall picks up a little moisture from the air and hense weighs more than usual. You don't want the whole thing to come crashing down on your head. It can be painful (and sometimes deadly) and the illegal squatters above you might complain about the noise! :-) len

len-morgan wrote:

As sharward will say here before too long (and rightfully so), you are going to need permits to do any kind of construction. This is not just to give the city a little more money to spend on fixing pot holes, it's also to make sure that what you do is actually safe for human use.

You are going to need permits to do any kind of construction. This is not just to give the city a little more money to spend on fixing pot holes, it's also to make sure that what you do is actually safe for human use. Thanks, Len! Couldn't have said it better myself... :-) Seriously -- everything Len wrote is terrific. I should copy and paste all of it and pretend to take credit. ;-) --Keith :mrgreen:

sharward wrote:

I should copy and paste all of it and pretend to take credit.

Why don't you, Keith? That's what I did! :-) I think you've used the same words many times before. len

Certainly in spirit, Len, that's true. :-) I'm glad someone is paying (and has payed) attention! 8) --Keith :mrgreen:

Well, I'm still considered the village idiot by many for even thinking about getting a permit but I sleep better at night knowing that it's safe and the city won't come and shut me down later if they have the mind to. The fact that my permit was only $25 didn't hurt either though. :-) len