Condo Noise Control

Our noise control experts have spoken to many condo owners in the past about noise problems in their buildings.  This is especially common with luxury condos and apartments that have recently become very popular.  These situations are unique because it often involves adults that have lived in a single family home for many years were the nearest neighbor is more than 50 feet away.  With the increasing popularity of urban condos, these individuals now choose to live in luxury condo building in a bustling downtown area.  In these units, they share common walls, floors, and ceilings with their neighbors and they are disturbed when they can hear them.  The biggest culprit is hardwood or tiled flooring in the unit above.  If the condo developer did not use adequate sound control engineering in the construction of the building, there will be noise issues when the units become occupied.

There are two ways to fix these problems.

• Install carpet and a heavy pad
• Tear out the floor and ceiling below and install an adequate acoustical underlayment and a vibration isolated ceiling

 

 

Another common condo problem is air conditioning units on the condo roof.  There are often many air conditioning condensing units resting on a wooden frame sitting on the roof.  The ceiling and roof assembly is typically not designed correctly to manage the noise created by the multiple units and this makes for a very noisy condominium unit if you happen to be on the top floor.

The first solution is to mount all of the condensing units on vibration isolation – we recommend spring isolators.  This will create an acoustical separation between the A/C units and the roof, eliminating any structure borne noise.

The second solution involves the airborne noise of the units migrating through the roof ceiling structure.  The fix for this is to tear out the existing ceiling and install a high STC spring hanger isolated ceiling.  This assembly will block out the noise from the roof HVAC units from entering the condo units below.

eNoise Control works with clients to solve these noise related issues daily.  Whether you are just beginning to build your condo or apartment unit, or if you need a solution for an existing building, contact us toll-free at 888.417.1903 or email us at info@enoisecontrol.com  to discuss your noise control application.