I'm guessing that it's mostly the vents, unfortunately. We have a cheaply-built 3-story TH with hardwood floors throughout and an open plan middle floor, and you still can't hear a peep between the 1st and 3rd floor. We don't have solid core doors and we don't have many rugs down either

Anonymous wrote:Solid core door might help a very small amount. We did this throughout and my wife swears there was no difference in sound transmission, I think there was a little bit. Hard surfaces (hardwood floors) are a big issue. Good size rugs and rug pads can definitely help absorb sound. Unfortunately the MOST effective solutions are the most costly: 1 adding sound damping insulation to the ceiling cavities and select walls and/or adding sound dampening drywall like QuietRock. if you have upstairs bedroom issue like we did the cheapest solution is a white noise machine.

The doors need to be installed properly too. I paid extra for solid core doors and my useless contractor installed them all with a one inch gap from the floor. Might as well have no doors. But whoever mentioned vents is right too. We sound insulated our master bath but you can hear conversation from the door next to it very clearly through the AC vents.

This is terrible. We also had this experience. We have suffered from noise from the neighbors for many years and our young children couldn't sleep because of this noise. On the top floor there were students who had frequent parties. Even the police couldn't help us, because one of them was the son of a politician. So we realized that we needed to solve this problem in a different way. We installed a suspended acoustic ceiling, which consists of panels for sound insulation. If you are interested, you can find more information here https://www.rockfon.co.uk/products/tiles--panels/. We are very pleased that we made this decision, because we no longer hear the external noises that used to bother us so much.

Solid core door might help a very small amount. We did this throughout and my wife swears there was no difference in sound transmission, I think there was a little bit. Hard surfaces (hardwood floors) are a big issue. Good size rugs and rug pads can definitely help absorb sound. Unfortunately the MOST effective solutions are the most costly: 1 adding sound damping insulation to the ceiling cavities and select walls and/or adding sound dampening drywall like QuietRock. if you have upstairs bedroom issue like we did the cheapest solution is a white noise machine.

I never really thought about the doors until I moved into an apartment with thick solid wood ones and wow did it do wonders to reduce the noise. That said you can have a solid wood door and a hollow wall and still have some problems.

One note about thick doors--they also can mess with WIFI signals. We lived in a place with thick concrete walls (horrid for wifi) and when we closed the door we basically had no signal at all. Your mileage may vary but it was an interesting observation.

Anonymous wrote:Hello! We live in a 2600 square foot 4 level townhouse in NW DC as a family of four. It has plenty of space but the noise carries like crazy! What can we do so that someone trying to nap in our top floor bedroom isn’t disturbed by conversations two floors down in the family room? House was built in 1980 and has hardwood floors and cheap doors, would it help to start with doors and adding more rugs?

Start with the doors. Solid doors, none of the hollow core rubbish.

If you house is open plan it will be difficult to stop noise going up the stairs, we have the same issue, but blocking at the bedroom works if the door and the door frame is desinged for noise reduction.

Rugs and drapes help absorb noise to a small extent also.

Anonymous wrote:Heavier doors may help but it's really all about the rugs. Plush rugs with padding will do a lot to keep the sound from carrying.

Yes, the area rugs need to be plush and thick, with pads underneath. This is not the time to roll out a thin Dhurrie. The thickness of the rug will help you control the sound in the room and keep it from carrying to other spaces. Draperies also help with this.

Most older homes or even new homes don't have insulation between the floors/ceilings so its a huge issue. That, wood doors and rugs are your start.

The immediate PP has good suggestions. Also, check out your vents. Are they in the floor? Some of the can run straight up and down so it is like a window into the floor below, which means the sound is carried directly up and down between floors. Additionally, tall foyers are nice but if you have 2-3 story stacked staircase then there is not going to be much that you can do except make sure you have runners on the stairs.

You are talking about soundproofing WITHIN your house, right? Ignore all the posters talking about insulation and drywall. You just gotta put down some carpet and hang some drapes. All the wood floors and shutters that are all the rage these days are turning homes into echo chambers.

You can add soundproofing through extra insulation or other methods and a new layer of drywall.

Next time you do a house remodel, add sound proof batting in the walls and between floors. It is made to insulate home theatres.

Heavier doors may help but it's really all about the rugs. Plush rugs with padding will do a lot to keep the sound from carrying.

Ear plugs. Life changing.

Hello! We live in a 2600 square foot 4 level townhouse in NW DC as a family of four. It has plenty of space but the noise carries like crazy! What can we do so that someone trying to nap in our top floor bedroom isn’t disturbed by conversations two floors down in the family room? House was built in 1980 and has hardwood floors and cheap doors, would it help to start with doors and adding more rugs?