How Can I Soundproof Against Loud Neighbors?
Updated
To soundproof against loud neighbors, seal the gaps their noise comes through (the entry door, the outlets and the wall base), then add mass to the shared wall if you own it. Sealing is the big one. Sound is a lot like air: wherever air can sneak through, noise will too. One unsealed 1/8 in. gap 1 ft long drops a wall from STC 46 to 36 in PABCO's Sound Design Guide (opens in a new tab).
- Entry door: put on a sweep and adhesive gaskets until you can't see any light around the slab.
- Shared wall: pad the outlet boxes with acoustic putty and caulk the base. The full order, all the way to decoupling, is in how to block noise from a shared wall.
- Renting: stick to fixes you can take down, listed in soundproof panels for apartments, and bring the noise up with your landlord.
Watch out: footsteps from upstairs travel through the floor framing, so wall fixes and acoustic panels won't touch them. Panels only soak up echo in your own room, as the soundproof panels guide explains.
For sleep, foam earplugs are the cheapest fix that handles every path at once. 3M E-A-R Classic (opens in a new tab) plugs carry an NRR of 29 dB, and 3M recommends halving it "to better estimate typical protection," which leaves you about 15 dB.
There are more neighbor questions answered in the soundproof panels FAQ.