Outside balcony above bedroom... my plan

[smoss28]

I live in a 4 story condo (wood I-beam construction). Directly above my bedroom is a kitchen, and an outside balcony area (set back from my balcony).  The door to the upstairs balcony is a double pane 100" wide heavy door.  The door ends up being directly over my bed and when it is slid opened and closed it makes a low rumbling sound.  This wasn't a problem until recently when the new owner likes to go out there at 2-4AM!!  There is laminate floor in his kitchen and I hear walking, cabinets etc.  Our bylaws don't allow hard wood flooring and owners can't expand the laminate from where it was originally installed.  Floors are supposed to be covered with area rugs (80%) but that is very difficult to enforce.

My bedroom below has RC1.  Problem is, it is attached to the walls at the perimeter.  It seems to flex in the field though so maybe it was installed somewhat correctly.  I also installed a ceiling fan which is almost directly under the upstairs sliding door.  Here is my plan.

Plan A  Cut perimeter where wall meets ceiling and fill with silicone.  Remove ceiling fan and      silicon around junction box.  Leave nothing there for now.

I doubt that works well enough.  Will correctly installed RC1 reduce structure noise heard underneath?  Should I skip A and go directly to B??

Plan B  Pull down ceiling. Install two layers of 5/8 drywall with GG directly against their subfloor (silicone edges).  Install clips, RC2 and two layers of 5/8 drywall with GG in between.  Decouple ceiling fan with clips since ceiling has been removed.

Will that be enough?

Plan C  Have a contractor reconfigure my apartment so my master bedroom is in the back underneath the upstairs bedroom (carpet and no balcony door).  Problem is guest bedroom will still be under balcony so people will sometimes be sleeping in the front.

Plan D  MOVE!!!

Maybe I should just jump to Plan D if people don't think the above would ever work well enough.  I can't keep losing sleep.  Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Randy S]

Well no matter what you you do to the ceiling, the noise from the SGD opening and closing is going to come down the bedroom wall and will be heard.
At this point knowing we can't eliminate it, only reduce it, how much reduction would you need to get to make it tolerable?

If you want to make the effort you most likely will have to do Plan B along with wall treatments with GG and drywall added to existing walls.
And all this would depend on budget...plans C & D might still be options on the table.

Feel free to give me a call direct, will be in the office on Tuesday 9/4/12.

Randy S.

[smoss28]

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly Randy.  For argument sake, assume no budget....  I am already estimating $10 to $20k to re-arrange (move doors) and sound proof etc.  If it starts costing more than $30k then it would make more sense to move.  Naturally for 20 to 30k I would want it reduced to a whisper though.

What about larger fixes. Can we remove the slider and re-install with rubber isolators under it? What about pouring gypsum concrete on the entire floor, and under sliding door?  Looking at all solutions here.   This of course assumes the owner upstairs is willing.


I am actually thinking I should consult an structural engineer because this maybe be a large fix. 

I will send you a pdf showing the layouts of both apartments and I will call on Tuesday.  Thanks.