How to Soundproof a Basement Ceiling

If you can hear every footstep, chair scrape and dropped toy from the room above, you have plenty of company. Quieting a basement ceiling is the project our customers call about more than any other, and it is also the one where the most money gets wasted. The short version: insulation alone will disappoint you, footstep noise is a different animal than voices or TV sound, and the fix that works is the one that breaks the connection between the ceiling and the framing above it.

Why footsteps are the hard part

Sound reaches your basement two different ways. Airborne noise, like voices and the TV, travels through the air, hits the floor assembly and shakes it. Impact noise is created in the structure itself. A heel strike puts energy straight into the subfloor and joists, and that vibration rides the framing down into your ceiling drywall. Insulation in the joist bays soaks up a useful amount of airborne sound, but it does very little for vibration traveling through wood. This is why so many people fill their bays with R19, close up the ceiling, and still hear footsteps almost as clearly as before. For a deeper explanation, see our article on impact (footstep) noise.

The assembly that works

Decouple the ceiling. Instead of screwing drywall to the joists, hang it on resilient sound isolation clips and hat channel. The drywall now floats on rubber, and vibration in the joists loses its direct path into the room below. Nothing else on this page does as much for footstep noise as this one step. We explain the physics in Decoupling Explained.

Add mass, and damp it. A heavy ceiling is harder to shake. Two layers of 5/8" drywall with Green Glue between them perform far beyond what either layer does alone, because the damping layer stops the panels from ringing.

Insulate the bays with ordinary insulation. Standard fiberglass or mineral wool batts do the job here. Fill the cavity without packing it tight. Your money is better spent on clips and a second layer of drywall than on premium insulation.

Seal the perimeter. Run acoustical caulk around the edges of the new ceiling and any penetrations. A hairline gap leaks a surprising amount of sound.

If the framing is still open and you have access to the floor above, a layer of joist gasket tape between the joists and the subfloor is cheap to add during construction and takes the edge off impact transfer at the source.

Short on headroom?

Clips, channel and two layers of drywall cost you roughly 2-1/2 inches. Many basements cannot spare it. If that is your situation, a single layer of 5/8" drywall on clips still beats a double layer screwed hard to the joists where footsteps are concerned. The other route is to treat the floor above instead, with carpet and a quality pad or a damped underlayment, which attacks the noise where it starts. Between the two, treat whichever side you have more freedom on.

Already have a drywall ceiling up there?

You do not necessarily have to tear it down. Screwing a second layer of 5/8" drywall with Green Glue over the existing ceiling gives a real improvement on voices and TV noise and a modest one on footsteps, since the whole assembly is still bolted to the joists. If footsteps are the main complaint, the clips need to come into the picture, either by removing the old drywall or in some cases by furring below it. One warning: avoid gluing tiles or planks over an existing ceiling with trapped air spaces behind them. Sealed air cavities between layers create what is called the triple leaf effect, and it can leave you worse off than when you started.

Mistakes we see every week

Recessed can lights punched through a freshly soundproofed ceiling, which turn it into swiss cheese. Ducts and stairwells left untreated, so the sound simply goes around the new ceiling. Perimeter caulk skipped on the theory that trim will cover it. And foam panels bought to block sound, when absorption products only tame echo inside a room and do next to nothing to stop sound passing between rooms.

The full step-by-step method for every surface is in our guide on how to soundproof.

Real customer questions about basement ceilings

Will R19 insulation and joist gasket tape alone stop footstep noise from above?

Customer question: Hi, I'm refinishing my basement and the ceiling is completely exposed and I would like to try to reduce the sound from footsteps above and noise below. I've been thinking about putting R19 in the joist bays, but i've also heard/read that another problem is the drywall attached directly to the joists also transmits noise. So will your Joist Gasket Tape reduce that considerably? If so, my next question is about gluing the drywall to the ceiling in addition to the screws to prevent sagging. If there is your tape there, it seems the glue would be only as strong as your adhesive, and not needed. What do you think? Thanks Ben

Trademark Soundproofing answer: The Joist Gasket would help somewhat but not 'considerably'. Real decoupling requires the use of Resilient Sound Clips and Channel. You are correct that the adhesive glue will not add more than the adhesion of the tape.

