Apartment living – a sandwich of humanity with you as the filling. Successfully soundproof an apartment floor and life will be better for you and your neighbors.

Regardless of your budget, there are ways to soundproof your floor and reduce noise transmission. Here we consider the most effective soundproofing methods for apartment floors.

Skip to: 

• How soundproofing an apartment floor works
• Adding carpet underlay to your floor
• Soundproofing bathroom or kitchen floors
• Decoupling your floor
• Acoustical treatment for your floor

How soundproofing an apartment floor works

Before we consider the soundproofing options you could choose, let’s briefly explain how noise travels through your apartment floor. 

Take a look at our graphic that depicts the two main types of noise transmission; 1) impact noise and 2) airborne noise

Here’s more information on the two types:

Impact noise

Impact noise occurs when there is direct contact with your floor. The most common type of impact noise is footsteps, but it can also be caused by furniture being moved or an object being bounced or dropped. 

The vibrations created by impact noise travel through the structure of your floor, and the ceiling below. 

Depending on the type of apartment floor you have, you may be disturbing your downstairs neighbors due to impact noise. Hard surface floors made of materials such as hardwood or tiles may be particularly susceptible to transmitting impact noise. 

Airborne noise

From voices to music, television, and pet noises – airborne noise is noise that travels through the air. 

Airborne noise can disturb neighbors in the apartment below. Similarly, if you have noisy neighbors below you, you may be disturbed by airborne noise.

Key takeaway – the way best to soundproof your apartment floor is to reduce both airborne and impact noise. In the sections below, we’ll advise you on how to do this.

Adding carpet underlay to your floor

It’s easy, effective, and it will help you to keep costs down. Carpet underlay is a highly recommended way to soundproof an apartment floor. 

How does carpet underlay work for soundproofing? Carpet underlay is a buffer that reduces noise transmission through to downstairs. This buffer works in different ways, depending on the material.

Felt carpet underlay

Felt carpet underlay is good for reducing impact noise and improving acoustics within a room. 

It is a fiber underlay typically made from wool. Felt carpet underlay will reduce noise like footsteps, and because it is a decent sound absorber, it can quieten noise within a room, reducing echo. It’s durable, a good heat insulator, and will add comfort to your carpet. 

Rubber carpet underlay

Rubber is very effective at blocking impact noise such as footsteps. It prevents vibrations from traveling through the structure of your floor to the room below. 

This type of underlay is not as soft underfoot as other options. If comfort is a priority, you may want to combine rubber with another underlay such as foam or felt. Durability is another box ticked for rubber underlay.

Foam carpet underlay

Is it noise within your apartment that is bothering you? Foam carpet underlay is a very good sound absorber. If you have kids running around making noise, foam underlay will be effective in reducing the echo and reverberations.

Foam underlay’s dual benefit is that it is very soft, making it ideal for a living room or playroom in your apartment. It’s also cheaper than many other underlay options and offers some heat insulation. 

MLV carpet underlay

Mass loaded vinyl (MLV) is a thin, very dense, vinyl material. You can block airborne noise like voices and TV very well using MLV as a carpet underlay.

For added comfort and sound absorption, combine MLV with another underlay such as felt or foam. 

Soundproofing bathroom or kitchen floors

When considering how to soundproof a floor in an apartment, remember that bathrooms and kitchens are different to other rooms.

Carpet underlay isn’t an option. However, there are other types of underlayment and tiling that can be use to soundproof your bathroom or kitchen floor. Let’s start with your bathroom…

Soundproof your bathroom floor

The standard bathroom floor surface is ceramic tiles. But these are not very good for soundproofing. Luckily, there are a few other tiling options that mean you can soundproof your bathroom floor without having to restructure the floor.

Cork bathroom tiles are a sensible option. Not only do cork tiles block noise well, but they are also good at absorbing sound – this means they can reduce noise transmission downstairs while also cutting down on echo in one of your apartment’s most echoey rooms.

Crucially, cork tiles are resistant to the moisture, heat, and humidity in your bathroom. This makes them a durable long-term option for soundproofing a bathroom floor.

You can also find other types of acoustic tiles such as rubber (good for reducing impact noise), but we recommend cork tiles for their solid all-round soundproofing ability.

