You work the night shift and you need to sleep during the day. You work a regular shift but your neighbor works a night shift and wakes you up. Your upstairs neighbor is just plain noisy. It doesn’t really matter what your reason is. You likely want to take some time to soundproof your home – and if your problem is coming from above, you may need to soundproof the ceiling.
Your Home vs. a Rental
If you rent your home, you likely don’t have permission to make whatever change you’d like to the property itself. While, if done properly, no one might notice your changes, it’s still appropriate to ask your landlord for permission first. Your landlord likely won’t have a problem allowing you to soundproof your ceiling, especially if it will increase the value of a particular apartment. He may, however, want to hire someone else to do the job for you – a professional. It’s his decision and you’ll need to be respectful of whatever he decides. Be sure to calmly explain your position and the reason you want the work done. You may be surprised at the open response you receive.
How to Soundproof a Ceiling
You can, honestly, so this job yourself. Grab a friend and take an afternoon to get the job done quickly. The process is similar to soundproofing a wall, but you’ll need to make sure you are carefully working around your light fixtures, if you have any. If you do, remove them from the ceiling while you work and be careful working around the exposed wires.
The process is simple. Apply some green glue to the back side of the drywall you’re going to use on the ceiling, making sure the green glue goes between the old and new layers. Green Glue can be purchased easily from Trademark Soundproofing and other local supply spots.
Attach the drywall to the ceiling and patch up the seams. Once that’s done, you can paint over the ceiling and it will look brand new. Reattach your lighting and you’re done!
You’ll definitely notice a huge difference once the project is complete. Even if you still hear or feel some thumping or movement from above, the sound will be less noticeable, if you hear it at all!