Soundproofing - resources

Information from SoundProof Living as that site is full of ads. 

From easiest over-the-floor solutions to more difficult treatments that need to be applied under the surface level of the floor.

1. Lay down some rugs or carpets. Best are: thick and soft, and tightly-woven.

2. Put a rug underlay under the carpet. Ideally the mat should be about an inch smaller than the rug you want to slide it under on all sides, allowing the carpet to slope and create a beveled effect to prevent tripping. Consider also crawling area rugs.

3. Use rubber mats. If you want to layer, put the rubber down first, then a memory foam underlay, and top it off with a carpet.

4. Interlocking floor mats. Could glue them to the floor, which may increase the mat's dampening abilities, especially if you use an acoustic caulk or Green Glue.

5. Cork Tiles. Have to be at least half an inch thick to have any soundproofing properties.

Numbers 6-11 are too labour intensive for me to consider.

I will continue to add to this list.

We already have thick carpets in each room. In one of the rooms there is a cork underlay under the carpet. I'm thinking of trying the rubber mats under the carpets.

Soundproofing - part 1

We live in a bungalow (one floor plus basement). It came with 3 bedrooms and one bathroom and my husband added a basement bedroom (with a full egress window) and a second bathroom.

We have four kids - 3 boys, 1 girl - so someone was always going to have to share a room. At one point, when we were renting out a room to international students, we had a triple bunk bed in the boys' room. 

That worked well until they were bigger and just needed more space to stretch out. We tried combinations of the girl plus her younger brother, the younger and middle brother, and the middle and oldest brother.

Middle (15) and oldest brother (17) is the best combination. Girl (12) has small room with big closet, youngest (10) has bigger room with double bed he will have to give up if we have overnight guests.

We decided to move to the basement bedroom in August 2019 as I thought the temperature would be cooler. It also meant we could reserve the basement bathroom as our own and not deal with the mess of boys missing the toilet upstairs (my poor daughter). 

We moved the two oldest boys into the master and made them each a loft bed with a desk under it. They each also have a separate closet and there's floor space left

In hindsight, could we have turned the basement playroom into two more bedrooms and put all the kids down there? 

That would've meant we'd have the upstairs, without people stomping above our heads past our early bedtimes (hubby sometimes starts work at 5 am and I can't sleep past 6 am). But the kids would've probably still been upstairs in the kitchen having second dinner so it may not have helped anyway.

So now we have noisy "upstairs neighbours" that sound like a herd of rampaging elephants. Elephants who are also able to cook and slam doors.

I'm searching for soundproofing solutions and thought I might as well share them here in case they're helpful to any other tired parents.

Stay tuned for a list of resources.

Word for 2022: Abide

My word for 2022 is Abide



I'm taking it from the Bible verse in Isaiah 32:18 (ESV) "My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places."



It is both a promise to me that God will continue to take care of me and give me peace, security, and rest, as well as a reminder to me that I need to abide in God's presence. This means I need to be mindfully present with God and make that time a daily practice.



My word for 2021 was Kindness ("She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue." Proverbs 31:26, ESV)

With grumpy customers, and antsy children at home there was ample opportunity to stretch and try to develop this quality. Having this word as a focus was a good reminder.

Words from previous years:

2020 - Joyful ("Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12, NIV)

2019 - Rest (The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:14, NIV)

2018 - Grace (“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV)

2017 - Less ("He [Jesus] must become greater; I must become less." John 3:30, NIV)

2016 - Wholesome ("Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29, NIV)

In 2015 I contemplated Titus 2:3-5 (NIV) "Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."