Help with soundproofing on the cheap, please.

[MizTina]

Like many others, I'm suffering a bit financially right now. I am lucky in that I found someone to rent the loft in my condo. He is a nice enough person, but he is NOT quiet by any means. He has a voice like a gorilla chewing rocks, he snores both in and out, has a wet smokers cough and for extra added flavor, farts and burps expansively. He also talks to himself, both asleep and awake.

My loft is a balcony with a waist high railing. Right now I have curtains up for a semblance of privacy. It is not enough, I can't listen to my TV over his TV and the above mentioned noises. And in fairness, I'm sure my downstairs noises intrude on his space as well. Only less farty.

So, I am going to try to insulate as much as I can with Styrofoam. Will 1" Styrofoam panels help with baffling the noise level? I plan on doing the two open sides with the foam, but I worry that I might make a super speaker system with the stairway if I do. If, after I insulate the walls, would a curtain doorway at the top of the stairs help as well?

I really have to do this as cheap as possible, I've spent enough on a small fridge, microwave and cable to make his room comfortable and I can't afford a big fix for noise.

Help please?

[AaronX]

Could you get unwanted cushions or mattresses?

[Francis Vaughan]

The big problem is that you have an uninterrupted airspace between you and him. It is a waste of time worrying about anything except this.

Stytrofoam has essentially zero value in noise absorption. It might make a small difference for transmitted noise, but not much. And your problem isn't transmitted noise (though the walls or floor) but direct and reflected sound. Your best bet is going to be to absorb the sound where the dominant reflections come from. Wall hangings, curtains and the like can help, although they won't be as good as (expensive) specialist materials. The trick is to locate absorbing materials where they do the most good. If you imagine a mirror on the wall opposite your loft, imagine where it might be located to allow the two of you to see one another. Sound absorption there will help a lot. Similarly, absorbing materials nearby both you and your guest will help, as they will help dampen the reflecting sound near where the problems are - either generation or hearing of the noise.

Also, general absorbing materials in the rooms do help. Rugs, other wall hangings, soft furnishings. All dampen reflected sound.
Wall hangings and curtains need an airspace behind them to work to best effect. Any material directly touching the wall is useless.

[Alka Seltzer]

Francis Vaughan offers some good advice. Unfortunately, it will be very difficult to reduce the noise level significantly without walling off the space completely. Strofoam really won't be effective.

Some things that might help are are over the ear headphones (don't bother with expensive noise-cancelling ones, they only work for fairly constant noises) and ear-plugs for sleeping. If you can't watch TV at the same time, I think the only solution is to negotiate a volume level.