Solotude: A before B then C

In March of 2007 I bought a condominium. It was built in 2006 and I am the first owner/occupant to live in it. Within 15 minutes of dropping off my first load while moving in, I knew there was something wrong. I could hear everything the people above me were doing, and I mean EVERYTHING.

The plan was to paint my walls first and unpack later. However I wasn’t going to paint until I figured out what was going on and how to deal with it.

It took about 6 months for me to get so frustrated that I brought the ugly tools out and started opening things up and looking around. A few months later I found the problem by accident.

When you install drywall most people know to put the top panel on first and make it extend all the way to the wall frame. This creates a 5/8” thick barrier between the room and the noise above.

This is what they did. They put the wall panels on first then the ceiling panels. This left gaps which they covered with tape and painted. So instead of 5/8” of sheetrock keeping noise out, I had painted tape.

Apparently in 2006, while in the midst of the housing construction boom here in Portland, the talent pool got depleted. So they hired anyone with a pulse that could swing a hammer. This wouldn’t have been a problem if there were someone showing them the right way to hang drywall. Since they were left on their own, they repeated the same mistake on every wall in my unit and others in the complex.

The upstairs unit has been vacant for a while now but I have a feeling it will be sold soon.

A few days ago, I focused my beam on the last room in the condo that needed modification. This is my extra bedroom that will be my office/recording studio. My laundry room is on the other side of the wall.The third floor laundry room is above mine. I could hear the upstairs washer and dryer every time they used them.

First I cut out the tape and widen the gap so I can fill it with compound.

What I am doing is essentially extending the top panel all the way to the wall frame.

Then I tape and prepare it for paint. Usually this is where I stop but I used this room as a test project to see if I could do something without any help.

I want to put this molding on the walls throughout the unit and paint them different colors than the walls. They come in 8 and 10 foot lengths. My plans call for 8 foot lengths. The one in the studio is 9’8”. If I could put that one up by myself I knew I wouldn’t need any help with shorter lengths. I made the stand as a helper, I named him Stan.