Which insulation actually works best in a basement ceiling?

Customer question: we are putting insulation in our basement ceiling to dampen the sound. I am getting conflicting advice about whether it is better to go with R30 batts in an 8 inch cavity or to go with blown-in fiberglass. Also which is better for filling tight spaces-batt or blown-in?

Trademark Soundproofing answer: Hi Paul. Our advice is. Don't knock yourself when it comes to insulation. Use whichever is simpler and cheaper, usually fiberglass batts. Nearly all the insulation will perform adequately in absorbing the sound waves. Concentrate more on the decoupling, damping and proper sealing.

My basement ceiling has 1/2" drywall and no insulation - what should I add?

Customer question: Currently I have 1/2 inch drywall on my basement ceiling that is not insulated on the floor joist above. If I use 3 tubes of GG for each sheet of 1/2 inch drywall installed to the existing layer, how much noise reduction would I have for footstep?

Trademark Soundproofing answer: Hi Simon. Would not be worth it if the main issue is foot fall noise as there is no insulation there.

Can I soundproof over an existing drywall ceiling without tearing it down?

Customer question: We are turning our basement into an in-law suite. The basement had an existing drywall ceiling which we have already removed. We found existing R-19 fiberglass batt insulation in the ceiling cavity. Should we replace that with a different type of insulation? Or should we leave it and add additional insulation like the fiberglass panels or rockwool insulation? Or are just the R-19 batts enough insulation and instead I should spend more money on decoupling? Thanks!

Trademark Soundproofing answer: R-19 is fine. Spend the extra effort and money on the decoupling and damping.

What is the best approach for a low basement ceiling with 2x12 joists?

Customer question: Basement Ceiling, Rafters; 2 x 12's , 12' O.C., I only have 80' from floor to bottom of rafters. Planning to add dropped rafters ( @ 1/2' lower)between existing 2x12's to decouple new ceiling which will be double 5/8 drywall with Green Glue. Question is about insulating existing bays. Is it better to fill the bay completely or leave air space in the bay. Due to the fact that the bays are only 12' wide I will be cutting the batts to fit the width. My thoughts are that R-38 (12' tall) would better dampen the resonance of the 2x12's as opposed to something that is not as tall (R-13/19/30) for example. This will be a band practice room so I need to shoot for the highest STC rating possible with an emphasis on eliminating the lower frequencies ( 250 hz and below) to keep from rattling the China and Wine glasses off the shelves in the room above.

Trademark Soundproofing answer: As long as the insulation is fluffy and not compressed you can fill the entire cavity.

How do I soundproof a basement ceiling framed with I-joists?

Customer question: I'm finally getting around to finishing my basement in my new home. It has iJoist which are engineered joist. Previously I have placed drywall resting on the top of the bottom flange. Like it says in this article: https://www.apawood.org/i-joist-fire-assemblies. If the basement is finished with drywall on the ceiling over the existing drywall that is resting on the flange, will the sound proofing be better or worse than if I removed the drywall panel and then drywalled the ceiling? The panels are resting on the flange and are not screwed or glued down.

Trademark Soundproofing answer: That little air gap will create a triple leaf effect. In your case where it is not much labor to remove I would suggest you remove it and screw it to the bottom of the flange so that the 2nd layer of drywall sits right on the first one.

How much Green Glue do I need between two layers of 5/8" Type X drywall?

Customer question: I am renovating a basement and plan on a double, 5/8 type X drywall ceiling on joists 16' O/C. What would the STC rating increase be if I apply one, two, and three tubes of your product per sheet? The area is approximately 800 square feet. Thanks, Doug Galloway

Trademark Soundproofing answer: 2 tubes will add 9 STC points. 1 Tube about 5 STC points and 3 Tubes about 10. 2 Tubes is the way to go.

