Children constantly running downstairs

[Anne Arbor]

I just moved into a rented condo unit a couple of weeks ago.  So far it's been a very unhappy experience.     

There are two children downstairs (ages 2 and 5) who run constantly.  On weekends they are joined by their cousin, age 3.   

The soundproofing in the building seems to be pretty good on the whole.  I occasionally hear yelling, but mostly it's just running, running, running.   Sometimes it reaches the point where I actually have to leave my home in order to achieve peace.  It's just very depressing, every day.   

They have hardwood floors, apparently without carpet of any kind.  My floors are also hardwood, and I have just a couple of area rugs and two runners.   

My questions are: 

1:  The owner of my unit has offered to install wall-to-wall carpeting, with a pad, in the non-tiled areas (that is, everywhere except the kitchen and bathroom).    But:  would this really help?   I'm not crazy about w-to-w and would prefer not to be responsible for this kind of outlay.   

2:  I'd prefer to get a whole lot of old carpet and a bunch of pillows or cushions, and lay them around all over the place.  But: would that help?   

3:  The person who lives downstairs - the mother of the two kids - is very hostile and has been unwilling even to consider making a change of any kind.  I may be forced to go to the condo association for a remedy.   Question:  if she installs carpeting of any kind, would that make a difference??   

4:   Is there anything at all that I can do?  I'm really wretched in my present circumstances.   

[Randy S]

Installing carpet, padding and an underlayment down stairs is the best solution! Soundproofing from the source always delivers the best reduction.

As for changing the hard surface areas to soft surface ares in your unit, this will also help the sound that enters your unit and reduce the echo in your unit..

[Anne Arbor]

Randy,

Thank you so much for your reply.  It is terrific to have this information.   

The Condo Association rules require that upstairs units (i.e., me) have "carpeting."   There doesn't seem to be a hard-and-fast definition of "carpeting."   Do you think a bunch of area rugs and runners would be okay for my unit?    Does it really make a difference if the covering in my unit is w-to-w? or would a bunch of individual pieces be okay? 

 (I really don't want w-to-w and I'm not, as you point out, the "source.") 

 

[Randy S]

a bunch of individual pieces will work, however you will not see a change until you cover enough area..Now remember this is for the sound that is already in the room.
Any airborne sound that comes from below most likely will not have a dramatic change unless you go wall to wall with an underlayment.

[Anne Arbor]

Randy, thanks so much for your help. 

The problem from below is almost totally impact sound.   All that running, and hopping and jumping. 

Will w-to-w in my unit help with that??   


(And what if it doesn't have any underlayment?   I don't think that structural changes are a possibility.)   

I'm still confused about what to do.    

[Randy S]

Sorry for any confusion, The only thing you can do that will deliver relief will be to put carpet and padding on the floor the kids are running on if you want to increase the reduction then our underlayment of MLV w/closed cell foam will need to be added beneath the padding. The remainder of impact noise is going to travel up to your unit, once sound is in your unit the sound will remain longer if the whole room is hard surface area. If you convert 30% or more to soft surface area( carpet,tapestry,soft furniture) then you will reduce the amount of time the sound stays in your unit.