Soundproofing sealant on a finished floor

[eoin]

Hello,

This is a bit of a long shot and I do understand it's not the best solution. Recently moved into an 1890's flat with a very young baby and we're having some problems with noise from a neighbour below us. Often this noise is just down to very poor soundproofing. So we need to block his voice, TV, etc.

In the longer term we need to address this properly and start lifting floorboards, etc. but for now we need a solution to tide us over until we have more time available to us.

The people who lived there before us lifted the carpets and sanded some of the floorboards without putting down any sealant between the gaps in the floorboards. So there are simply open gaps in some rooms between us and our neighbours plaster ceiling. Not great.

I need some advice on whether or not there any acoustic solutions for this issue that preferably would not involve re-sanding the wood. So dry solutions.

I've looked online and seen these:

a) a rubber pipe of sorts pressed into the gaps (http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/fi ... boards.htm)
b) String stained dark and covered with PVA (apparently what most builders use but should be done before sanding and varnishing as it's bound to leave some blobs)
c) a plastic strip (http://stopgaps.com/home/cimg3172/)
d) an acoustic sealant (http://www.soundproofyourhome.com/produ ... icator-gun) ... but I'm unsure if I can use this either between floorboards or after the varnish has gone down.

a) and c) are dry solutions so we can give these a go without wrecking the floor. But I doubt they actually help with noise (though Stop Gaps claims it does).

We're not expecting a miracle solution for the noise - just an improvement.

Any advice really appreciated.

Eoin

[welsh brickie]

without taking up the floorboards your limited to 2 options
1.thick underlay then carpet
2.laminate flooring with acoustic fibre board underlay.
The fibre board is about 5mm thick and laminate is 7mm to give you a guide