Advice for soundproofing

Hello everyone,

As with many of you on here I'm sure, I suffer with an extreme sensitivity to noise. Banging, unpredictable noises, conversations in another room, kids playing etc can be extremely distracting and distressing. I live in a busy house with kids and with a pretty sub standard build quality so noise reduction between rooms is very poor.

My health is deteriorating as I am not able to manage my stress levels or feel I have a safe place. I feel tired and exhausted most of the time. I generally sleep in the day to try and get through the noisy periods but obviously that isn't always an option and sometimes the noise is so loud it wakes me up.

The only option I feel is to soundproof my ceiling (most of noise is from above) however I have no idea what methods/materials are effective. I was hoping someone on here might be able to provide some advice as I am getting pretty desperate.

Thanks

Parents
  • Soundproofing your house is incredibly difficult & really expensive - and probably not effective in most applications.   Windows and floors are the most difficult to deal with.

    Good carpet upstairs will help - and if you can afford it, there are some thick fibrous boards to lay under the carpet to dampen the noise being transmitted into the structure.

    You're better off thinking about noises that are not too annoying and under your control - like finding a CD or Youtube to play at a gentle level that you can live with.    Things like natural sounds of woodland or sea-sides so it's continually changing but nothing with sudden changes.      An indoor fountain can make a pleasant trickling sound to mask what's going on outside.

    Heavy curtains and a blind can dampen sound though windows

    At night, I like to have a tv on very quietly so the voices are *just* unintelligible so there's nothing for my brain to hook up to - it's just a gentle and continuous mumbling - I can normally fall asleep again in 10 mins.   Any other sounds get lost in the sounds that I control.

    Anything that creates silence for you will make the problem worse - you'll get much more sensitive to absolutely any noises.

Reply
  • Soundproofing your house is incredibly difficult & really expensive - and probably not effective in most applications.   Windows and floors are the most difficult to deal with.

    Good carpet upstairs will help - and if you can afford it, there are some thick fibrous boards to lay under the carpet to dampen the noise being transmitted into the structure.

    You're better off thinking about noises that are not too annoying and under your control - like finding a CD or Youtube to play at a gentle level that you can live with.    Things like natural sounds of woodland or sea-sides so it's continually changing but nothing with sudden changes.      An indoor fountain can make a pleasant trickling sound to mask what's going on outside.

    Heavy curtains and a blind can dampen sound though windows

    At night, I like to have a tv on very quietly so the voices are *just* unintelligible so there's nothing for my brain to hook up to - it's just a gentle and continuous mumbling - I can normally fall asleep again in 10 mins.   Any other sounds get lost in the sounds that I control.

    Anything that creates silence for you will make the problem worse - you'll get much more sensitive to absolutely any noises.

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