An extensive 'drop ceiling' project- where to begin...

kpatten

Ok. We have an odd situation. First off- we own a loft- in which the upstairs neighbor decided to put in hardwood floors without soundproofing. The HOA can't do anything about this- so we're on our own. The biggest problem is the bedroom- It has one brick wall, one load bearing wall, then two walls that don't go all the way to the ceiling (which is 13ft) We were thinking about doing the whole ceiling with green glue and another layer of sheet rock- but it's expensive, we would have to do the whole loft all at once, and it's not fun- plus would be a lot of money that wouldn't make the place look any different... So, as the bedroom is the worst area (as she walks around a lot at night), we've had an idea. The problem is- I don't know if it can be done. This is where you come in! My thought is to just do the bedroom and start by finishing the two walls- so they go all the way to the ceiling. Then, add wood beams (to represent the wood beams that are usually in floors/ceilings) and fill them with some kind of impact sound proofing foam?? Any ideas on this? Add a layer of foam pads (for extra sound proofing) Then put in a 'drop ceiling' to go down from the 13ft ceiling to the height of the original walls (8ft). Adding a sliding panel on the new side wall- for easy access to this upper area- and be able to use it as storage. Then put lighting and speakers in the new ceiling. Now this new ceiling can be made out of wood or whatever- because I'm going to cover it with plastic ceiling (decorative- to look like old metal ones) tile. It needs to be strong enough to hold a decent amount for weight- yet be supported enough so it doesn't bow or fall in. It also needs TON of impact sound proofing- otherwise it's all in vain. Is this even possible? How would I go about it? What products should I use? Any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated!!! THX!

shumakerscott

You will either have to hang it from the existing ceiling or put posts on the sides and beams accross. You seem to have the right idea. More layers in between the better. dorf dude...

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kpatten

Would hanging it from the existing ceiling or doing beams- be able to hold a lot of weight? Would you then use a drop ceiling material (I'm guess that might fall through) or could I attach a plywood type to the beams- in a way that wouldn't cause them to bow? Thx

sdsester

Do you have a sound/recording studio near you? You might make an appointment and stop in and chat with them. They are usually pretty cool about such things. They would be able to tell you where to get stuff too.

Some members of The Acoustical Society of America deal with this sort of thing all the time for different reasons ranging all the way up to concert halls. If you can stand an academic type, see if a university near you has an ASA member. The person will probably be flattered to be asked for help and more than willing to offer suggestions.

I would search online for soundproofing solutions. It's too bad your upstairs neighbor will not at least put some rugs down! Weird the HOA does not have some guidelines for such things.

Aggie67

What kind of floor construction do you see over your head? Is it wood beams and sublfoor? Steel joists and steel deck? Kind of hard to make a recommendation without knowing that.

Post back some more detail. What do you see when look up in the bedroom? Steel deck? Wood? Concrete?

My first thought is do what we do: run a cold formed sheet metal grid system, hung from wire and supported off the walls on the ends, to make a frame for sheet rock. Then hang sheet rock on the underside, then get some insulation up there (this works only when you have access, like via an access panel. That should deaden the sound. We build clean rooms this way. That works well in 16 foot ceilings when you're trying to deaden sound. Tried and true method. If you've only got 13 foot ceilings, you might be crowding out the space, though.

Here's one system (although a few more companies make them):

http://www.usg.com/USG_Marketing_Con...eet_AC3117.pdf


take a look

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kpatten

I believe it's cement- then with sheet rock over it- to make it look... pretty? If we did a suspension ceiling- with a metal frame work- would there be room to store stuff up there or would it just be for the sound proofing?

Big Bob

You might save a ton of $$ if you can find out the upstairs neighbors shoe size and leave some nice slippers by their door.

Sellncars

I know that the noise can be a horrible nightmare. You can always put your Home Theater speakers up in the ceiling, I'm sure she would love that.