New England Soundproofing

I live in a condo complex on the first floor. My unit is located next to the maintenance/​trash room and in the mornings I can hear the custodian do his daily activities (sweep, take out trash, etc). The biggest problem is that the trash compactor is also in the room and is noticeable loud when it’s running. The fact that my bedroom is directly next to this compactor is what prompted me to search for soundproofing.
I found New England Soundproofing by doing a google search of soundproofing contractors in the Boston area. I sent him an email and Mr. Drago was quick to reply and setup a consultation. He came as promised and on time. Basically he did a thirty minute evaluation of my condo and came up with some possible solutions that could help mitigate the noise. Everything sounded reasonable. And also a plus was that he was polite and answered my questions. I won’t go into details about the soundproofing material itself but the main product is what’s called Mass Loaded Vinyl. The stuff is very dense — 2pounds per square foot. And in a nutshell, that’s what you need to absorb noise. The consultation was 200 dollars and you get a quote for the work. If you decide to place a PO for the quote, that 200 dollars you spent is used a credit. I decided to ‘bite the bullet’ and try out their services.
I’ll start with the Pros:
–Family owned business (I like supporting local business)
–They are fully insured
–The quote is itemized (i.e. you can elect to skip certain services such as painting to save some bucks)
–The installation was professional and fast. Tony (Mr. Drago’s son) was the primary carpenter that oversaw the installation. He was very polite, respectful, and knowledgeable. They installed the soundproofing material and put up blueboard to cover it. Also they did a great job cleaning up. It’s basically a ‘wall over a wall’ and you can’t even tell that work was done. The tradeoff is that you lose about 2inches off the original wall.
Some Cons:
I was told by Mr Drago that the work would give me an 80−85% sound reduction. After a few weeks of living with the newly installed wall, I’d say that the actual number is closer to a 10−15% percent reduction. I am very disappointed because this was not an inexpensive project. The rate is basically $ 4500 to put up 167 sq ft worth of material, and that does not include painting the wall back (which would be another 600 bucks). I understand that nothing can be 100% soundproof unless you basically build a cocoon around your room. However, it’s clear that in order to get the 80−85% reduction, I would have to invest in A LOT more work. Either Mr. Drago was not honest in his assessment of how effective this particular job would be, or he does not have the actual knowledge to make that accurate of an assessment. Also Mr. Drago could not provide any references for previous work beyond the one testimonial on his website.
Overall, I would recommend New England sound proofing if you needed someone to install the materials. They were fast, professional, and skilled. However, I would just take the ‘consultation’ with a grain of salt and look for an actual sound/​structural expert before you make an investment into soundproofing. I have no doubt in my mind that the mass loaded vinyl works. I just don’t think in my particular situation that I was given a proper evaluation into its application.