How to Soundproof a Rental Apartment?

So I'm dealing with some real difficulty sleeping. It's been a week since I was diagnosed but I'm already a mess. My anxiety and depression are super spiked and I'm catching 3 hours of sleep max a night. I'm constantly freaked out that my current severe noxacusis is not going to get better because it's too late. Yesterday I started double protection 24/7. It's getting a little bit better I think? But I'm getting pain in my ears from the earplugs. I'm constantly thinking in bed that I'm going to sleep through something that's causing me pain. So I really need to soundproof a room to sleep in. But it's hard because my partner and I are renting out a basement apartament and our landlord is upstairs - sound travels through the house easily. It doesn't make it better that our bedroom is facing the street and there's big windows.

Is there anything I can do to soundproof a place I don't own? I'm so worried about this not getting better because I don't have a specific quiet space. Can anyone that has experience with quiet rooms give me some advice please?

 

Move. You cannot effectively soundproof an apartment from noise above. Just can't. Normally you need decoupling, separate ceiling, etc. I was into home theater construction so I have some idea about that. Not worth going into since none of this will be feasible in a rental. Just move.

You can block external noises via window via heavy curtains (or double windows).

Move. Or just wear hearing protection.

 

@gameover, thank you for the response. My noxacusis is pretty severe right now I think. I'm reacting more to dishes and stuff along those lines, even with double hearing protection. I think my only option is to stay with my partner's parents in Toronto, but even that's not great because all the noise and they have cats that are a bit noisy.

I feel like the move and drive to Toronto would be too risky right now.

I'm wearing normal foam earplugs and Walker's muffs over top 24/7, I'm just waiting for the Peltors earmuffs to get here.

 

You can get acoustic films for glass now, might be worth a shot. Also check (and replace if necessary) any damaged window seals. You can also get acoustic curtains I believe. Secondary glazing would be the best shot though. You can get relatively cheap systems (polycarbonate and magnet - check online - could rig up a makeshift one yourself) but obviously it’s up to the owner and it really depends on the type of windows you have.

I don't know the set up upstairs but if it’s a wooden floor, maybe speak to the land lady to see if she would put a rug/carpet and underlay down to deaden the sound. Even better would be to install insulation under the floor upstairs.

 

Insulation will do nothing to low frequency noise such as people walking. The only way is decoupling which is infeasible.

 

@gameover, but won't more harm come from moving? Especially if I'm heading to Toronto.

 

I was pretty sure you can get these acoustic mats for under wooden floors... obviously they would be better at blocking out high frequencies but should still help a bit with low frequencies.

 

Can you get out of the lease and move somewhere else with your partner? You could cite your noxacusis as a disability that requires a quiet environment which is not possible without decoupling which I'm sure your landlord doesn't want to deal with. I managed a move from the city to suburbs when I was quite severe. The benefits outweighed the risks but my family did most of the real work.

 

Well, a move itself can be tough, I can't tell you. City may not be a good idea, but depends on the particular setting/house.

Tough truth is that most housing in North America is absolute cheap garbage compared to how things are built in Europe. Energy-efficient euro windows are (so called "turn-and-tilt") that have been pretty much standard for the past 40 years, if not longer, are so much more sound-proof compared to the American junk. Even so-called high grade windows on this continent are garbage in comparison. I think Canada might have been getting better lately in recent new construction, but that's very recent. USA is in Middle Ages still.

Good luck.

 

I'm a bit of an expert on this, that's the good news. The not so good news is that sound from an upstairs apartment is very, very difficult to mitigate. I managed to get a top story apt recently, and wow, what a difference! I think mentioning to your landlord (in writing after talking w/ them) that you have a medical condition might help, it probably couldn't hurt.

One way to get around this if you can't get your landlord to move you to an upstairs apt is to build a sleep box. That's exactly what it sounds like, it's a box that is constructed around your bed. You'd want it to be 7' high so you don't have to stoop over to get into bed, but it need not be much larger than your bed in terms of area.

I had a good design that gave enough room for a small table and a chair so you could read, write, or watch something on a TV or PC. You'd want to build the walls and one door out of 2 layers of 1/2" sheetrock, but the top might need to be 3 layers. I had estimated a "materials only" cost to be around $400-$600 including delivery of the materials. It would have been framed w/ 2 x 4's.

But really, getting a top floor apt might be the better way to go.

Noise from above is structural, which is why it is so difficult to mitigate. Noise from a wall is a lot easier to mitigate. Otherwise, you will have to add sound, usually by having a large box fan by the head of the bed or something similar.

 

@momus, yeah I think the option is to either trade places with my landlord because it's a split house (he lives on top floor, we're in the basement) or I go stay with my partner's folks in Toronto for a few months. I think on average Toronto is noisier (his parents' house is on a flight path, the floor boards are really creaky, and they have loud cats) but they have a brick house and it might be easier to soundproof a room. Either option sounds not that great, what do you think?

