My neighbor upstair hears all sound from my apartment

Phil Action

Dear Friends,

I live in Japan. Small apartment, 42 square meters. We ripped everything out. My apartment walls are now the building's actual concrete walls. The screws that were embedded in the concrete walls... and held up the wood supports that sheetrock was screwed into are gone. (I don't know the technical terms, sorry.) This was also done to the floor. Tile was laid, directly onto the building concrete. Yet it is pretty even/flat.

But I think all sound, any sound bounces up

It's a three-story building. I live on the second floor.

All noise travels upstairs. No complaints from the people below me or on either side.

The space is basically divided into three areas separated by sliding doors and flimsy bookshelves.

Two of the spaces have a sheetrock ceiling that was attached to existing guiders (?) a steel framework. The ceiling in one space is the building concrete.

I am desperate to dampen sound leaving my apartment.

QUESTIONS:

Would putting in regular insulation in the areas that have sheetrock ceilings help?
If it would... do I really really really have to tear the ceiling down to put in the insulation? ... or can I just cut a well-located spot to have access to the area behind the sheetrock (the gap above my sheetrock ceiling has got to be at least 12 inches) and do my best to gingerly JAM insulation in. Or am I just wasting my time?

OTHER POSSIBLE PLANS IF THIS ONE DOESN'T WORK

Current plan 1. Cut holes in my existing ceilings. Add insulation.
If ineffective
2. Get Green Glue and put up another layer of sheetrock ceiling.
3. Put up tin tiles on the new sheetrock... cause I will never get it to look right, and the tin may also block/prevent sound from leaking OUT of MY apartment.
And my neighbor will be able to sleep peacefully.

I am not a very good DIY guy. But I am not afraid to make mistakes.

Thanks for reading!

Phil Action

oh'mike

Phil----post a picture----there are ways---but we need to see what we are up against----

__________________
New members: Adding your location to your profile helps in many ways.--M--

TheBobmanNH

Are you sure your upstairs neighbors aren't just oversensitive a-holes? LIke, have you actually gone up and said "wow, this is loud?"

ddawg16

What kind of noise are you making? Music? What is the neighbor complaining about?

Just an FYI...when you ripped everything out, you took out a significant amount of your sound deadening.....dense concrete transmits sound pretty good. You need 'layers' of different material densities to prevent the sound from propagating.

__________________
Common Sense is like Deodorant. Those that need it the most don't use it.
My
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
...
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
and
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Phil Action

Dear Mike, Bob and Ddawg,

Thank you very much for your replies.

Mike, I will try to put some pictures up. I will take them over the weekend. I don't have internet access at home. So I will post them on Monday. (Tokyo time... late Sunday night in New England.)

Hi Bob. Yes, I have gone up. We did a couple of experiments to try and figure out what was going on. At one point he was asking me about a tapping noise... We finally figured out that he could even hear me chopping onions on a cutting board. However when I put a towel under the cutting board the sound disappeared. I was in his place and was shocked when he simulated cutting on the board. It was like being at a culinary opera. I think I have fixed that problem by stapling rubber sheets to the sheetrock under the counter and screwing in 10 or 12 millimeter thick wood. It's not very pretty, but it's out of sight.

Another experiment we did was to tapping on my tiled floor with a piece of wood. Amazingly this too was clearly audible in his apartment. When we put a piece of styrofoam on the floor and tapped on that, the sound was gone. (I had bought a bunch of A4 size styrofoam sheets that are used for arts and craft stuff, thinking of putting them up on the bare concrete ceiling space but gave it up as being foolhardy and most likely ineffective.)


Hello D. Well, the thing he complains most about is TV and music. For a long time I was watching TV with headphones. Then I got a new TV and changed its location. I thought that it might help. On our most recent encounter we figured out that a sound level of about 20 on a Sony flatscreen is fine and doesn't bother him.

He has been quite patient, and says he never had that problem before... So yes D, I guess we took out probably most of the sound deadening properties of the apartment.

I had a tacos night at my place on Tuesday night and things got a little raucous. He called at about 10:45... to inquire about the Sinatra, Bennett, and Oscar Peterson. We have a gentleman's agreement to keep it down after 10:00. I left him a bottle of scotch to apologize. He's invited me over on Sunday night to crack it open. This may be a good time to run a few experiments. He says he hasn't heard my phone ringing lately. I don't know if that means no one has been calling me or if putting the phone in between shelves has dampened the ringing.

Thank you gentlemen for your replies. I am looking forward to putting pictures up.

Wishing you all a very nice weekend,

Phil Action

Jason34

Is this an apartment you bought or renting?

Phil Action

Hello Jason. I bought the apartment... though still paying for it.

Phil Action

Dear Friends,

I managed to put some pictures up.

1. The front room is where the ceiling is concrete only.

2. Pict 2 is the middd area. With sheetrock. I put a hanging shelf under the concrete beam the crosses the room.

3. Pic 3 is another shot of the concrete ceiling with some ducts which might transmit sound nicely.

4. Pic 4 is a shot from near the entrance. To the left in the bedroom/sleeping area. It too has sheetrock. ( you may be able to see some silicone filling that I tried to put on the edge where the sheetrock meets the concrete wall...

5. Pic 5 is a long shot from the front of the apartment.

6. Pic 6... more corners

7. Pic 7... the ceramic tile floor that bounces all sounds upwards.

Hope these help. (Hope the pictures can be seen too!)

Phil

Attached Thumbnails

         

 

747

Good size apartment for japan. Its big money getting into an apartment in japan. They can really shake you down. Alot of non refundable fees. Not to mention 4 to 6 months rent in advance. It could easy be 10,000 to get into an apartment in japan. Hope you got a good deal.

Phil Action

Hi 747,

You're right. The only thing that is cheap in Japan is cigarettes. My place is quite old and it was quite a mess so I got a "relatively" good deal. The location is good, it's five minutes from a train station that is an express stop. As long as I live alone the place is fine, but it would be cramped for two. And extremely tight if a child was added into the equation (Even a small child!). The monthly fees are low. The residents take care of cleaning. Someone volunteers every year or so.

When renting, two to three months up front is common. Every two years or so there are contract renewal fees. About two months rent. When leaving an apartment some of money that may come back depending on wear and tear. And then there is always the issue of finding a guarantor, someone to vouch for you as a responsible person...

Phil

liam91

Try http://quietrock.com/quietrock-products it is sheetrock made to dampen sounds. there is also special insulation called rock wool that is a better choice if you just want to add insulation.

good luck.

Larryh86GT

What is a Kobe beef steak going for now? And a Kiren beer? The Kobe beaf steak was 1000 yen when I was there and 100 yen for a Kiren draft. But it has been awhile.