Blaring music. Honking horns. Clanking garbage trucks. Screaming, inebriated revelers. Screeching train whistles. Roaring jet engines. Loud phone conversations. Feet pounding overhead. All these noises contribute to the cacophony of urban living.
As more and more people flock to downtown’s redeveloped neighborhoods and cram into increasingly dense beach communities, many residents are confronting a new enemy: noise.
In the recent past, people had few choices in dealing with offensive levels of noise. Now, vendors of improved soundproofing materials have emerged to provide a choice of noise-mitigating solutions.
Scott Somit, who owns Pacific Beach-based Complete Soundproofing with wife Carol, is on a mission to educate architects and contractors about the importance and value of modern soundproofing in the specifications for their new or rehabbed buildings.
“If (soundproofing) is not spec’d in at the outset, you have to retrofit, which is much more expensive. At the contractors’ level it’s very inexpensive “” with an installed cost of under $2 a square foot. When you have to retrofit it’s going to cost about eight times as much in labor,” he said.
Some developers such as Vancouver-based Bosa Development, which has completed five downtown San Diego residential projects and has three more under construction, have taken building code requirements for “acceptable levels” of noise to heart.
“We have a fairly extensive acoustical evaluation in our design phase,” said Eric Martin, Bosa’s vice president and corporate secretary. “We meet [acceptable levels], and we do our own testing.”
Depending upon each building’s environment, Bosa uses double- or triple-glazed windows as needed, particularly in bedrooms, Martin explained.
Bosa’s techniques work, according to Marilyn Marx, a Bosa high-rise resident, who has heard no noise complaints from neighbors, aside from high-pitched train whistles, which consultants say are almost impossible to mask acoustically. “It’s very soundproof. We never hear a whisper of anything,” she said.
Noise problems arise most frequently in older, sometimes poorly constructed buildings that have settled, opening up cracks and channels for noise to penetrate. Noise travels through any opening where water and air can enter, Somit pointed out. He stressed the importance of using acoustical caulk to seal any entry points.
The San Diego Airport Authority’s Quieter Home Program “” designed to mitigate airport noise “” relies primarily on installing acoustical doors and windows on existing homes as well as insulation and air conditioning systems.

Many home and business owners can use simpler, less expensive noise barriers to block noise, some of which can be installed without a contractor.
A sound barrier such as Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV) “” sand that is mixed into vinyl for added density and costs about $200 for a 10-foot by 10-foot roll “” is easily installed within a wall, above a finished ceiling or under flooring to block transmission of noise between rooms or levels. Sound barrier materials can be used to construct a noise-tight room within a room for a music studio or band’s practice room.
An Internet search, following a failed attempt to use standard R-30 insulation to muffle noise above her business, led Lynne Warner to Carol Somit of Complete Soundproofing. Warner operates a small business in mid-city dependent on a serene environment to relax her clients. Rather than soothing her customers, the loud chatter, ringing phones and thumping feet upstairs threatened her business’ success.
She recognized that the upstairs tenants weren’t at fault because the noise traveled through the 30-year-old building’s poorly insulated structure.
“[Carol Somit] explained the difference between sound barrier and sound absorption and recommended Mass Loaded Vinyl,” Warner explained.
Her solution turned out to be straightforward. Warner bought a roll of the heavy, one-pound-per-square-foot black MLV, cut it to fit herself and laid it inside the drop ceiling of one room as a trial.
“The net results were that the voices and the phone ringing disappeared completely and the thumping of feet was cut in half,” she said. She went on to retrofit the rest of the rooms in her business to deaden the upstairs noise. Others who install MLV in their ceilings tack it onto an existing ceiling, seal the seams and then cover it with concealing drywall and paint.
Hillcrest resident Jack Tripp also opted for MLV following an online search. Tripp and wife Isabel live on an upper level of a 35-year-old condo, which prohibits tile or hardwood flooring above the ground level without adding soundproofing. The Tripps wanted to install a hardwood floor in their office.
“We bought a 100-square-foot roll. All you have to do is put it on the floor and the hardwood floor floats right on it,” Tripp said. “It’s easy to install.”
The Somits, like others in the soundproofing niche market, draw most of their business through their Web sites, which include a tutorial about basic principles of soundproofing. They encourage people to call for a consultation before placing any order.
“You can’t intelligently order the materials you need without adequate information. Typically, people associate soundproofing with classic foam products, but there’s a whole world of modern custom materials, including many made out of Fiberglas,” Scott Somit said.
He explained that there are two types of solutions for common noise problems: sound barriers, which prevent noise from entering or leaving a room, and acoustical conditioning, which eliminates echoes, interference, unwanted sounds and reverberation within a room.
New foam-based and Fiberglas materials also came on the market in recent years. They can be custom-fabricated to fit into any interior design yet baffle or absorb sound.
“Architects are generally aware of the foam products but not as aware of what can be done with the Fiberglas,” Somit said. “Typically, if you cover roughly 20 percent of the surface you can make a dent in the (noise) problem. You don’t have to cover all surfaces.”
For a bowling alley in Chicago, the Somits worked with a manufacturer to create seamless ceiling tiles with a hidden grid. For a convention center in Colorado, they crafted noise-absorbing Fiberglas panels covered with ornamental fabrics matching the decor.
Another tool that can be used as a barrier for outside noise or for absorbing interior reverberation is acoustical draperies or curtains. Complete Soundproofing custom-makes these from a wide selection of materials, including a special line of antimicrobial fabrics geared to hospitals.
“We use two and a half times the fullness of the window in fabric in French pleats. The trick is my lining, a three-ply vinyl sound-control blackout lining,” Carol explained.
With modern soundproofing materials, outside noise no longer has to destroy city dwellers’ quality of life.
Complete Soundproofing is located at 3750 Riviera Drive, suite 3. For more information, call (866) 300-3172, or visit www.completesoundproofing.com.