In article ,
Rachel wrote:
I'm thinking of buying a ground floor flat with acoustic problems (by
which I mean, them upstairs play music which you can hear from
downstairs and I don't like their taste in Elvis...)

I know it is possible to fit acoustic insulation, e.g., a couple of
layers of special damping fabric designed to take some frequencies out.

That sort of treatment is to improve the acoustics, and will have little
effect on noise transmission.

Does this work? I'm interested in both directions of noise
transmission - I might not like his Elvis, but then again, they might not
like our live saxophone, guitar and singing either.

I guess the real question is:

(a) if you buy a flat, can you acoustically insulate it completely from
hi-fi noise from above?

Anything can be done, but you'd be looking at serious money. Assuming you
haven't got access and the co-operation of the flat above, it would mean
building a completely new false ceiling, so you'd loose at least a foot of
height. And it will have to be a very robust construction as the idea is
to add mass.

(b) can you stop the people above having problems from the noise you make
below?

(c) are these the same question? or are there different considerations?

What stops sound in one direction will work in the other.

The flat in question has a high ceiling, so we're happy (within reason)
to spend time and money to fix the problem if it can be fixed.

I'd get the services of a specialist in this field with cast iron
warranties about the sort of reduction you need.

--
*I'm already visualizing the duct tape over your mouth

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn