Hounded By Sound? -- Here's How To Check Condos And Apartments For Noise Before You Sign

As he lay in bed at night, in the bedroom of the Seattle view condominium he dearly loved, his imagination roiled with each thud heard from above.

The occupant of the upstairs unit, the creator of those heavy footfalls that jarred him awake at 2 a.m., yes, he could just picture that person:

"A lumberjack, a totally hairy-knuckled guy," says "Bob." To keep peace in his four-story, eight-unit condo, Bob's real name is being withheld.

So imagine his surprise when the lumberjack turned out to be "a diminutive, mid-60s grandmotherly-type woman, maybe 140 pounds tops. She just walks very hard."

And this was driving him nuts. So in his quest for quiet nights, Bob tried first, "the neighborly approach . . . it just doesn't work with her." Then he leaned on the condo association to lean on her. Only temporary relief.

"Then we went through me banging on the ceiling at 2 a.m. and her banging back."

Does any of this sound familiar?

If you're one of the tens of thousands who live in apartments or condominiums, the answer is probably yes, and you have your own tale to tell of being maddeningly sleepless in Seattle. Of stereos that sound like pile drivers, plumbing that mimics Snoqualmie Falls, or neighbors who know how to close kitchen cabinets only one way: by slamming them.

According to condo sales agent Jack Mitchell, of downtown Seattle's John Paul Mitchell Associates, the specter of noise "is very much always a consideration" among condo purchasers.

"Most people buying condos are coming from an apartment where they've heard a lot of noise and it bothered them, or they're coming from the quiet of a house and now they're concerned about having a lot of neighbors around them," Mitchell says.

"They want to know what makes some places noisier than others, and they have a great deal of interest in how that noise can be controlled."

That's where Dan Bruck, Bill Stewart and Dennis Noson may come in. With the Seattle-based acoustical and vibration-consulting firm of Towne, Richards & Chaudiere, they're basically highly trained noise detectives (all have at least master's degrees) who can ferret out the cause of the problem and devise solutions.

And they can also tell you what to watch for before you buy that condo or rent that apartment so you don't end up hounded by sound later. (See related story on page XXX.)

As these experts explain, there are two types of noise within buildings.

The first is airborne noise from outside, such as sounds from a freeway. Here, "windows quickly become the weak link to the outside," says Stewart, who was initially an architect.

The second is structure-borne noise. The biggest culprits are plumbing pipes, floors, stairs, kitchen cabinets, whirlpool baths or hot tubs and mechanical systems like rooftop air conditioning units.

Often the problem is caused by the floor structure itself, or the way the pipes, stairs or kitchen cabinets are installed. If a waste-water pipe, for instance, is rigidly attached to the structure and not wrapped with insulation, it will actually cause the entire wall to vibrate, amplifying the noise.

Low-frequency sounds, like the bass range of a stereo, are particularly irksome because they "agitate people over a long time and make it hard to sleep," notes Bruck, TRC's president. And low-frequency noise problems are also harder to solve, he adds.

Many local jurisdictions, Seattle included, have adopted some form of the national Universal Building Code. But as Stewart observes, constructing a building to code does not guarantee it will be quiet. That's because building-code requirements for floors and walls "normally are insufficient to provide the amount of sound and impact-isolation that most people would consider acceptable."

Buying a so-called "luxury condo" is no guarantee either, Bruck says, because luxury usually refers to amenities and cost - only rarely to soundproofing. And that doesn't cut it, adds Noson, when people spend big bucks on a condo. "Listening to the neighbor next door make dinner every night is not in the game plan."

So what makes for an acceptable amount of noise? There are a couple of different noise-rating systems, but in general the higher the number the quieter the structure will be.

For example, a 1 3/4-inch hollow-core door with no seal has a 15 rating, while a 2 1/4-inch solid-core door with a good seal is 35. (This is not the same as decibel level.)

Single-strength glass is 25; up that to two sheets of insulated glass with a half-inch airspace in between and the rating jumps to 32.

As for floors, bare hardwood is 40 or less, vinyl flooring up to 45, foam-backed carpet 45 to 55 and wall-to-wall with a quality pad rates 60 or more.

As for the floor system itself, Stewart says the best is 6-inch-thick concrete, which, when properly finished out, can have a rating of 60 all by itself. But that's not likely to be found in wood-frame construction, he says.

"Party walls" separating different units within a building ideally will be staggered-stud, double-wall construction. Put 3 1/2-inch batt insulation between the walls, then a single layer of 5/8-inch gypsum wall board on each side and the rating will be 45.

"Adding two layers of 5/8-inch wallboard on each side is even better," Stewart says. "It gives you a 55, which is a very good performing wall."

Once a building is completed, making major sound-lessening improvements can be very expensive - and sometimes impossible, depending on how the building was constructed. (See accompanying list for a few soundproofing tips.)

But consideration is free. Says Bruck: "Just being a good neighbor can solve problems if nobody has the money to fix it."

That might mean things as basic as always going barefoot indoors, not flushing toilets at night, working with a neighbor to set how loud a stereo or television will be played.

And one not unheard of approach is for the complaining neighbor to have his or her hearing checked. Yes, the acoustical consultants all report sleuthing in vain for the outside source of a client's auditory discomfort - only to discover there is none. Instead, that person has developed an inner ear problem and doesn't realize it.

But often no simple fix is good enough. That's what "Bob," with the "lumberjack" neighbor decided.

Loathe to leave his condo with its fine view and quick commute to work, he called in Bruck to fix the problem. "Bob" opted to do the bedroom first to see how well soundproofing might work before deciding whether to do more rooms.

Based on Bruck's recommendations, a grove was cut around the perimeter of Bob's bedroom near the ceiling. This broke the continuity of the sheetrock reaching the ceiling, and thus prevents sound from being resonated by the walls.

Then an elaborate false ceiling was added; this generally works better than retrofitting sound isolation materials into the floor above because that requires building up a floor, which messes up thresholds.

Because Bob's original bedroom ceiling was 10 feet, adding the recommended eight-inch false ceiling was possible, which it wouldn't have been if the ceiling had been lower.

For the new ceiling a gridwork was placed across it, held in place by joist hangers attached to the walls and ceiling. At various places, the grid was wrapped in Neoprene insulation to minimize any vibration. Then 6 inches of acoustical batting were fitted into the grid. Two half-inch layers of Sheetrock finished off the new ceiling.

Muffling the noise from the upstairs waste-water pipe, which traveled down Bob's bedroom wall, meant removing the wallboard, wrapping the pipe in three layers of special sound-dampening material, then replacing the original single layer of wallboard with two layers.

Total bill for work to this one room: $5,000.

Total effect on the noise problem: It's cut sound transmission from above by 85 percent.

"I have absolutely no money to do anything but sit here," Bob says, "but at least it will be quiet. I can sleep through the night now."

-------------------------------- Construction that promises quiet --------------------------------

Here are points to look for in construction of multiple-dwelling units with shared walls or ceilings:

1) Walls: staggered-stud, double-wall construction with insulation.

2) Hardwood floors: acoustic pad and concrete slab below.

3) Windows: thick, laminated panes a half-inch or more apart.

---------------------------------------- Here are a few simple things inhabitants can do to lessen sound transmission: ----------------------------------------

-- Put weatherstripping around doors.

-- Use polyurethane or acrylic latex caulk to carefully seal even tiny gaps around electrical boxes, heating registers and plumbing fixtures.

-- Put the appropriate types of insulation behind electrical outlets, cable-TV jacks and can-light fixtures, all of which transmit sound between units.

-- Keep stereo speakers off bare floors and wall-mounted shelves; better is situating them on carpet and away from walls or fireplaces (which can transmit sound from unit to unit).

-- Install high-quality carpet and pad.

-- Install ready-made interior storm windows, or even cover a window over with gypsum wallboard and caulk it in place.

-- Disengage the hot tub motor, if possible, and set it on a pad. "Most come with the motor attached to the shell," notes consultant Bill Stewart. "That's like attaching it to a bell."

-- Keep a fan or "white sound" machine (with wave sounds for example) running to mask other noise.

-- Replace noisy fan-blade type exhaust fans with quieter centrifugal, or bird-cage, models.

------------ Free booklet ------------

The North American Insulation Manufacturers' Association offers a free booklet on different sound-control strategies, "Sound Control for Commercial and Residential Buildings." Call 703-684-0084; fax a request to 703-684-0427; or write: 44 Canal Center Plaza, Suite 310, Alexandria, VA 22314.