Do glued-on ceiling tiles over drywall create a triple leaf problem?

Customer question: Question: I have a finished basement ceiling with sheetrock, then glue up ceiling tiles fixed to the sheetrock. I'd like to add another layer of sheetrock for sound blocking purposes. Would the ceiling tiles qualify as an air cavity, in which case I would be creating a triple leaf? Or, would they qualify as a layer of somewhat rigid material? I'm trying to figure out if I should remove the ceiling tiles, or leave them in between two layers of sheetrock. Thanks in advance!

Trademark Soundproofing answer: Hi Joel, those are somewhat rigid and you can leave them in place if it involves a lot of work to remove them. You may want to consider removing them if you would like to apply Green Glue damping compound between the new layer of drywall and the existing one as that would boost the soundproofing significantly.

Can Mass Loaded Vinyl on a basement ceiling reduce noise when space is tight?

Customer question: I am working on finishing a basement are and was just going to put drywall on the ceiling. Space is a huge issue, basically lack of it. I was looking through your products and found the Mass Loaded Vinyl. I can not put it down under the floor above, however can put it up before I put the ceiling up in the basement. I do not expect complete quiet. However I am thinking it will reduce things like hearing the cat run around upstairs. Thoughts? Thanks, Tim

Trademark Soundproofing answer: Hi Tim, MLV is a good sound control material especially when your tight on space. For impact sound on the floor above as in your scenario you really need to decouple the ceiling and/or treat the floor itself. If that is not possible than this would add some sound control. Thank You,

I installed clips, Green Glue and double drywall - why do I still hear noise?

Customer question: Hi,  I installed resilient clips + 2 layers of drywall + green glue + fiberglass batt insulation in my bedroom ceiling which is below our upstairs neighbor's kitchen with hardwood floors (no underlayment). We still hear very loud thumping whenever our neighbor walks around.  As far as I can tell the installation was to spec. However there is a 2 foot wide extrusion in the ceiling that runs across one side of the ceiling to accommodate ducting. It is framed with steel framing that our contractors could not attach sound clips to, so we just screwed 2 layers of drywall + green glue directly on it. Contractors also used DAP Dynaflex 230 caulking instead of acoustic caulking. We added an extra layer of drywall + green glue to one of the walls, but otherwise did not modify the other 3 walls. They also had to accommodate a fire sprinkler that was too short with a make-shift recessed covering made out of a paper bowl, about 6 inch diameter. What in your opinion would be the biggest factor contributing to the continued noise? What would be your recommendation for correction or further mitigation? Link to picture:  Thank you very much!

Trademark Soundproofing answer: Hi Jeffrey. Impact sound is very difficult to eliminate as it actually vibrates the entire structure. Usually a ceiling like that can mitigate the impact by around 50%. The soffit at the end of the ceiling can transfer a lot of sound down the wall that it is resting against. If I had to do one thing it would be to add a 2nd layer of drywall with Green Glue to that wall.

Building a basement apartment: how do I keep noise from traveling upstairs?

Customer question: Hello, I am building a basement apt and I'm really worried about sound noise from my tenant coming up into my house however I do not have the ceiling height needed to add a second layer of drywall in the basement. Would adding a single layer of drywall and green glue under my sub floor before laying down my insulation help?

Trademark Soundproofing answer: It would help, a little. Probably not enough for what you are worried about. You can use 1/8 of an inch thick Mass Loaded Vinyl stapled to your studs before installing your single layer of drywall. (Make sure there is insulation before you install the MLV).

How do I quiet the noise of stairs above my basement apartment?

Customer question: There's noise from when the people above my basement apt. walk up and down their stairs. (Their stairs from 1st fl. to 2nd fl. are above my basement stairs to the 1st floor). Could I apply Green Glue to a MLV and stick it to my ceiling below their stairs?

Trademark Soundproofing answer: That would be a waste as the Green Glue will not help out. You can use just MLV however this is an impact/vibration sound and difficult to eliminate as the stairs are directly connected to the framing.