Contractor for soundproofing basement unit
Hello All!
I have a finished basement unit in my primary residence home in Oakland, CA, which I hope to use as a short-term rental. However, the previous owners who finished the unit did not think of soundproofing the area, you can hear anyone talking or walking upstairs. It's an old house; the upstairs floors are squeaky, so the steps' sound is pretty loud.
I've had a few contractors come over who are advising either to go for blow-in insulation or rip out the ceiling, add insulation, and put the ceiling back. Based on my research, the sound of the footsteps travels through the joists so neither of these options would likely insulate sound completely. They might help with the sound of people talking or the television playing. None of the contractors seemed to have much confidence that the insulation would help in my case.
Upstairs and downstairs units have common HVAC vents so I'm pretty sure I'll never achieve 100% sound insulation unless I rip everything apart which I'm not going to do, but I'm hoping to reduce the footsteps noise and some level of sound insulation too. Does anyone have recommendations for contractors in the San Francisco Bay Area who have some experience in soundproofing a unit?
Thank you!
SB