soundproof decorative ceiling

[acsell]

Hope Im posting this in correct area of the site.

I live in a victorian conversion flat on ground floor, there is no sound insulation between us, and the flats were badly converted by bodgit and run workmen many years ago . I am looking for a solution which does not involve removing the ceiling which is very decorative around the edge and center. Plasterboard tends to be thicker than the decorative edge, so would stand proud.

The ceiling is just regular joists onto brick walls with ( I suspect) lathe & plaster on top. Upstairs they have tiled floors and all hard surfaces. I can even feel the vibrations from above coming through my own floor as they transfer down the brick walls.
My lounge is directly below the upstairs kitchen, and i can literally hear a spoon being put down on the work surface along with every other kitchen noise ( including machinery-which is horrendous)

Ive looked at using expanding foam to be blown in between the joists, acoustic plasterboard, rubber matting applied to the surface and loads of other solutions but still cannot decide if any will work. I don't want to cover up the ceiling decoration or spend thousands. Is there anything that may work to deaden the sound from above? Im don't want to suspend the ceiling or cover it up.
I also get noise from next door through the wall, but that's another story!

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Ive looked at using expanding foam to be blown in between the joists, acoustic plasterboard, rubber matting applied to the surface and loads of other solutions but still cannot decide if any will work.

I can tell you straight off the expansing foam just won't work - to deaden sound you need density and thickness, and expanding foam isn't very dense. As you have probably surmised a lot of your problems stem from the smooth floor surfaces in the flat above. The fact that you want to retain the decorative ceiling is another problem because you ideally need some form of sound-deadening material between the floor upstairs and your ceiling as well as having discontinuity of sound transmission from upstairs into the ceiling. I'm afraid I would be thinking in terms of installing a suspended plasterboard ceiling fixed to the main structure through resilient bars, clad-off with two layers of 15mm sound block plasterboard (with the joints staggered to further reduce transmission) and with a layer of mineral wool placed above the PB but below the existing ceiling. Even then it still won't cure transmission of sound through the walls. I know of no "injection" solution to this problem

 

[acsell]

hi, thanks for the answer, but Im not prepared to lose the decorative ceiling, which is a sale feature. Also, I have tried suspended ceilings in other non decorative ceiling rooms, and it does not work that well either, not worth the expense IMO. I cant separate the upstairs floor from my ceiling.I have seen other blown in insulation that's not foam and is more dense, but it's cost prohibitive.