Have you ever been kept awake by noisy neighbors? Good friends of ours lived in a condominium that they transformed into an elegant nest—marble bathrooms, a gorgeous custom library with Murphy bed for guests… But upstairs a toddler made their lives hell by riding a BigWheel (souped-up tricycle) overhead on uncarpeted floors day and night. They offered to pay the neighbors for carpeting, asked for consideration, all to no avail. A few years ago (before the advent of HushFrame), they were forced to sell the condo they loved to escape the din.
Today there is more and more frequent litigation for noise disputes—often in condominiums. According to Keil Larson, “In most Associations the unit owners live closely together and share common walls. Developers, cutting costs, do not always care about acoustical engineering i.e. constructing the walls to minimize the transmission of sound from one unit to another. Most people buying condominiums look at the unit a few times for a few hours and do not inquire about noise issues. It is only after being awakened at 2 in the morning by the upstairs neighbor’s insistent pacing or hearing the neighbor’s sub-woofer pounding out the bass sound from movies does one seek relief.” To paraphrase a HushFrame client: “If I’m selling a unit with a meditation room, it better be +#$%&* quiet.”
Retrofitting an existing unit with HushFrame soundproofing requires removal of one side of the wall or ceiling drywall but will effectively eliminate noise problems if you don’t want to move. With more and more people living in close quarters, peace and quiet is an increasing quality-of-life concern. Forward-thinking developers will prioritize sound attenuation installation in floor, ceiling and wall assemblies to avoid unhappy tenants and lawsuits. And smart buyers will insist on buildings soundproofed withHushFrame--an innovative and highly effective sound absorbing solution to Silence the Noise.