Campusview three and four bedroom apartments are designed and built to be as soundproofed as possible. While no housing option is completely soundproof from noisy neighbors, our buildings have many extra factors to decrease sound traveling between units. Our philosophy is different from many of our competitors who choose not to use soundproofing (or do limited soundproofing) for three reasons: Soundproofing is not required by the building code, it is very expensive, and tenants have no way of knowing if they are in a building that has been sufficiently soundproofed until they are actually living there under a signed lease agreement.

While no housing option is completely soundproof from noisy neighbors, our three and four bedroom traditional style apartment buildings have many extra factors to decrease sound traveling between units. To start with, we insulate between all floors, which also reduces heat loss. Many other apartments have no insulation between floors because it is not required in the Wisconsin building code. It is only required above the top floor in the attic.

Our buildings also have sound channel, or “Resilient Channel” installed in all of the ceilings. The sound channels are pieces of metal that go between a lower unit’s ceiling drywall (sheetrock/Gypsum board) and the floor joists that support the unit above. These sound channels act as a shock absorber to stop sound waves from directly transmitting through the ceiling or the floor. Without sound channel, noise will radiate easily between floors because there is nothing to buffer or absorb sound waves.

Our two or three story traditional apartment buildings also have a layer of concrete poured on each floor! Yes concrete. Our residents probably don’t even know it is there. It is covered by soft carpeting, just like a normal wood floor system would be. Besides being excellent for fire protection, concrete is great for reducing sound between units. Pouring concrete on second or third floors is very expensive, which is why it is very rarely done in apartment buildings. All of the Campusview three and four bedroom apartment buildings have a layer of concrete on each floor.

The common wall between apartment units can be a major source of noise and resulting frustration between two next-door neighbors. The Wisconsin Building Code simply requires a single stud wall between units with one sheet of continuous drywall on each side. This design has practically no soundproofing qualities but many apartment buildings are constructed in this way to save money. All of our three and four bedroom apartments (plus our “townhouse style” five-bedroom units) have been built with maximum soundproofing between common walls. In addition to the state-required stud wall between units, our buildings have a second stud wall. In between the first and second stud wall is a ½” gap that has a continuous layer of sound deadening board. The sound deadening board obstructs and absorbs sound waves from traveling through common walls.

While we cannot guarantee that you will not be disturbed or hear your neighbors if you choose to live in one of our units, we have tried to take many extra steps to keep excess noise to a minimum. We hope these steps will help to make your experience with Campusview an enjoyable one.