Need some advice on effective sound removal. I recently bought a two story SFR that was converted to a duplex (2 garages on 1st floor). I plan to live on the first floor (220 sq ft of living space) and rent the top floor out to save money; however the major concern I have is from noise from the upstairs unit that is currently un-livable for me (the pipes from bathroom, them walking up the stairs which underneath is part of the closet for the bedroom downstairs, and from them walking around in general). I have researched several ideas that I am looking for the right contractor to do, but it would greatly help me if anyone could give me advice on what would be most effective: Cost is an issue, but a price difference of $1k total should be okay as long as the method is that much more effective.
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Breaking ceiling drywall and adding cork or insulation and redrywall.
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Using green glue and adding second 5/8th drywall to ceiling.
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Wrapping the pipes with carpet pads.
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Replacing the pipes with cast iron pipes.
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Since there are higher than average ceilings on the first floor (except the stairs), adding insulation and then a second drywall in the existing first floor.
Or maybe someone has another idea that I am not aware of? What can I except from these different sound reduction techniques? If there was a sliding scale of effectiveness and cost that would be very helpful. For example something like you should do #3 and #5, 5 would reduce the noise from walking about 50%. The % noise reduction is probably subject to many things, but I’m just trying to get some idea which method would be most effective and a general idea of cost. Thanks so much in advance for any help.