Structural problem?

[Gasser64]

Add pillars ?

I'd be doing something quick because whether or not its possible, all I'd be able to think about would be that shit crashing down.

[TX_92_Notch]

Do you know the difference between an architect and a structural engineer? The architect works for the homeowner or home builder. They're job is to produce a design that the client wants. The structural engineer (who traditionally is hired by the architect for a % of the project) has the job of making it constructable and code compliant. There is a big difference between what the two do for plans. Architects are well versed in lighting, colors, aesthetic details, counter tops, open spaces, ADA requirements, etc. and not framing. If a house does not have a structural engineer, then you can't really get mad at an architect. The code official is the next one in line to catch something that goes against code.

On top of all that, remember building to code is the worst possible home you can legally build. As for the kids and sounding like crashing through the floor. Keep in mind that unless he wanted to pay $600K for that same size home, you'd hear anything going on upstairs if kids are playing rough at all or jumping in the least little bit. You have to weigh wants vs. needs vs. costs.

I'm a licensed architect, so yeah, I have a clue as to the difference. If the architect placed a toilet coming off of the kitchen, you'd say he was a bit of a dumbass just like you would if he placed the game room directly on top of the family room.

And not all houses are custom designed for a specific clients wants and desires. Most are not. Even still, the architect should inform the client if they're making a poor choice.

The last sentence in your reply is the whole thing summed up. "Quiet" is expensive.

[A+]

This house was built by a big builder and I don’t know much about it and it sound like the kids upstairs ARE going to come through the floor. This builder put the media room above the living room. It doesn’t look like the ceiling is bowing, I just took that pic because ive never noticed that before. As I mentioned before , you can hear movement and when I hit the floor, it sounds hollow.

[juiceweezl]

I'm a licensed architect, so yeah, I have a clue as to the difference. If the architect placed a toilet coming off of the kitchen, you'd say he was a bit of a dumbass just like you would if he placed the game room directly on top of the family room.

And not all houses are custom designed for a specific clients wants and desires. Most are not. Even still, the architect should inform the client if they're making a poor choice.

The last sentence in your reply is the whole thing summed up. "Quiet" is expensive.

Sorry, not meaning to offend. Most people just don't understand the difference, and most architects I deal with (large builders, custom, and multifamily plus commercial) all focus more on the looks and design than the actual logic of what and why is being built. Our recent building addition at work was two stories and included a large training center with air walls. Divided, the space can hold 200 people classroom style. They put in one men's room with 2 toilets and 1 urinal for all that space... Needless to say we had them redo it and add more. Same for a lot of things, especially when working with some large volume production builders. Often something gets converted to a game room/media room, etc. without ever truly being designed as one by either an architect or engineer. I personally wish the framing layouts on every house, everywhere in the country had to be engineered. That would help the quality of home builds immensely.

[juiceweezl]

This house was built by a big builder and I don’t know much about it and it sound like the kids upstairs ARE going to come through the floor. This builder put the media room above the living room. It doesn’t look like the ceiling is bowing, I just took that pic because ive never noticed that before. As I mentioned before , you can hear movement and when I hit the floor, it sounds hollow.

What do you expect it to sound like? You have floor joists with subfloor across them and then padding and carpet. On the bottom side is drywall for the ceiling. It's hollow in between.

[8mpg]

Rip down the drywall and see whats going on

[TX_92_Notch]

Sorry, not meaning to offend.

No worries, I'm not offended in the slightest.

What do you expect it to sound like? You have floor joists with subfloor across them and then padding and carpet. On the bottom side is drywall for the ceiling. It's hollow in between.

Ding ding ding. We have a winner. It's a direct transfer of sound from the foot pounding on the floor above straight to the ceiling and everything else below. We're pondering building a 2-story house and this is my biggest issue - how to build a 2-story and avoid this problem without spending a fortune.

The cracks in the drywall, on the other hand: welcome to North Texas.

[Ruffdaddy]

My former brother-in-law bought a $400,000 house in Frisco and it sounded like their kids were going to come crashing through the floor. The dumbass architect placed the game room over the living room and their ceiling fan in the living room shook when the kids were riled up.

You're not alone in your misery.

With our new house in mckinney, I had my wife walk and jump around upstairs just to make sure this didn't happen. There were houses i wouldnt consider because of this.

But over the living room isn't nearly as bad as over the master bedroom. In modern houses...the options are limited.

Luckily ours is mostly over closets, utility room and less used hall spaces but it's also designed relatively well to limit noise.

[Chili]

No worries, I'm not offended in the slightest.



Ding ding ding. We have a winner. It's a direct transfer of sound from the foot pounding on the floor above straight to the ceiling and everything else below. We're pondering building a 2-story house and this is my biggest issue - how to build a 2-story and avoid this problem without spending a fortune.

