I recently moved into a condo which is in an apartment building.It's a three storey wood frame structure; a buddy who was on the building crew tells me the walls are 5/8" drywall, ceilings are double 5/8" drywall, the walls, top and bottom plates are 2 x 6 and the studs are 2 x 4.I am on the main floor, corner unit, next to the boiler room. Am wondering if there is some straightforward way to insulate the wall adjacent to the boiler room and to insulate the ceiling. I want to dampen low end noise like the boiler and thumping footsteps.(My neighbours are considerate - it's the nature of the building, I think, which was built in the 70's. Folks have mentioned suspended ceilings and sound bar for the wall, but I wonder if there's anything a bit simpler and less expensive out there. Also - any idea if adding noise insulation increases the resale value of a place?
Answer:
Sound insulation depends as much on bulk as it does on deadening materials. I make a sandwich of 5/8 drywall, 7/8" sound pad, resiliant channel and another 5/8 drywall. That seems to work very well. I have no idea how much that would enhance the value of the unit but if you're next to a boiler room, I don't think you'll give it much thought anyway.
