I just went through a fairly thorough soundproofing project for my apartment in SF. (If anyone has any questions or needs advice, I'm happy to help.)
Few things I learned: 1). It doesn't have to be expensive. My problem was that I live in a 2BR apartment with a wonderful roommate -- but we share a bedroom wall, and that wall is thin. So you can imagine the....awkwardness...at times.
I got quotes from various soundproofing specialists that ranged from $10k to $25k (!!!) to thicken the shared wall and reinforce the bedroom doors. Hogwash. I did some research, bought some raw materials (Green Glue, QuietRock sheetrock, solid-core doors, door seals) and did the whole thing for a fraction of that price.
2) Sound science is fascinating and DIY projects like this are kinda fun :) I've never been much of a DIYer around the home, but it takes on a whole new appeal when you have a clean end goal in mind and your quality of life takes a major improvement when the mission is completed.
Anyway -- this is a fascinating subject and I'm happy to geek out about it with anyone who's interested.
That'd be great. I live on Hyde st right by a busy road and the cable car. I've become more immune to the noise but would love to reduce it. Acoustic dampening curtains have mixed reviews and are an expensive experiment. Any other ideas?
Outside shutters, either roll up or swinging; better windows, with thicker glass and more layers; making sure the windows and door openings are properly air sealed, as well as all construction joints (corners, inside corners, where the wall meets a floor or the roof, the connection between the foundation wall or slab and the walls...). Also, all penetrations for wires, pipes, etc. need to be air sealed.
I'm closing on a first house on Tuesday. What is the most cost efficient thing you've done when it came to soundproofing? Any products that you can really recommend?
The single most cost-effective thing I did was replace the garbage hollow-core interior doors with nice hefty solid-core doors. Hollow-core doors are common for interiors since they're cheap -- but they also act effectively as sound amplifiers since they're just two vibrating planks with a small air gap.
Solid-core doors -- even ones filled with dense fiberboard (vs pure solid wood) are VERY effective at reducing sound. And they're cheap -- you can get a nice basic one for ~$100. If you pad the door frame with $5 in closed-cell weatherstripping and put in a $10 door sweep at the bottom (creating a nice seal around the door), you've eliminated one of the lowest-hanging fruits of sound transmission for very little $.
Next on the list: Green Glue. If you don't mind a bit of messy DIY stuff, you can make your own drywall/Green Glue sandwich for a very reasonable amount of $.
Doors & Walls cover about 80% of sound issues, and it doesn't have to be expensive.
Few things I learned: 1). It doesn't have to be expensive. My problem was that I live in a 2BR apartment with a wonderful roommate -- but we share a bedroom wall, and that wall is thin. So you can imagine the....awkwardness...at times.
I got quotes from various soundproofing specialists that ranged from $10k to $25k (!!!) to thicken the shared wall and reinforce the bedroom doors. Hogwash. I did some research, bought some raw materials (Green Glue, QuietRock sheetrock, solid-core doors, door seals) and did the whole thing for a fraction of that price.
2) Sound science is fascinating and DIY projects like this are kinda fun :) I've never been much of a DIYer around the home, but it takes on a whole new appeal when you have a clean end goal in mind and your quality of life takes a major improvement when the mission is completed.
Anyway -- this is a fascinating subject and I'm happy to geek out about it with anyone who's interested.