The cracks in the drywall, on the other hand: welcome to North Texas.

Could you have them just roll in fiberglass insulation between the floor joists? Doesn't seem like it would be too expensive, though I guess it could be a PITA since the floor decking above it probably installed before the sheetrock below, so they'd have to put it in from below. But at least it should cut down the volume of the sound..

I would guess the larger the span of the floor joists the bigger issue this will be (sound transfer).

This kind of thing is one of the many reasons I intend to never own a 2 story house. I grew up in them and hated all of the noise they make.. Stairs, squeaky floors, thuds, stomping.. No thanks.

[TX_92_Notch]

With our new house in mckinney, I had my wife walk and jump around upstairs just to make sure this didn't happen. There were houses i wouldnt consider because of this.

But over the living room isn't nearly as bad as over the master bedroom. In modern houses...the options are limited.

Luckily ours is mostly over closets, utility room and less used hall spaces but it's also designed relatively well to limit noise.

I've never lived in a two bedroom house and I really haven't spent much time in them but I've learned lessons from the few I have been in long enough to be frustrated by the noise.

We have 5 kids and will be building a house in the next few years. It will quite probably have a game room and all bedrooms upstairs with the master downstairs. There will be nothing over the first floor master suite and the game room will be built over the garage for this reason (sound through the ceiling). I also plan to investigate options to detach the first floor ceiling from the second floor structure.

Could you have them just roll in fiberglass insulation between the floor joists? Doesn't seem like it would be too expensive, though I guess it could be a PITA since the floor decking above it probably installed before the sheetrock below, so they'd have to put it in from below. But at least it should cut down the volume of the sound..

I would guess the larger the span of the floor joists the bigger issue this will be (sound transfer).

This kind of thing is one of the many reasons I intend to never own a 2 story house. I grew up in them and hated all of the noise they make.. Stairs, squeaky floors, thuds, stomping.. No thanks.

I think the ceiling would have to be suspended below the floor structure. Sound energy is transmitted through structure so you have to decouple the ceiling from the floor joists above. There are lots of options but I'm nowhere near ready to dive too far into it yet.

Worst case we'll build mostly one story, maybe doing the game room over the garage and everything else on the lower level.

[Chili]

I think the ceiling would have to be suspended below the floor structure. Sound energy is transmitted through structure so you have to decouple the ceiling from the floor joists above. There are lots of options but I'm nowhere near ready to dive too far into it yet.

Worst case we'll build mostly one story, maybe doing the game room over the garage and everything else on the lower level.

I get the bolded part, but cavities with a lot of empty volume only serve to amplify that sound, right? I would think those sound waves bouncing around between the joists could be virtually eliminated in this way. While not eliminating the sound, it should at least cut the decibel level down.

I just don't know if it would be enough sound reduction to justify the expense / effort.

[Ruffdaddy]

I get the bolded part, but cavities with a lot of empty volume only serve to amplify that sound, right? I would think those sound waves bouncing around between the joists could be virtually eliminated in this way. While not eliminating the sound, it should at least cut the decibel level down.

I just don't know if it would be enough sound reduction to justify the expense / effort.

It'll help more so with noises like the TV, talking and music because it's not the contact with the floor that is the source of the noise.

But the banging and running on the floor will see little benefit from the insulation because the source of the noise is the literal impact with the structure so the insulation has little impact. It may dampen the resonance a little to limit the duration of the sound but that's not worth the effort. You have to decouple the structure.

[Chili]

It'll help more so with noises like the TV, talking and music because it's not the contact with the floor that is the source of the noise.

But the banging and running on the floor will see little benefit from the insulation because the source of the noise is the literal impact with the structure so the insulation has little impact. It may dampen the resonance a little to limit the duration of the sound but that's not worth the effort. You have to decouple the structure.

I guess that's why it's not done!

[TX_92_Notch]

I get the bolded part, but cavities with a lot of empty volume only serve to amplify that sound, right? I would think those sound waves bouncing around between the joists could be virtually eliminated in this way. While not eliminating the sound, it should at least cut the decibel level down.

I just don't know if it would be enough sound reduction to justify the expense / effort.

We could drill way down into the different aspects of reducing the sound transfer through the floor as there are several different ways the sound transfers but it's all moot unless a homeowner is serious enough to spend some cash. The biggest difference would be decoupling the ceiling from the structure above but you're still going to get noise transfer into the walls to some degree.

I've learned a lot from working with acoustical consultants but I've never delved into the sound issues in a house (I do large scale commercial architecture like high-rise buildings, large resorts, hotels, etc.). The concepts are the same but the solutions would probably be cost prohibitive to all but a very select number of homeowners.

[GrayStangGT]

This doesn't help A+'s situation, but here is a couple videos I happened to have watched recently specifically on this subject.