soundproofing apartment floor?

[ShellShock]

is there a way i could go to the hardware store and get material to soundproof my apartment floor??

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

is there a way i could go to the hardware store and get material to soundproof my apartment floor??

In a nutshell, no. There is no material that you can add to the floor of a rental apartment that will 'soundproof" it, especially if it is a structural wood floor. Even adding mass, which is impossible in an apartment, will do little as wooden framed floor assemblies act as a drumhead, although adding mass may dampen it, to add enough to make a difference would probably jeprodize the structural integrety, such as pouring a "resiiliantly decoupled" concrete slab. I'm no expert, and I sympathize with you, but this is one area where the saying, location-location-location really hits home. The best suggestion I can give you move, as upper floor apartments are usually the worst place to isolate, as you can't really change anything significant enough to make a difference, not to mention the legalities of doing so. Sorry. Carpeting does nothing for structural transmission loss either, although it will help with impact noise from foot traffic.
fitZ

 

[nicolaad30]

www.auralex.com might help

 

[pandamonk]

Wouldn't r10 rubber, with chipboard flooring help reduce sound transmission a bit? Also make sure you have decent insulation under the floor.

 

[SonicClang]

The absolute best I think you're going to be able to do is to isolate the source of the sound (or noise depending on your perspective) from the structure of the apartment. That will give you a little bit of "sound proofing" in that the sound will be a lot less structure borne, but it's going to be like taking an inch off 100 feet. Either move to a basement apartment, or buy a house. Besides that all I can recommend is to wear headphones if you're a guitarist, and use rubber practice heads if you're a drummer.

 

[TimOBrien]

You'd be far better off looking for somewhere else to play/record/practice.

You are not going to "soundproof" a structure that is technically not yours.
Best bet would be to play with Line6 PODs and electronic drums with everyone wearing headphones, but from past experience the first few times you get together and start jammin, someone will call the cops or the apartment owner on you anyway.....
(normals just can't stand to have creative people having fun!!)

 

[SonicClang]

The moment neighbors see young people carrying guitars and drums into a house they freak out. And I think it's standard protocol for them to forget that they can come to your door and let you know they can hear you and immediately call the cops. And you'll spend the next 4 years waving and saying high when you're both outside while they ignore you. Eventually a for sale sign goes up in their front yard and they move away, having never said a single word to you. But don't worry too much, the guy who moves in after them is really cool and often times loud sounds can be heard coming from his living room where he's actually enjoying himself watching a movie.

I've been through this.

 

[ShellShock]

hip hop

well the soundproof floor is going to be for rap/hip hop music...nothing to to with guitars or drums..so how could I set it up so the people downstairs dont hear much of my rap??

 

[SonicClang]

Headphones. It's the surest way to make sure sound from speakers doesn't leak into adjacent rooms.

As for your rapping, try not to yell too loudly.

 

[ShellShock]

headphones

what are the best headphones for editing ...buget $150..

 

[pandamonk]

Build a booth for the rapping. Get rick to help you out with that.

 

[TexRoadkill]

About the best you can do is put something under the sub woofer so it isn't rattling the floor as much. A few inches of rubber would help but overall like everyone says you are screwed.

I like the Sennheiser HD280 headphones.