 

I doubt if there is any amount of money you could spend that would reduce the sound by more than 20%.

I once walked into a portable piano studio - a company was making them for people who live in flats and don't want to cause issues for their neighbours. I was amazed that when the door is shut - the person in the little studio cannot be heard at all. And when I went in and asked my son to call me from the outside - I could hear nothing.

So unless you want to spend $30K on one of those studios and sleep in that, forget it.

 

My TTTS can't stand low frequencies. It seems to get worse because my bedroom is facing the road, so I'm constantly exposed to cars while I'm sleeping.

I'm currently using Howard Leight earplugs and Peltors X5A, I feel like they aren't blocking out the low frequencies though. Has anyone had any success with noise-canceling headphones for low frequencies?

Also, how do you block out low frequencies in a sound proofing way? Would a sleep box made out of sheetrock help?

Thank you!

 

Noise-cancelling headphones are generally quite good at blocking out low-frequency noise such as road noise, engines etc, but less good at high frequencies. I've tried Bose noise-cancelling headphones for car rides and they were good at blocking out low frequencies but the noise-cancelling mechanism didn't sit well with me for some reason. I could only use them for very short time periods or I would get dizzy. I've read about others also experiencing this but no one seems to know why this is.

 

Thank you! I'm thinking of only wearing noise-canceling headphones at night because my bedroom faces the road. I'll probably wear the foam earplugs under the headphones as well. Is there a specific make and model you would recommend?

 

It was a couple of years ago I tried the Bose ones out but IIRC, Bose was the leading brand back then when it came to noise cancellation. I don't know about specific models but I'm sure there are lots of reviews and rank lists out there for noise-cancelling headphones that are currently on the market.

 

Unfortunately low frequencies are the most difficult to block out, even when it comes to professional soundproofing. To help a little, you can try hanging duvets in the windows, or really heavy curtains (the heavier, the better). I actually currently have a mattress stuffed into the window in my bedroom, & it helps as well.

As for noise-cancelling headphones, those are good for low frequencies but the sound has to be constant. So they wouldn't work well for sudden sounds. And, to be honest, I have a strong hunch they'd be significantly less effective than your current Peltors because they don't seal as well around your ears. ANC headphones also produce constant low-level sound (which can be barely perceptible) which can aggravate your tinnitus &/or hyperacusis. So just a few things to think about.

If you're going to give the ANC headphones a go, I'd probably suggest the BOSE or Sony, with the Sony being my first choice as they have a quieter, superior technology. The BOSE are lighter though.

I think the most important thing to take away from what I wrote is that even though it's possible to build something quite effective (the more mass, the better for low frequency sound), in order for soundproofing to really work, you need to seal off all gaps/cracks. I've read that a 5% gap lets in 90% of the sound, & a 1% gap, 30% sound. But then this raises the question of how you would be able to breathe! So all in all, I think that exploring solutions other than soundproofing would be most effective.

Best of luck!

 

Thank you! What do you mean by "exploring other solutions would be most effective"? Do you mean solutions other than the ones you mentioned? And if so, what other solutions are there?

 

Just solutions other than building a soundproof box, because as much as I completely understand your dilemma (I also live in an apartment with a lot of noise coming from outside that agitates my noxacusis), unfortunately I don't think it's a realistic solution (short of having something professionally installed, as @stuart mentioned).

So yeah, things like working on soundproofing windows (weather-stripping, inserts - professional or DIY, hanging duvets/blankets and/or heavy curtains), figuring out the most effective hearing protection for you, and if possible, moving to a quieter place (even if only for some time while your ears are most sensitive).

Know too that your ears may eventually adjust to these sounds, so you may find your symptoms being less activated. And since emotions play a role in TTTS, see if you can do your best to tell yourself that you're safe when you hear these sounds - that they won't hurt you. That can actually limit the contracting of the muscles.

It's really tough to be in this situation, I know!

 

@haha ear go eeee, time has passed. I wonder whether you found even a partial solution?

My first reaction was the same as the first responder to your post back in May: move.

 

Not really! Just been living in constant hearing protection. I'd love to move, can't afford to yet though!

 

Soundproofing an apartment from impact noise (heels on the upper floor) is hard to do. Impact noise is very hard to address and it will take expensive works.

Soundproofing is cheaper at the construction stage. Doing it later is messier, and impact noise is the hardest to reduce.

That said, even if the noise is driving you nuts, ordinary noises from a neighbour (heels, doors being slammed etc) cannot harm your ears if you are inside your apartment with everything closed, even if you have severe hyperacusis. I have experienced it myself and used hearing protection, the most comfortable option being earmuffs.

An altogether different thing is if, for instance, the common areas (staircase) are tiled and you walk out of your apartment and someone slams a door, which will be amplified by the tiled surface. That's totally an ear killer.