What can I do to prevent my neighbors from hearing me in my apartment?

Question

I'm moving into an apartment this fall that I've heard has some pretty thin walls. There will be no neighbors below me or above me, as they are all two-story townhouse style apartments, but there will be neighbors on either side of my apartment. I'm concerned that I'll end up making my neighbors hate me because I'm a night person who enjoys music and I have a girlfriend who gets rather loud during intimate moments.

So, in an effort to not get my tires slashed, I wanted to know if anyone could give me advice for keeping the sound in. I'm already putting tapestries on the walls since the walls themselves are pretty ugly, but is there anything else I can do to keep the sound in?

Answer 1

USA    Two solutions:  Do not create the sound, or block it from going through the walls.  For the stereo, headphones are good but will cause deafness.  Bedroom noises, well, can't be helped sometimes.

Mass stops sound.  Insulation in the wall helps a miniscule amount.  Lots of tapestries that are thick and overlap so they are three layers thick will help.  Or, to provide sound deadening mass, install cement wallboard on the demising walls.  Durock is one trade name.  It is usually used beneath tile.  Cement is dense and stops noise transmission.  Install it from floor to ceiling, right over the existing wallboard.   Make sure you have the building owner's permission.

Answer 2

Buy a catodetube HD tv instead flatpanel, and use it with an infrared headphone.

Flatpanel TV can conflict with infrared delivery, and if you use

a radiovawe transmission headphone instead, your waves

passing trough the walls, and might interfere with your neighboors devices.

Answer 3

It takes quite a bit of effort........but you can get the walls blown with insulation.......they just bore a hole and fill up each bay.........the other thing is you can make a shoji screen around an old mattress on the wall.......make it portable in  case your friend likes hand cuffs and loud parties:) Could just make her a "rubber room".......pad the whole thing lol  Have a nice evening...........who knows you and your friend may start something new in the unit....competition........nite

Answer 4

Are U Bragging or RU really asking a question?  All u can do is close the windows and keep the noise level down if u respect ur neighbors peace. and get a hankerchief.

Answer 5

There are some very good quality wireless headphones out there.  You can listen to whatever you want - as loud as you want - without sending booming bass notes to your neighbor's house.

As for the s*x, there's usually some pillows nearby.

Answer 6

Just be mature and respect your nieghbors.  I live in a townhome (on the end) and my 21 yr old neighbor can drive me nuts on weekends.  Dont be 'that' guy.  As far as the s*x, I wouldnt worry about that, you cant control it and its natural...