Voices in Room Below and are There any Affordable Options Questions and answers on many aspects of soundproofing areas of your home

[Soundproofme]

I'm in a houseshare and am struggling with certain types of noise. The main one being the guy in the room below and the fact he's constantly on the phone and all I can hear all day is the ... Humming of his voice in my room.

I've bought ear defenders, ear plugs, a fan, a white noise machine and I paid to lay a carpet.

The ear defenders block out most of the noise in my room but not the vibration of the guys voice in the room below, no idea why. It's not even loud.

The carpet didn't do anything either.

I can only not hear it if I blast music but that's not a real solution all the time.

Is there anything I can do that's affordable? I doubt a rug would help? Anything cheap I can add to his ceiling?

Thank you.

[DocMartin]

The traditional solution was to pour sand below the floorboards. Not sure if that's allowed as, legally speaking, who owns that space, you or him? Not that he'd know of course, but you would have to be careful not to use too much as the ceiling has to carry the extra weight of that sand.

If I were you I'd also look around for 'noise leaks' - ways that noise from below can be coming up to your level aside from the floor. Are there any airgaps, vents, things that penetrate the floor and are common to yours and his flat?