Reduce Floor Noise
Houses often produce creaks, noises or amplify sounds. This is especially true with older houses, poor construction or hardwood floors. There are a number of ways you can muffle noisy floors, according to the problems of your building. These methods vary in cost and labor intensity, so it is important to pick the right solution for you. It is important to remember that most tactics do not completely negate noise, but if floor noise reduction is done properly, it can partially soundproof your home. Read more to find out how to reduce floor noise.
Steps
- Reduce floor noise from an upstairs apartment by asking the neighbors to install a pad, rug or carpet. Many first floor tenants report that televisions, stereo systems, washers, dryers and dishwashers produce excessive noise in their apartment. They can install a soundproofing floor mat or smaller vibration pads, available online, under the appliance to achieve noise reduction.
- If you are renting your apartment, it may be best if you speak with the people in the apartment above and ask them if they will install the pad if it is bought for them. Although it is at extra cost to you, you are also the person that will reap the benefits. This may help to prevent future disputes.
- Although this method will be highly effective for floor noise, some noise will still vibrate through the walls of an apartment building.
- Buy a rubber floor mat to reduce noise from sports activities or machines in your home. Products, such as the Elephant Bark Mat are available online in thicknesses ranging from 1/5 to 3/8 inches (5 mm to 9.5 mm). These mats, when placed directly below a machine, like a treadmill, or an aerobics room muffle the vibrations and reduce noise and impact.
- Install carpeting with a thick pad underneath to help reduce your own floor noise or upstairs floor noise. The thicker the pad under the carpeting, the more noise reduction you will receive. This will especially help to reduce noises such as footsteps.
- If you have a hardwood floor and you are unable to install carpeting, you can put a thick, non-slip, floor mat beneath area rugs. This will reduce noise in high traffic areas and protect hardwood floors.
- Spot fix your flooring to reduce noise caused by loose screws and joists. You will need to remove the flooring to gain access to the sub-flooring. You may be able to do this to 1 offending part of the floor, or you may want to remove the entire floor to gain access to the entire subfloor.
- Locate and mark the squeaky floor areas before you remove the flooring. You will want to focus on those areas during this process. If you are working with hardwood floors and you have spent a lot of time in the building, you will probably be familiar with very squeaky or weak areas.
- Drill in 1 to 2 drywall screws into the joist of the area where the floor makes excess noise. This will help to strengthen the supporting joist and stop noise. You may want to do the same to surrounding joists while you have access to the subfloor.
- Find any loose floor joists and tap a wooden shim into the loose area. You can use a hammer or mallet to gently tap the shim into place until it can go no further. Saw off any extra wooden shim that sticks out of the joist. Place a drywall screw or nail through the joist and into the shim to help it stay in place.
- Replace the flooring on top of the subfloor and test the weak spots to make sure this solved your noise reduction problem. If not, you may be able to purchase a squeak reduction kit for wooden flooring at a flooring store, hardware store or on the Internet.
- Remove the current flooring and install a damping compound and resilient underlayment. Resilient underlayment choices include cork, foam and shredded rubber. The most common damping compound is Green Glue, which must be used between 2 hard surfaces.
- Foam is the least expensive choice. Cork is more expensive but is a better noise insulator. Shredded rubber is likely to be the most expensive but the added mass is most likely to provide the best solution for noise reduction.
- Remove your current flooring. If your subfloor is currently a hard surface then you can apply the Green Glue directly onto the subfloor. Place a hard board, such as cement board or medium-density fiberboard (MDF) on top of the green glue.
- Lay your foam, cork or rubber mat directly on top of the board. Then, place your flooring on top of the board. You can choose hardwood, tile or laminate board. All of these elements will greatly reduce floor noise.
Tips
- Always wear safety goggles when working with screws or saws and hardwood.
- A soundproofing mat can also be used to muffle noise from windows and other areas of the home. Buy a large size and cut it into the shape of the window for further noise reduction.
- Consult a flooring or hardware store before making changes to the floor. Go to the store with pictures of the floor and subfloor so that they can better assist you on the tools and products you will need to accomplish the job.
Warnings
- Do not make changes to the flooring or subflooring of your building, if you do not own it. You must approach the owners of the building before working with the structure of the floor. Some owners may agree to improvements on the building, as long as the work is done by professionals.
Things You'll Need
- Soundproofing floor mat
- Vibration pads
- Rubber mat
- Carpet
- Thick carpet pad
- Non-slip rug pad
- Area rugs
- Drywall screws
- Nails
- Drill or screwdriver
- Wooden shim
- Saw
- Hammer or mallet
- Foam, cork or rubber mat
- Green Glue or other damping compound
- Cement board or medium-density fiberboard
