Are you struggling with a noisy neighbour above you? Then you’ll want to read this week’s fan question answered by Mike Holmes! The fifth in our series:
HGTV Canada fan, Aaron, emailed us and asked, “How do you insulate your ceiling from noisy neighbours, without tearing apart your entire ceiling?”
Mike Holmes replied, “I’m guessing your neighbours are living above you. If they were living next door, like in a semi-detached house, I’d tell you to make sure there’s a double wall between you. A double wall means there’s one wall on one side, another wall on the other side-one of those walls must be insulated-and both walls are divided in the middle by drywall. But if the noise is coming from above then the problem is missing insulation. The quick fix is just screwing on another layer of drywall right over top of your existing ceiling. This could help but it won’t solve the problem. There are better types of drywall that are made specifically to block out noise-some are like having eight sheets of drywall. Products like soundboard are good. There’s also a type of drywall that has a viscoelastic polymer on both sides of a thin layer of metal. But if these types of products are going on your ceiling it needs extra bracing and definitely more screws.
But bottom line: If you’re serious about stopping the noise you need to add insulation. That means dropping the ceiling and adding a proper safe and sound insulation-I’d go with Roxul Safe ‘n Sound batt insulation. It’s designed to stop noise transfer and it’s fire-resistant.
Check back next week for more tips from the pro, and don’t forget to tune in for all-new episodes of Holmes Makes it Right, Tuesdays at 9pm ET.
