Ideas on how to soundproof an apartment?

[kyzen]

So the apartment that I'm moving into in about a day and a half has some relatively thin walls. Not so thin that you can hear your neighbors conversations, but I could faintly make out a nighbor running a blender or vacuum while I was doing the walk-through.

The simple solution of course is to not play my music/movies/games too loud... but this is the first time I've ever lived alone, so there's nobody living with me to bitch about noise. Just those living near me.

Any ideas on some ways to reduce the sound the carries through the walls? I'm especially up for any ideas that don't require me to nail egg-carton shaped foam up everywhere; I'd prefer the place not look too tacky.

I have nobody above me, 1 wall for sure that I share with a neighbor, and possibly a second, i forgot to check if that wall borders another apartment or a flight of stairs.

link to thread with pics/floorplan of apartment. The wall by the stairs is definitely shared, and the back wall of the kitchen may or may not be.

 

[NanoStuff]

No practical way to do this. Buy headphones is all I can suggest.

 

[EngenZerO]

haha, sucks... but hopefully you will have neighbors who don't care (like mine)... or else you will have to learn to keep it down or just get evicted...

 

[deftron]

http://www.soundproofing.org/index.html

 

[dclapps]

Your going to want to be extra careful if your neighbors are like mine: any noise in any of the surrounding apartments gets attributed to our apartment, every single time. So much so that, with 6 apartments connected to our neighbors, we are the only apartment to have a complaint [five, to be exact].

 

[acemcmac]

I go around and talk to all of my neighbors when I move in, give them all my phone number and tell them that I'd love to hear from them the minute they think I've inadvertantly become too loud and that I want nothing more than to be as neighborly as possible.

 

[myusername]

http://www.acousticalsurfaces.com/

 

[kyzen]

awesome, thanks for the links. Doesn't look like there's an easy way to do it unfortunately.

 

[Boztech]

You're renting, the amount of modification you can do to your place is minimal. Get a quality headset, save some money and the sanity/good graces of your neighbors. Don't be "that" guy that I lived below in college, please.

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: Boztech
You're renting, the amount of modification you can do to your place is minimal. Get a quality headset, save some money and the sanity/good graces of your neighbors. Don't be "that" guy that I lived below in college, please.

This is the important aspect. BTW, egg crates do NOTHING for acoustic properties,except a small amount of absorption in the high frequency bands.
MASS is the best way to block sound transmission. Low freq are the prime offenders, and the hardest to stop. They require a lot of mass.
Since applying materials to the walls, ceiling and floors in a temporary fashion is expensive and difficult, I would suggest headphones.

< Building studios since 1978 PM if you want real details on how to do it.

 

[kaymin]

You can't really do anything. If you can hear their blender, they an probably hear your snoring, if you do. Just get headphones and everytyhing will be solved.

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: kyzen
but this is the first time I've ever lived alone, so there's nobody living with me to bitch about noise. Just those living near me.

Thing is, as long as you are living in an apartment, you don't truly live alone.

Don't be that guy.

 

[Dubb]

covering the walls with heavy carpet or thick drapes will help decently. it's not ideal, but it'll absorb a bit.

 

[ShadowBlade]

cover walls with carpet, cover carpet with big curtains, dont let any furniture compress them together

 

[Gibson486]

I remember i dormed in this apartment 2 years ago. the walls were paper thin....you know how I knew?

Next door neighbor: "I always wanted to know what your gf sounded like in the sack..."

 

[Gibson486]

I remember i dormed in this apartment 2 years ago. the walls were paper thin....you know how I knew?

Next door neighbor: "I always wanted to know what your gf sounded like in the sack..."

 

[nboy22]

Originally posted by: Gibson486
I remember i dormed in this apartment 2 years ago. the walls were paper thin....you know how I knew?

Next door neighbor: "I always wanted to know what your gf sounded like in the sack..."

hahaha

 

[Phlargo]

cut out the low sounds for night time periods.. not too much bass - the treble will cut out just fine, but the bass will carry right through the walls

 

[FoBoT]

rent a house

 

[tjaisv]

You're free to play it as loud as u want for just one or two songs.