Quote:
Originally Posted by W9TR
esteban,
You will need to hire an acoustical contracting company to come and do a site survey of your condo. If you buy a good spl meter you may learn a lot about where the noise is getting in.
Most likely the noise, especially the noise that is caused by the hvac systems ‘beating’ against each other, will be low frequency noise that is very hard to control.
It takes mass and effective isolation to eliminate low frequency noise.
Surface treatments just won’t cut it as the noise is mechanically transmitted from the source through the structure.
You need to find out where it is getting in - doors and windows are common transmission paths that are relatively easy to fix. Everything else is more difficult - but can be done.
Some condos are fabricated using precast concrete - those are usually pretty good. Other use stick and drywall construction and those will be very difficult to fix.
Let me know if you’d like to chat about it sometime.
Tom
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Hi Tom. Thank you very much for your reply and input. The noise is coming, from what I can gather, through the ceiling and floors. It does makes sense because the AC vibration travels that way and needs to "end/stop" somewhere. My unit is a corner unit, so it looks like I get all the vibrations of the entire floor, which "die" on my floors, walls, etc. I can clearly hear the neighbor's AC running once I place my ear next to my floor and walls.
I think I can treat the floor, if not fully at least satisfactorily, by installing multiple layers of cork on top of the existing floor, and then a new vinyl/laminated floor (good news is that the room would look much nicer this way, too, since it currently has tile, which I hate... I always wanted wooden floors, but these are extremely rare in FL, so the new vinyl/laminate alternatives are the next best-thing).
The problem is the ceiling. I am still unsure as to how best to approach/treat them...
I am actually in the process of trying to find an acoustical engineer. If you know of anybody in the South FL area, do please let me know. Thanks again!