miércoles, 12 de diciembre de 2012

How to soundproof a room

Neighborhood noises are one of the main reasons for dissatisfaction and discord in neighboring communities.
Different customs, schedules and lifestyles of people living together with insufficient acoustic performance of buildings cause most of the noise nuisance.

In this post I will raise a solution for soundproofing a room in order to avoid disturbing the neighbors.

The main objective should be to achieve maximum possible dissipation of sound energy transmitted to adjacent enclosures.

First indicate that the solution to such problems is to treat all surfaces of the room and not only shared with the site/s to which you want to avoid transmitting sound.

A possible proposal for soundproofing a room is as follows:

Acoustic treatment room ceiling

For the treatment room ceiling we propose the implementation of a ceiling with  gypsum plaster boards. This solution will decrease by at least 15 cm the room's height.
The construction details of the proposed solution is as follows:

1- Gypsum plasterboards.
2- Absorbent material (mineral wool 40 mm thick).
3- Metal fork
4- Multilayer panel.
5- Wrought

The steps for implementation are as follows:

Covering the surface of the original roof with panels that combine a multilayer composite foil which combine a viscoelastic sheet  with mineral wool at least 4 cm in thickness. These panels will be placed to the side of viscoelastic sheet seen. I leave two links of such commercial products:
Through this type of solution the sound reduction index of a unidirectional wrought based 30 cm beams can be improved by 15 dB , vaults and compression layer of reinforced concrete.

Then run the metal frame for fixing plasterboard plates following these steps:
    • Attach the threaded rods of the roof joists.
    • Place the metal brackets for attaching the metal profiles.
    • Place the metal sections that join the gypsum plasterboards.

Aliminium profiles structure

I leave some links of such commercial products:
Screw plasterboard plates to metal profiles seal the joint between plates.
Plasterboard plates bolted to metal profiles

Place mineral wool thickness of 40-50 mm on plaster boards and metal profiles.

Sound absorbing material

I leave some links of such commercial products:
Acoustical treatment of walls

When a room is to soundproof the walls of the enclosure require acoustic treatment to prevent the transmission of noise to adjacent enclosures.

A common mistake is to consider that only other premises adjoining enclosures require treatment.

Here we propose a cladding with the following elements:
  • Viscolelastic sheet.
  • Mineral wool.
  • Plasterboard plates bolted to aluminum profiles.
The following figure shows a construction detail:

Cladding detail

1. Viscoelastic sheet.
2. Mineral wool.
3. Plasterboard plates.

The implementation process is as follows:

First you must remove the baseboard and then set the sheet with adhesive on the surface of the treated wall.


These films improve insulation to airborne sound especially in the low frequency spectrum. Sheets are recommended with a minimum mass of 6 kg/m2.

The sheets are supplied in rolls, usually 1 m wide, which may present the adhesive already incorporated.

The installation mode is recommended from the bottom up, occupying the full height of the wall. The different sections should overlap each other by about 2 cm.

I leave two links of such commercial products:
This is followed by placing the metal profiles, which must be removed about 2 cm of the sheet, to enable the creation of a small air chamber. Profiles must be assembled with a modulation of 60 cm.



This is followed by the insertion of the acoustic absorption material between the uprights. It can be used mineral wool thickness of 40 mm and a density of 35-40 kg/m3. Its function is to dissipate the sound waves that are stationary in the air. To perform this function should allow air flow through its interior, so that the sound energy is converted into heat energy by the effect of friction. The use of higher density mineral wool does not provide better performance. Thereof may be employed absorbent materials suitable for the roof.


Finally we proceed to the junction of the plates by screwing plasterboard to metal profiles.


Floor acoustic treatment

Last but not least, you should proceed to the acoustic treatment of the room floor.

The aim is to prevent the transmission of noise to the walls of the room. This requires executing a floating floor avoiding any rigid connection with the walls.

We propose as a platform floating placed directly on battens:


1- Wrought.
2- Absorbent material 40 mm thick.
3- Polyethylene sheet.
4- Battens.
5- Prints laminated flooring.

This constructive solution can be run directly on the floor or on the existent slab. The only thing to keep in mind is that the area that serves as support does'nt present slopes greater than 1 cm.

The steps in implementation are the following::

First play must verify that the supporting surface is clean, free of defects and with a height of less than 1 cm.

Adhere to the two faces of each batten crosslinked polyethylene layer, uniformly distributed over the surface battens spaced about 60 cm and fix the cleat and lag wrought by each 90 cm.

I leave two links of such commercial products:
Fixing the battens to the slab

Then absorbing material is placed between the strips. Thereof may be employed absorbent materials suitable for the roof and walls.


Acoustic absorption material

Finally set the stage blades on battens, in the encounter with the walls should be placed polyethylene band which is placed on the baseboard.

Floorboards on battens

Constructive solutions described allow a substantial improvement in airborne sound insulation in walls of a room without a significant loss of usable space in the same.


1 comentario:

  1. I have tried something easiest like applying drywall insulation to the walls additional layer of 1/4 - 3/8" drywall over the existing wall. It's stored so the backs' center sags and developes a bend.This additional layer blocks the transmission of vibrations through the fasteners in the first layer to the fasteners on the opposite side of the walls.

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