For a no-hassle bathroom acoustics solution, go with heavy floor rugs or mats. These will be good sound absorbers, while, depending on the material, also reducing noise transmission downstairs to some extent.

Top tip – you will find many vinyl bathroom tiles on the market, but be careful. Don’t get these vinyl tiles confused with mass loaded vinyl (MLV), the soundproofing material. In general, normal vinyl tiles won’t give you much soundproofing ability, especially with no underlay or membrane underneath.

Soundproof your kitchen floor

The kitchen floor in your apartment also warrants special attention. Like your bathroom, you need a floor that is resistant to moisture and humidity.

And in your kitchen, there are appliances. Washing machines and dishwashers can make a cacophony of sounds when in operation. Let’s start with measures for the floor itself, before moving onto appliances.

Some soundproofing underlayments are specially designed to go underneath kitchen floors such as hardwood or laminate. Cork or recycled fiber kitchen underlayment are good options. A material like cork can sit underneath your floor’s surface, blocking noise transfer while also absorbing sound and improving acoustics in your kitchen.

You also have the option of MLV sheeting, which is best installed in the sub floor, with the seams being sealed with acoustic caulk. MLV is a highly effective sound barrier that will reduce noise transmission from your kitchen floor. However, note that it won’t help with echo or acoustics.

For your appliances, consider isolator mounts or anti-vibration pads. These accessories are cheap and can make a real difference, decoupling the appliance from the floor and cutting out the shudders through the ceiling of the room downstairs.

So far, you’ve read about apartment floor soundproofing methods that don’t require any major building work. But you should note that there are more drastic soundproofing methods to consider. Let’s deal with them next.

Decoupling your floor

If your downstairs neighbors are suffering from serious noise issues, you may want to consider soundproofing your apartment floor from decoupling.

Decoupling your ceiling means separating the subfloor from the finished floor above, reducing noise transmission through the structure to the ceiling below.

This is a project that’s best left to construction professionals. It is likely to cost you from $5,000 and $10,000 in materials and labor. It can take anything from a few days to a couple of weeks to complete, so you should account not only for the cost, but the disruption it will cause in your household.

Your apartment floor can be decoupled with resilient channels. These are galvanized steeling furring strips (lengths used in construction). Screwed across wood joists, they are then attached to drywall instead of the framing of the floor or ceiling. 

You can also decouple by creating a ‘floating floor’ that is separate from the main floor system, reducing pathways for noise transmission. This is done with joist isolators to create a vibration barrier. A benefit of these floating floors is that there is no need to decouple the floor from the wall (another route for noise transmission).

For even more soundproofing power, combine with an extra layer of drywall and soundproof insulation such as MLV sheeting or mineral wool. 

Acoustical treatment for your floor

We’ve covered some of the best ways to soundproof your apartment floor, reducing noise transmission to the room below. 

How about reducing noise levels within your apartment? Improving acoustics should also be a consideration. 

Some people who have soundproofed their floor complain that the acoustics have actually got worse as a result. That’s because the materials and techniques they’ve used to block noise are acting as a barrier and reflecting sound, but not absorbing the sound waves well. The solution to this is acoustic treatment for your apartment floor.

The good news? Sound absorbing can be done easily and cheaply. Here are three good ways:

Acoustic foam underlay

Acoustic foam carpet underlay can provide a sound absorbing function, improving acoustics in your living room, bedroom, and reception areas. It is usually manufactured from polyurethane and is sometimes known as PU foam.

It’ll make your floor soft underfoot, can add safety for fall-happy toddlers, and provides a degree of heat insulation. And another good thing – it’s cheap.

Acoustic tiles

Acoustic tiles come in a few different materials. They combine well with your soundproofing methods to improve acoustics, reducing echo and reverberation. 

Cork or vinyl acoustic tiles will give your floor sound absorbing capabilities. Due to the fact they are moisture-resistant and durable, acoustic tiles can be a good option for your kitchen or bathroom.

Acoustic insulation

If you’ve decided on the most comprehensive and costly option – decoupling your apartment floor – you or your builders will have access to the cavities of your floor and the ceiling below. This is a great opportunity to install acoustic installation such as mineral wool or polyester fiber.

These sound absorbing materials come in panels that are easy to put in place, and can be considered the gold standard in sound absorption, having a greater noise reduction coefficient (NRC) than cork or foam.