Loud lovemaking - soundproofing the walls?

dsi11 · Post by **dsi11** » Sun Oct 11, 2015 8:26 pm

I live in an old (1932) building in Töölö, and the only suitable place for my bed is near one wall and my neighbour is probably in the same situation. It seems to be a thin wall: when he brings a girl home late at night, I can hear everything (and vice versa, I assume, haha

).

Don't get me wrong, it is not the worst thing in the world to hear a girl reach climax, haha

but when I'm trying to sleep, it gets annoying.

It would be wrong to ask someone to stop their sex lives or to do it more quietly - and I wouldn't want them to ask the same of me... so does anybody have experience / recommendations for adding a soundproofing material for a wall? (in this case, the wall is 202cm wide and 290cm tall, but maybe I would not need to soundproof all the way to the top).

Any tips for a good hardware store that can help is also greatly appreciated

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irnbru · Post by **irnbru** » Sun Oct 11, 2015 9:57 pm

Egg boxes are the best thing

ajdias · Post by **ajdias** » Mon Oct 12, 2015 11:04 am

Ear plugs for sleeping won't do? This is probably happening during weekends, right?

Beep_Boop · Post by **Beep_Boop** » Mon Oct 12, 2015 12:26 pm

I like how in each sentence you're inconspicuously slipping us details on your sexual life. Pretty sad, but quite funny as well

Aaanyway. Egg boxes won't work for soundproofing. They're fantastic for acoustic adjustment (to limit echo, etc.), but they suck with sound proofing. What you need is an extra layer of false wall on top of your actual wall with MLV (mass-loaded vinyl) in between. This is what sound engineers use when constructing a music studio in a residential area. Trust me, nothing else you add to the wall like sponge, egg boxes, cardboard, foam, nothing will work for soundproofing between walls. However, they'll be fantastic for echo suppression.

One thing you can try is checking for any leaks/holes in the corners. Other than that, you're gonna have to start syncing your adventures with your neighbours'.

dsi11 · Post by **dsi11** » Mon Oct 12, 2015 2:24 pm

ajdias wrote:Ear plugs for sleeping won't do? This is probably happening during weekends, right?

Yep, I do use earplugs and they work well but (a) it makes it difficult to hear my alarm clock and (b) anybody who stays over will also need earplugs.

adnan wrote:I like how in each sentence you're inconspicuously slipping us details on your sexual life. Pretty sad, but quite funny as well

Ah, go f*ck yourself.

I was trying to be subtle, and anyways the point is that I need soundproofing that will keep the noise from the other apartment out and ALSO the noise from my apartment in.

adnan wrote:Egg boxes won't work for soundproofing. They're fantastic for acoustic adjustment (to limit echo, etc.), but they suck with sound proofing. What you need is an extra layer of false wall on top of your actual wall with MLV (mass-loaded vinyl) in between. This is what sound engineers use when constructing a music studio in a residential area. Trust me, nothing else you add to the wall like sponge, egg boxes, cardboard, foam, nothing will work for soundproofing between walls. However, they'll be fantastic for echo suppression.

Thank you! I will try to find this kind of false wall and MLV.

dsi11 · Post by **dsi11** » Mon Oct 12, 2015 2:38 pm

I did manage to find a couple of places that have options for optimal acoustics at home. Not sure an "akustiikkaverho" is good enough but I will look around and ask... .

http://www.innofusor.fi/

http://www.gardin.fi/tuotteet/sisustusv ... ikkaverhot

Beep_Boop · Post by **Beep_Boop** » Mon Oct 12, 2015 4:02 pm

dsi11 wrote:I did manage to find a couple of places that have options for optimal acoustics at home. Not sure an "akustiikkaverho" is good enough but I will look around and ask... .

http://www.innofusor.fi/

http://www.gardin.fi/tuotteet/sisustusv ... ikkaverhot

Nope nope nope. Nothing "acoustic" will work for you.
Soundproofing verification is sometimes a part of my job, and secure rooms with "acoustic" products always receive an F in my test.

Here's some reading material for you:
https://acousticalsolutions.com/how-to- ... ock-sound/ (very good read)
http://www.soundcontrolroom.com/the-dif ... atment.php
https://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul00/ ... oustic.htm

dsi11 · Post by **dsi11** » Mon Oct 12, 2015 4:07 pm

adnan wrote:
dsi11 wrote:I did manage to find a couple of places that have options for optimal acoustics at home. Not sure an "akustiikkaverho" is good enough but I will look around and ask... .

http://www.innofusor.fi/

http://www.gardin.fi/tuotteet/sisustusv ... ikkaverhot
Nope nope nope. Nothing "acoustic" will work for you.
Soundproofing verification is sometimes a part of my job, and secure rooms with "acoustic" products always receive an F in my test.

Here's some reading material for you:
https://acousticalsolutions.com/how-to- ... ock-sound/ (very good read)
http://www.soundcontrolroom.com/the-dif ... atment.php
https://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul00/ ... oustic.htm

That's too bad, some of these designs looked pretty nice - not sure if they work in an apartment though.
I imagine that since they are artsy, they're probably expensive too.
http://www.innofusor.com/hiljaiset-puut/
http://www.innofusor.com/stream/

Bavarian · Post by **Bavarian** » Mon Oct 12, 2015 10:54 pm

dsi11 · Post by **dsi11** » Tue Oct 13, 2015 4:45 pm

Mostly I am worried about the noise from my TV showing NHL hockey games late at night bothering THEM

AldenG · Post by **AldenG** » Wed Oct 14, 2015 3:42 am

Has a once-larger space been divided?

In Etu-Töölö we seemed to have brick between us and all neighboring units.

ilikepeanutbutter · Post by **ilikepeanutbutter** » Wed Oct 14, 2015 10:42 pm

https://simplynoise.com/

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Thu Oct 15, 2015 11:28 am

dsi11 wrote:Mostly I am worried about the noise from my TV showing NHL hockey games late at night bothering THEM

http://fi-fi.sennheiser.com/monitoring- ... hd-380-pro that 32dB is goood.

agroot · Post by **agroot** » Sat Oct 10, 2020 9:27 pm

Is there some simple way without making a huge mess in rented apartment?

I live on top floor and since I moved my bed from living room to bedroom I started to hear a bit of noises from ceiling at midnight when I'm awake. It's the kind like door closing or showering, yet I can't hear neighbors talking or TV.

Been unable to identify the real source so far, I mean noise from above can't be real right? Besides that there is persistent dog barking which is now reduced by acoustic fiberglass panels - can't hear from the wall anymore; now only very low volume from everywhere, but how could dog barking transmit that far!? I also heard once noise transmitted from the heating panel but most of time it's clearly from the ceiling.

Soundproof guides generally suggest a second wall and some soft material inserted between two walls, but I can't do the kind of the change to existing ceiling - or can I? Or should I install some kind of isolation booth for the bed area?

agroot · Post by **agroot** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 12:39 pm

A partial solution with 6cm sound absorbing foams and 20cm bass traps on ceiling appears to be working. It helps little when the knocking is loud, but the small ones that sounds very loud at quiet night: water running, dropping (rail fall?) and door closing etc, have become barely audible. I think the underlying sources are water pipes inside ceiling and air vent pipes inside the walls around kitchen.

Next is to cover the door and the wall where lovemaking sound comes from

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