How to Remediate Sound Complaints

Once folks start complaining about sound control in a multi-family apartment environment, it is past the point of no return to remediate the problem.  Good sound control starts at the planning stage, well before construction begins.

There is not a great deal of remedies at your disposal to mitigate sound problems after construction.  The best and most economical option is to address the problem, once a tenant moves out.  At that point you likely will need to replace some or all the floor covering(s).  Utilizing a topically added recycled rubber sound mat, like Quiet Qurl Step Soft^TM, prior to the installation of the new floor covering(s) is the best option.  Quiet Qurl Step Soft comes in a variety of thickness, depending upon the amount of noise you want to attenuate and your budget.  It comes in thicknesses starting at 2mm and can go up to 12mm or higher.  These types of products, typically do an excellent job of helping to mitigate high frequency noise (think high heels on ceramic tile), but not so much with the more problematic low frequency thud noises.  Quiet Qurl Step Soft can be placed on the substrate then have finished floor covering directly applied over it.

To really do a better job of mitigating the low frequency thud noise, you need to address this from the ceiling side of the floor ceiling assembly. This is typically much more costly.  The simplest way to accomplish that would be to add an additional ceiling to the existing ceiling and utilize Keene Building Products Cylent Assurance^TM Clip.  While this method will prove to be a bit more costly, it will dramatically increase the sound attenuation of low frequency noise through the assembly.

The following diagram illustrates this remedy:

Cylent Assurance™ Clip is a patented, resilient channel vibration isolation clip. It has been engineered to significantly reduce low frequency noise transfer in ceiling/wall assemblies used in modern multi-family construction. Cylent Assurance Clip was developed and being marketed exclusively by Keene Building Products.

Cylent Assurance Clip is specifically engineered to work with any type of resilient channel. All other vibration isolation clips available on the market today are limited in their application since they typically only work with “Hat” type resilient channel. Only Keene’s Cylent Assurance Clip vibration isolation clip can work with any type of standard resilient channel, including RC-1 channel.

The best solution is better planning.  However, when faced with noise problems due to improper planning, both Quiet Qurl Step Soft and the Cylent Assurance Clip provide viable solutions to your noise problem. 

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