Totally isolating/soundproofing the floor

[rane]

Hi guys,

First of all i'm new to the forum so hi everyone and thanks for all the knowledge here, it's a blessing.

I'm about to build the studio in an old house. The thing is there is another apartment below and i would like to isolate/soundproof the floor as hard as it's possible. The height of the rooms is about 3m (10ft). It's no problem if we raise the floor by 4 or 8 inches - there is enough room for that. The floor (ceiling? you know what i mean) is ceramic and there are wooden joists on it, everything else will be removed so that we make a new one. The walls are made of brick (this is the best info i can give about them unfortunately) and they are rather thick.

What is the best solution for totally (or nearly) soundproofing the floor so that the neighbours can't hear the music when its loud?

Is it actually possible to do that?

We planned on spending about 3000-4000$ on construction (floor, walls, ceiling) but it may be a little more..but better less

I will much appreciate any info on given subject

rane.

[stevev]

hi Rane,

Sounds like a big job to accomplish what you want to do, but not impossible, and probably not with a 3-4k budget.

What is the best solution for totally (or nearly) soundproofing the floor so that the neighbours can't hear the music when its loud?

you'll have to define 'loud' in terms of db. After you get that number, you figure out how to build your floor based on how much you need to isolate.

Is it actually possible to do that?

'sound-proofing'? no. Isolating a room from another room for a given amount of transmission loss. yes.

some photo's would help.

all the best,

steve

[FriFlo]

One important point to consider is, that the structure of the building has to be able to bear the weight of the the whole room in room construction! You don't want your floor to collapse under that! Most certainly, the building was not made for that, so you have to ask a structural engineer to check, what weight can be put on your floor. For a good room in room you need to put at least two layers of heavy 1.5-2cm drywall on the walls and ceiling. Add to that the weight of the frame, the floor and you will easily see, this will add up to a massive weight! Most certainly more, your building is made for, I am afraid.
I really don't want to spoil your enthusiasm, but there is a reason, why most studios are at ground level or in the basement.
In case, you think, you can just build some decoupled floor and add something to the walls, in other words - not do a proper room in room construction: it won't be worth it! Sound chooses the easiest path it can find and without a proper room in room construction you cannot get very good isolation.
Or did you mean, you are on ground level and the is neighbor above you? If there is no basement below you, you can probably put that mass in, but it will be certainly more expensive, than 3000€, if you ask me. Well, if you are able to do it all yourself and with friends help, the amount might get you the material.

[Soundman2020]

Hi "rane", and welcome to the forum!

I'm just expanding on and adding to what the others said:

The thing is there is another apartment below and i would like to isolate/soundproof the floor as hard as it's possible.

Trying to isolate a studio on an upper floor (any floor that is not the ground floor), is very much harder, for several reasons. The ground is an excellent damper, extremely massive, and absolutely sealed. An upper floor is not massive, not damped, and has an unsealed cavity below it: the room downstairs. That's not to say that it is impossible to isolate an upper room: it can be done. Except that it is much more complicated if you need high levels of isolation, and will cost a lot more money. Are you willing to spend that?

What is the best solution for totally (or nearly) soundproofing the floor so that the neighbours can't hear the music when its loud?

Assuming that you mean you don't want the neighbors to hear when your band is playing loud music in your studio, that means you have levels of about 120 dB, and you want to get them down to under 40 dB. That's over 80 dB of isolation. That is really, really hard to do. You wold have to float your entire room, and that is very complicated, and very expensive.

Is it actually possible to do that?

Yes it is possible, if you have a lot of money to spend, and are willing to make major structural modifications to the building so that it can support the huge amount of mass that you would need.

We planned on spending about 3000-4000$ on construction (floor, walls, ceiling) but it may be a little more..

You don't need to spend a little more than that: you need to spend a LOT more than that. About ten to twenty times more, at a rough guess. It's really hard to estimate the cost without knowing more about the size of the area you need to build, and the details of the building construction. But it is going to cost a lot more than what you are thinking.

Sorry I don't have good news for you, but that's the sad truth.

This thread might help you understand the issues better. It's really meant for people who think they need to float their floor when they really don't, but in your case you actually do, so the thread isn't really written in the correct sens for you, but it does clearly explain the problems with floating a floor properly:

http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... f=2&t=8173



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