you need to research your state's statues for how to break a lease due to violation of the "quiet enjoyment" concept. By not standing up for you, your landlord is violating the lease, and you have the right to move without penalty. You just have to set it up to be legally defensible. You'd have had better luck calling the cops at 3:45 am for the surround sound--that's hard to argue with; stomping is a little more subjective and harder to detect from outside the house. Moving won't be as rewarding as "making the other folks behave," but it'll get your family some normalcy sooner. And thanks for the reminder to all of us, never to end up w/ a boss and a landlord who are the same person. A dispute in one of those arenas can really poison the other, and they're both too important to jeopardize like that. I wish you well, and I hope you can get out of there fast.

I have been through this with our main floor and loss of a large plastered ceiling 13' x23' due to flooding. dh wanted plaster - due to expediting project, recovering from flood - my research, including lot's of help here - Roxul btwn floor joists (despite poster above opinion - yes this works very well - check SONY studios in Manhattan - that is one of the products used for prof studio) RC channel w/green acoustic tape applied - then screwed into joists - 5/8" sheetrock - Only wish - wish I had done this in the Kit ceiling when it was open - only used fiberglass batt & 5/8" BIG DIFFERENCE. Now to basement refinishing - low ceilings to begin with ~7' 1. Kensa ceiling link/grid system - This is similiar to RC but is flex PVC & applies direct to joist T's & L's - Benefit - only 1" off joists - rather than the 4"-6" of typical drop ceiling 2. Prior to applying grid ROxul btwn joists and in the wall that shared w/Utility side of basement 3. Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV) - comes in roll 1/8" thick the difficulty in applying this is it's at least a 2 person job due to the weight of the rolled vinyl 4. Acoustical/fire rated tile - up to 3/4" thickness That should help tremendously with both sound going up to first floor and sound from first floor going down. now I need to find a good looking 32" door to go on the utility side. Good luck

Spray foam is the easiest way to seal rim joist cavities. I've never understood the point of insulating between the basement and the first floor-- it is code required here and no one can tell me why, There's typically little, if any, temperature differential, it's all inside the house's conditioned envelope. Rigid foam on the basement walls would be my second step, with, as Worthy says, the top half being more important than the bottom half-- sealing the rims would be first because that's typically a source of a lot of air infiltration. In a small house it's an easy (and fun) DIY project with the spray kits available at the big box stores.

I would also add that you want the heating ducts and plumbing pipes wrapped with insulation as well. Right now is the PERFECT time to do it because everything is exposed. Metal (like duct work) LOVES to transmit noise (telephone WIRES are METAL...ahem...just saying). Wrap those puppies and you will have removed a HUGE source of sound from multiple areas of the house (there is NOTHING like hearing the details of someone's day via the duct work from two stories above...at 1am). I've always liked the 'double stuffing' of the ceiling. If you double stuff the joists (two layers of mineral wool instead of one) then you can probably go with the lower priced product. So long as their densities are the same and the material make up are the same then you should get awfully close to the same ratings. Use the resilient channels throughout...you can't think of the bedroom as being one area and the rest another...if one part 'leaks' noise then the other part will too. Think of the entire space as a bathtub. If you have a hole in one end of the bathtub, it will leak because the water will find it's own level. Noise kinda does the same thing. The other option, if you don't want to use the resilient channels (because you want the ceiling height maintained) then you can look at Green Glue liquid acoustic barrier. There *MIGHT be an application where they apply the liquid/foam to the joists and then mount/screw the drywall to the joists. Green Glue also produces drywall/foam additive that can be used INSIDE the holes for the screws (you drill the pilot hole, you fill it with the foam/liquid and then drive the screw into place). This acts like a mini-resilient channel. And then use the acoustic drywall. And remember your SOLID CORE door for the bedroom. That way you reduce every ounce of noise moving from the basement area into the bedroom area. You should be fine using ALL of the options open to you. You can never have too much noise abatement. You really can't. Silence is silence. Once you achieve it, it is difficult to figure out which bit was 'overkill'.