Noises carry throughout a home or condo in various forms. The most common is impact noise, which is made by stepping on a floor or setting down an object. The impact is heard on the floor below, and may even be amplified depending on how the subfloor is constructed.
Everyone can relate; you just don’t want anyone relating to it where you live. Condo carpet interiors and sound proof insulation are surefire ways to reduce noise.
How Noises Seem to Get Louder
Carpet naturally absorbs these sounds, reducing a sound made at the primary point of impact. The softer the sound that’s created, the fewer echoes and amplifications you’ll have to contend with.
Subfloors can act in different ways. Some are built specifically to reduce or scatter sounds, but others actually act like an echo chamber, making the sound worse. It depends both on material choice and on how the subfloors are constructed.
How Carpet Keeps the Quiet
Let’s tackle condo carpet interiors first:
Carpet over a wood base floor can reduce sounds by about 9 decibels. That might take the sound of a vacuum cleaner one floor above and bring it down to the sound of a normal conversation. Carpet with underlay can take that down by 17 decibels, or to the level of a quiet conversation. If that carpet’s over a concrete base floor instead of a wooden one, it can reduce that sound by 34 decibels. That takes the sound of that vacuum cleaner and reduces it to a whisper. It’s barely audible.
Subfloors and Insulation
Now, you’ll rarely have a concrete base floor on the second floor, but you can achieve an even better effect with sound proof insulation. Their are different qualities of sound proof insulation, but the best will utilize subfloor construction techniques and insulation that effectively scatter and absorb the sound.
Condos that utilize sound proof insulation can feature this as a selling point. People enjoy their privacy and personal time. Some people like that time to be quiet, but it’s not just about reducing the sound they hear from others. It’s also about reducing the sound others hear from them. No one wants a knock on the door at 10pm because they’re watching TV too loud. With sound proof insulation and condo carpet interiors, they can turn it up without disturbing their neighbors.
