Soundproofing an upper lower duplex

[Albert Olivarria]

I need soundproofing advice, I have an upper lower duplex and live in the lower unit myself. The sound from the tenants above is obnoxious, I can hear everything. My home was built in 1957 and there are hardwood floors under all existing flooring (carpet and linoleum). The floorboards also squeak and it doesn't seem to be confined to certain areas.  What are my options for decreasing the sound transfer, and reducing squeaky floors?

[Jaysen Medhurst]

@Albert Olivarria, there are various options for helping with squeaky floors, depending on the situation. Some may be fixed with a well placed screw, but in other cases there isn't much you can do without pulling up parts of the hardwood floors.

The best fix is, unfortunately, a pretty big job. You pull down the ceilings in your unit, fill all the joist bays with mineral wool insulation, seal all floor penetrations with sound-proofing foam, and finally hang new drywall using resilient channel. Do that and you won't even know you have tenants until the rent check arrives.