How are they planning to mount the laminated glass in the opening? From what I read it will be a more or less permanent mount? One potential advantage (but also potential acoustical disadvantage) of the plastic insert is that it's much lighter than the laminated glass so it can be relatively easy to remove from the opening if necessary, whereas the laminated glass is going to be heavy. A laminated insert using 3mm glass for both lites will be over 50lbs at the size window that you describe, and while laminated glass can be very safe when handling, it's still a chore if you have to remove it from the opening for any reason. But acoustically that weight (density) is to your advantage. The .06 acoustical laminate glass means that they are using a 1.52mm thick PVB interlayer in the laminated glass. Generically .030" or .76mm interlayer is considered safety, .060" or 1.52mm is considered security, and .090" or 2.28mm is considered to be impact resistant, or the thickness generally used for hurricane impact glass. Adding additional thickness also adds some acoustical advantage as well, roughly 1 to 2 dB advantage for every additional .76mm thickness. I would suggest that if you are going to be looking at comparing laminated glass to acrylic, you might consider using the laminated glass in your bedroom.

these are great ideas! Thanks - especially for validating my thinking that I should roast the fennel separately. Alexa, what fun idea to steam and then stuff the blue potatoes! All kinds of ideas on what to stuff them with, too. It's more work that I want for this thanksgiving I think, but what a great idea for future events. They are quite small - maybe one to three bites each... and with blues they could be so attractive with the right stuffing. Laurie, the grilled sweet potato salad sounds great, too. W/ the sweet potato souffle it won't be on this year's Tgiving table, but it's also a keeper. And the flavors in the dressing are a great guide, so thank you for posting it! Also, I really didn't think I'd like the rutabaga. I bought it b/c the farmer had samples of grilled rutabaga and I found it very mild. She also had stalks of brussell sprouts but I have such mixed luck with them (sometimes sweet, and sometimes they trigger a gag reflex) so I left them alone. She did have me take ONE sprout to roast... so I'll do that in the next day or so. I think they may need to wait a few more years to cycle through the 7 year rule, though. Now that two of you have mentioned blue cheese I have to think more seriously about that. I've got some picky / prickly eaters who may not appreciate it (and DH doesn't like balsalmic) but I suppose instead of dressing the veg I could create different dressings and folks could choose... with blue cheese crumbles in another dish... I was at a craft show yesterday and bought a chardonnay and garlic marinade that would be great with the veggies, too. So I've got four flavor choices: balsalmic reduction, creamy blue cheese, chardonnay garlic, and dijon. hmmmmm....

Concrete topping over wood joists is quite normal in Canada in low-rise buildings. We see this quite frequently. The fix: everything vs. nothing. As you have guessed, the issue is UNDERNEATH the concrete. And to get at THAT layer your upstairs neighbors have to remove everything, jack out the concrete and then "fix" whatever needs fixing (sigh....guess how many times that's going to happen? Zero). And because the problem is your problem (it bothers you, not them) you will have to spend all the time/money investigating this issue. It is *possible you can rip down your ceiling (yep....throughout the ENTIRE condo) and investigate the problem from BELOW. I'm going to guess this isn't going to happen either (cost is going to be WELL over $15-$20/sf to remove, repair and replace ceiling). The fix that you could attempt without having to investigate the actual source would be to have a drop down acoustic ceiling installed with proper isolation channels and acoustic drywall/ceiling tiles. It is possible to do this for about $10/sf. If you have UNTEXTURED ceilings, it is *possible you can use GreenGlue+Acoustic drywall to create an acoustic barrier that will offer another 36 dB of insulation (5/8" acoustic drywall = 18 dB of insulation; GreenGlue sandwiched between the old ceiling and the acoustic drywall = 18 dB of insulation). This can be done for about $7/sf and will not lose ceiling height. My personal favourite is a "white noise" machine for the bedroom. The simplest option = fan. $15 from Home Depot. And no I am not being facetious. I am offer a cheap, simple (and often effective) solution to a sleep problem. White noise machines will do a tremendous amount for your sleep. Once you get a few months of decent sleep (yes...it takes that long to pay off sleep debt), you will begin to feel better about where you are. And eventually, if everything goes well, you will stop hearing the noises from above. All for $15. This would be my first stop. You can always add more materials to your ceiling and remove money from your bank account if the $15 fan doesn't work.

Two types of sound transfer--air and structure-borne. Since you're opting for hard surfaces, don't expect any improvement from insulation. Rockwool by itself may reduce air borne transfer by an amount undetectable by the human ear, say STC 2, as it does in walls. I used it once; itchy and near useless. Great in below foundation grade walls as it doesn't absorb water. In any case, most airborne sounds travel via flanking paths--around walls and floors. I've used channels on ceilings and floors. Maybe useful. But even in my own home for six years, I wouldn't swear on it. Just one or two misplaced screws can short circuit the installation. More worthwhile would be Green Glue or engineered drywall, such as a version of Quiet Rock on the ceiling and/or thicker floor sheathing, such as 1.125".