Sound dampening

[black_2.5RS]

I'm very early in the process of researching various sound dampening material for a house / home theatre. The home theatre is in the basement but apparently the floors are super thin, so I can definitely hear people on the main floor stomping around on the tile, meaning, they can also hear the theatre downstairs in all it's glory.

Anyone have any ideas how to drastically reduce, minimize the stomping sounds upstairs?

Any good companies people can recommend or some DIY solutions? I've heard of sound absorbing paint but it doubt it's any good for anything beyond basic conversation level noise.

[97'Scort]

Nothing you can do, unfortunately. You could buy your neighbours some shag carpet with thick underlay, that'd help.

All you could really do is put some foam up, but all it's really going to do is absorb sound in the room, not the impact from their feet.

[Mibz]

What's in the ceiling? What's in the walls? What's on the floor? Is the basement finished?

[black_2.5RS]

The basement is finished (unfortunately) - which drastically limits what can be done without ripping out the ceiling....which is not cool. I've heard of instances where people have used a sound dampening spray foam. My guess is there is nothing between the ceiling and the main floor. The walls for the home theatre room I built and used some sound dampening material during construction...so i'm less concerned with that - but the ceiling is where most of the sound leaks from.

[Mibz]

The only spray foam that makes a difference is the stuff that goes between studs and that should be used in conjunction with some sort of insulation.

In my uneducated opinion, the best thing you could do is tear down the ceiling, stuff it with a sound absorbent insulation and rebuild the ceiling. Overcoating spray won't do enough to make it worth it.

Like I said though, I'm just going off what I know which is, admittedly, little when it comes to homes. Hopefully somebody else here has a better suggestion for you.

[Chris88CL]

Taking down a ceiling isnt THAT bad really. Especially if it's just a single room. Expect to pay for the drywall and taping but the rest you can do yourself. Not a bad idea to run your wiring through the roof either if you havent gotten to that stage yet and dont have wireless speakers.

Once the ceiling is down get some soundproof insulation or have a professional company come in and spray foam it. If using insulation make sure you leave a small area between the floor upstairs and the insulation for a small air cavity to assist in deadening the sound. When you have the new drywall put up make sure you get the soundproof stuff. It's the typical thickness but is equivalent to something like 8-9 layers of drywall.

Im not sure on the effectiveness of spray foam in deadening sound. I always looked at it as more of a thermal barrier. Call around and see what they can offer you and what kind of pricing you'd be looking at.

[97'Scort]

Wait, I assumed that you're in a rental suite. If you're not then you DO have some options that are less destructive:

1) get insulation blown in. Pretty cost effective, and only requires some small holes to be cut that are easily patched over when you're done.
2) Buy standing speakers. Since the basement floor is cement, a lot of the vibration will be absorbed.
3) You can use some foam baffles to try and minimize standing and reflecting waves.
http://www.soundprooffoam.com/soft-sound-home-theater.html

[frozenrice]

You could just add another layer of drywall over top of the existing ceiling. In addition you can run some soundbar in between the layers. Might not be 100% effective, but it should be better than what is there now. Minor downside is that you'll lose about 1" in ceiling height.

[clem24]

Well if aesthetic appeal isn't huge on the list, you can always take an old thick blanket and nail it to the ceiling... Otherwise buy some flat foam board and nail that to the ceiling.

[black_2.5RS]

I've been reading about a sound dampening material called "Mineral Wool". Apparently, it's really good at stopping sound and it can be blown into walls and ceilings by cutting 20-25 cm holes in some strategic locations. Anyone know where I can find Mineral Wool or perhaps get a quote from an installer? I've looked on Google and haven't had much luck.

[Mibz]

Originally posted by black_2.5RS
I've been reading about a sound dampening material called "Mineral Wool". Apparently, it's really good at stopping sound and it can be blown into walls and ceilings by cutting 20-25 cm holes in some strategic locations. Anyone know where I can find Mineral Wool or perhaps get a quote from an installer? I've looked on Google and haven't had much luck. I believe Home Depot carries it. I just remember the guy telling me how fucking amazing it was, I'm not sure whether they actually carry it or not.

[Amysicle]

Even if they don't carry it in store, they might be able to order it for you with a surcharge fee added.

[Amysicle]

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[97'Scort]

Originally posted by black_2.5RS
I've been reading about a sound dampening material called "Mineral Wool". Apparently, it's really good at stopping sound and it can be blown into walls and ceilings by cutting 20-25 cm holes in some strategic locations. Anyone know where I can find Mineral Wool or perhaps get a quote from an installer? I've looked on Google and haven't had much luck.

Mineral wool is used for pipe insulation. Any time you're at a plant or oil site, and you see all the tin-wrapped pipe, that's mineral wool underneath. Any oilfield company should be able to supply you with a rep's number.