Hello, everyone. For the past few months, I have been renovating my father’s basement, building an apartment for myself. The water, electrical, subfloors, and walls are in. All that really remains are the Kitchen Sink, the kitchen floor, and the doors. (And the bathroom, but thats another can of worms. And the ceiling.
I have been going back and forth on the ceiling for a while. I have been resisting drywall, and my dad is dead set against it; there is a lot of infrastructure down there that would both make it difficult to install, and needs to remain accessible. Furthermore, its only 8feet to the joists, so losing half an inch is kind of a problem. I had considered leaving it alone. I really liked the exposed look, and was even looking into Joist Shelving.
The last few weeks have proven to me though, that I really need to soundproof the ceiling. There is an entire cottage industry on youtube based around recommending soundproofing products. I had one handyman recommend streamer foam, which is different from accoustic foam (apparently!?), Ive seen people recommend Green Glue, and then someone else say, you get the same results with carpet glue. I see some people say Mass Loaded Vinyl could be useful, and then some one else say its expensive and supplemental (but might still be handy for pipes and HVAC). I was looking at sound proof blankets, and the big blocks of Styrofoam insulation they sell at home depot. I was considering hiring someone to install a drop ceiling.
Does anyone have any insight that might help me? I have nothing up in the ceiling currently. I have no real issue mixing and matching solutions, although I am somewhat still resistant to drywall ceilings.
No real experience with it, but what kind of noise it the main problem? Is it like a wooden floor and the steps on it? Your parents could just wear some soft slippers in the house 😆
Maybe some foam hidden by some hanging tapestry? If you put some chain of small LED lights behind, it might look quite cool in the evening.
The main issue that there is noise passes basically unimpeded. My living space is directly under my sisters room. She can hear my phone conversations. I leave videos on softly to fall asleep to, and the straw that broke the camels back was one woke her up in the middle of the night, and she had a big test in the morning. I certainly dont need her to hear me when Im jerking off.
I guess I should mention, due to the placement, there is a hot air register that passes between our rooms.