Soundproofing my ceiling

[nix]

Hi

I've just gone and bought my shiney new gear and have discovered a problem. I want to turn it up a bit and my baby daughter's room is above the living room!

I was wondering if there was an affordable way of soundproofing my ceiling. I should also mention that I've got spotlights in my ceiling too.

Cheers!

[smjxm09]

I lifted the floorboards and packed out the void with loft insulation. I am now thinking about getting some 50W halogen spot lights and am wondering whether I am going to have to remove some of the insulation to allow them to breath, as the back of the light fittings get red-hot even under normal use.

[nix]

Same as me! Does the loft insulation give good sound proofing?

[lnewey6]

insulation only really stops mid to high sounds, the bass will still vibrate upstairs. the other problem you will find is that downlighters are not the best for soundproofing a ceiling.

[nix]

Any suggestions what to do?

[lnewey6]

what i would do would be to rip down the ceiling i know messy job,install insulation, then furring strips opposite way to the joist, then apply 2 layers of plasterboard remeber to stagger the joins. green glue is a good product which cuts down on bass travel do a search on the forum for green glue and ceiling soundproofing the downlighters you mention might be tricky becuse any hole will let sound through but i am not an expert on this

[mattym]

you can use green to make isolated areas for the lights, i will knock up a sketch in the morning..

[nix]

Originally Posted by lnewey6

what i would do would be to rip down the ceiling

Could I lift up the floorboards from above and do the same?

[mattym]

not got round to a sketch, but its a cover, like an acoustic hood, that goes over the light, but with plenty of room around it so it doesnt get hot, with suitable soundproofing around it.

You need to work from the room below the ceiling, not above

[nix]

I've mentioned the subject with the wife......... we'll be delaying this one a while!
Thanks for your help!

[n.simpson]

Sorry for hijacking the thread but isn't there a better material to put between the ceiling and the floor than loft insulation?

I have to lift my chipboard flooring to run cables for my projector so was going to dabble in a bit of sound proofing at the same time. There are 2 conditions to my project: I'm not looking to spend an obscene amount of money and I am only able to lift the flooring, I can't modify the ceiling at all, but would like to make the room as quiet as possible so that I can stay up all night watching films and not keep everyone else awake. Any advice would appreciated.

Cheers,
Neil

[midgetboy1972]

try audioalloy website they have tons of info on that sort of thing

[PaulDavidThomas]

1. Increase the size of the underlay under your carpet.
2. Use a thicker carpet.
3. If you can life the floor, then full fill with rockwool or similar.
4. If you can, then add additional plasterboard to the ceiling below. Please note that you can purchase 'SoundBloc' it's basically very dense plaster board and weighs 38kg/sheet (I've just used 80 on my project)
5. Look at building regs as they will describe how to do PROPER ceiling insulation with seperated layers to stop impact sound transfer.

Just some ideas that come to mind.

[pemberto]

Guys,

Take a look at Custom Audio Designs website, loads of great information about soundproofing different area's of the house, http://www.customaudiodesigns.co.uk/help.htm