Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Carpet and pad assemblies to assist in acoustic separation of units.

[Bob Morrison (rhmorrison]

Deborah Carey (boiester [at] gmail.com) wrote:

        
                


  At Oakleigh Meadow Cohousing in Eugene, we're interested in knowing what 
carpet/pad products have performed best when used to acoustically separate 
upstairs units from downstairs ones.  (Not if they work but which ones work 
best.)   Anyone out here with any knowledge on this, we'd appreciate hearing. 
[end quote]
  IMO even the best soundproofing wall-to-wall carpet and pads won't solve this 
problem, because noise will travel thru the structure of the building both from 
upstairs units to downstairs and the reverse. On first-floor units you will 
also get a lot of noise from wastewater going down the pipes from the unit 
above. And note that a future homeowner of the upstairs unit might replace the 
wall-to-wall carpet with hardwood floors. (This is actually happening here at 
Mosaic Commons.)
  I would advise you to find and hire a good acoustical engineer to find a real 
solution to noise carrying between stacked units. Are you early enough in the 
design process that this is possible?

Bob Morrison
Mosaic Commons Cohousing
Berlin, MA