ARC INSULATION

ARC Insulation was referred to me by Porch when I searching for a contractor to perform a sound-dampening project for my wife and me. Our condominium had some noise issues which affected our quality of life as conversations between people in the condominium above could be heard as well as the opening/closing of dresser drawers, footsteps, and movement of a pet dog. Chris, an employee at ARC Insulation, visited our condo to give us a cost estimate and discuss a solution. Briefly, Chris inspected our entire home for construction and sound. Chris recommended blowing a type of cellulose insulation into the space between the top of our ceiling and the sub-floor above. Chris stated that by inserting this cellulose insulation into the space, it would create a barrier which would absorb sound vibrations and would likely reduce sound vibrations by up to 80%. Relieved that we appeared to finally have a solution to our sound issues, we set up a time for ARC Insulation to come up to blow the insulation into the ceiling above about 1/3 of our main level. When the ARC crew arrived at our condominium on the date of the project, Chris was not with the crew. The ARC crew cut a hole into our ceiling and removed a small amount of existing fiberglass insulation and then blew in the cellulose insulation. After completion, they patched up the hole in the ceiling. However, instead of dampening the sound transmission from the condominium above, this project instead amplified the sound transmission! Now, conversations and footsteps from the condominium above are much louder than they initially were. Moreover, in our master bathroom we can now clearly hear water droplets hitting the tub floor in the unit above during a shower as well as the associated water flowing through the pipes, whereas prior to the sound-dampening project one could not hear water running in bathroom above, only footsteps and use of a drawer, and those sounds was not nearly as loud then as they are now. I am very unhappy with the results which ARC Insulation provided. I would definitely not recommend them for any type of sound-dampening project. It appears as though the small amount of fiberglass insulation that the ARC crew removed from the ceiling must have been dampening some sound transmission, such that removal of this material worsened the sound transmission. In addition, it was nearly impossible for us to communicate with the ARC crew as the three people who showed up spoke almost no English. Chris had indicated during his initial visit to our condominium that he was not sure exactly how effective the sound dampening project would be, but he certainly never mentioned the possibility that the sound transmission would worsen as a result of the sound-dampening project. I also called Chris immediately after we discovered that the sound transmission through our ceiling had worsened after the project, but Chris did not answer the phone and did not reply to the voicemail I left where I requested advice as to whether I should have the cellulose material removed.