You may be wondering if it’s absolutely necessary to soundproof your basement ceiling. Well, a few years back, I was wondering the same thing, and all I can say is that I’m happy I did!
Most people see their basement as just a space below the first floor of their home, but some consider it to be a special room. Maybe you’re an amateur musician and you can’t afford to rent a studio—your basement could be the right place to set one up for a fairly cheap price. Your basement could also serve as a home office, a mini-library, a study room or even a little hangout spot.
My basement was filled with a lot of tools and unnecessary items for a number of years, until I decided to turn it into a little hangout crib. But when my friends came over and we began to drink and play games, the noise became unbearable for my wife, who was working upstairs.
That’s when I decided to soundproof the basement, although I didn’t plan on spending a lot of money to do so, since I was only going to be in there for a few hours on the weekends.
The good news is that soundproofing a basement actually won’t cost you a lot of money, and it’s not extremely difficult, either. All you’ll have to do is follow the methods below carefully, and you’ll get the job done in what seems like no time at all.
First, Determine What Type of Noise is Getting In
Before you start the soundproofing process, you’ll first need to determine what type of noise is entering your basement. In this day and age, we only ever come across two types of noise: impact noise and airborne noise.
Airborne noise is simply noise that travels through the air. Conversation, sounds from the radio, or the music your kids are playing on their stereos are examples of airborne noise.
On the other hand, impact noise goes through walls, floors and the ground. The footsteps of a person and the sound of an object falling onto the floor are great examples of impact noise.
Although you should pay attention to which type is more prominent, the soundproofing methods I’ve outlined below should help you block both impact and airborne noise.
5 Cheapest Way to Soundproof a Basement Ceiling
1. Seal all the Gaps
The first rule, when it comes to soundproofing, is to make sure you seal all the gaps. Every ceiling will develop cracks and gaps at some point, so it’s best to closely inspect your basement’s ceiling in order to find all of those. You can start by rubbing your hand against the ceiling’s surface.
Once you’ve found all the cracks and gaps, you can seal them by using 3M Patch Plus. If you don’t take the time to seal the gaps you’ve found, then any later steps you take to soundproof your basement will be of no use.
2. Lay Carpets or Rugs on the Floor Above
Instead of soundproofing the basement ceiling alone, we highly recommend that you lay carpets or rugs on the floor above. This is a great way to stop unwanted noise from coming into your basement.
When applying rugs, we advise that you use some fluffy ones, because these will work better when it comes to dampening the impact of footsteps and other everyday noise. However, most houses already have carpets, so if you’d rather not buy any new carpeting, you can simply do some rearranging to fill in any gaps.
For the best results possible, you can place some Mass Loaded Vinyl mats under the carpet. Another low-cost option is to place one or more pieces of furniture, such as a couch and an easy chair, directly above the basement ceiling. Try to find the noisiest area in your basement, and then place the furniture directly above it.
3. Install Soundproofing Panels
If you have some spare cash and you’re serious about soundproofing your basement ceiling, then I recommend that you invest in soundproof panels. They may look expensive, but they’re actually quite affordable and you can find them almost anywhere.
Some soundproofing experts discourage the use of these foam pads in regard to soundproofing a ceiling, as they tend to perform better when they’re added to walls.
That being said, ATS Acoustic Panels are different from regular acoustic foam panels, and you can easily see this difference by looking at them. The foam is covered with a material known as microsuede that enhances their visual appeal and improves their performance.
The installation process is quite easy, although it may take a lot of time, because these panels come with hooks and instructions that’ll tell you exactly how to attach them to your ceiling. You can even glue them to the ceiling, if you think that’s the best idea.
These panels are also durable and will last a long time, because each one is protected with a solid wooden frame that will help prevent damage as you install it.
4. Try MuteX Soundproofing Material
If soundproofing foam panels aren’t your thing, then you might want to try some MuteX Soundproof Material. Even though this is basically just a thick and compact type of paper, it’s considered to be very effective, with an STC rating of 32. The material is made up of two main elements (polymute resin and carbonwave), and it can also be used in any weather conditions.
What I really like about MuteX material is the fact that it’s versatile. That means it can be used to soundproof almost anything you want, such as a washing machine, a dishwasher, a speaker box, a car, an office, a floor, a door and so on.
Even though MuteX works fine by itself, I strongly recommend that you use it with drywall. You can staple or glue it to some drywall, which you can find for an affordable price in most hardware stores, and then set that up on the ceiling.
5. Add Resilient Channels and Drywall
Above, I’ve talked about one way to soundproof your basement ceiling by using drywall. Along the same lines, resilient channels can act as an alternative to the MuteX soundproofing material mentioned previously.
These channels create a gap between the drywall and the main structure (your ceiling), and consequently disable the transmission. The channel bar is usually suspended so that the drywall hangs from it.
If you install resilient channels, most of the sound that travels through your basement’s ceiling will lose its energy before it hits the drywall. For more information, here’s is a video that’ll teach you how to install both resilient channels and drywall.
Conclusion
To soundproof my basement, I used all the methods outlined above, and it’s so quiet down there, I can even go to sleep! If you follow the instructions I’ve provided carefully, you should be able to soundproof your own basement in days without emptying your wallet.
If you’ve found this article helpful, you may also be interested in my guide to soundproofing a small room.
image 1: Pixabay; image 2: Martin Lopatka