Soundproofing a basement ceiling (for rental income) - advice?

[Maseroni]

We moved into a home which is in a community with a University as well as a local College, so has many students in need of off-campus housing.  The home has a side entrance which would allow for complete separation of the basement area for conversion to an apartment for rental to a couple of students.

The issue is that the house is about 50+ years old and has beautiful oak hardwood on the main floor and I have two young children.  The sound of their (and really anyone's) footsteps upstairs transfers almost completely to the basement.  The basement is finished, but the ceiling is simply covered in acoustic-type tiles. 

My basic plan is to bring down all of the ceiling tiles (There is about 700-800 square feet of ceiling area), fill the areas between the joists with Roxul Safe n sound insulation, then install drywall onto isolating furring strips to further deaden the sound transfer.  I am figuring on about $1.40 to $1.50 per sqft for that if I do it myself.

Any ideas?  Experiences? Advice?

[Ziggurat]

When we got our basement finished, we wanted to isolate teenager noise to the upper floor, so we did the insulation and resilient channels.  Works very well for regular noise transfer between floors (only deep bass is heard at all, really).  Can't comment much on hardwood floor noise, however, as the busy area on the top floor is carpeted. No one at home to test with me right now, but my recollection would be that footfall on hardwood sections is still quite audible, but very muffled and not annoying.  I supposed if I can't really remember then it must not be very noticeable.

I also remember seeing something about two layers of drywall in an episode of Income Property.  Searching a bit on that, I found a nice link (http://www.soundproofingcompany.com/soundproofing-solutions/soundproof-a-ceiling/) where the better solutions use two layers with a "green glue" layer in between.

I suggest you make sure whatever you do meets fire code for an accessory apartment and get it inspected.  I believe it comes down mainly to the drywall being thick enough (or of special fire rating type), which should be compatible or very close to the sound-proofing strategies.

Another requirement for legal accessory apartments is minimum heights -- hopefully your is high enough, but if borderline then your ceiling strategy might need to be adapted if you want to stay within those requirements. 

[Greg]

As a potential landlord with young kids, I think your bigger concern will be trying to keep the noise from below bothering you.  You plan will also work for that.  But the largest impact will be the students you rent to, I'd focus on grads.

[adamcollin]

Soundproofing the basement will be a great idea. It will be your first step towards being a responsible landlord.

[MountainFlower]

We built out house with a basement rental in mind.  Here's what we did:

1.  We used cotton insulation between our basement and our main floor.  It is expensive, but it REALLY dampens sound. 
2.  We used the channels someone else mentioned on the ceiling drywall. 
3.  We have gypcrete (lightweight) on the main floor with our heat in it.  I've heard that gypcrete is what they use in commercial buildings/hotels to isolate sound between floors. 
4.   Our flooring is carpet and cork.   

Even with all of that, you can still hear my little kids chasing each other upstairs.  I think you just need to find someone who can deal with it.   So far, we haven't spent the money to finish our basement to rent it, so I don't know how it would go.