“Who Did You Hire for Sound Proofing?”

Photo by Ted Eytan

“Dear PoPville,

The topic of sound mitigation in these old D.C. rowhomes has been much discussed in PoPville. Hearing actual conversations on the floor above, loud footfalls in the middle of the night and the roar of the hair dryer should not be ways of life in basement homes. It’ll never be perfect silence, yet we know people have found ways to make it more bearable for the subterranean residents.

Finding contractors these days isn’t easy. Most are so busy, and so many others don’t do this sort of job. One contractor we spoke with wanted to charge what was essentially the cost of a mid-range sedan to do sound mitigation work to our basement ceiling. So we wanted to ask those members of the PoPville nation who have been there and are now living in relative quiet who they hired, whether they are happy with the result and how much it cost.“