Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Sound proofing
Hi everyone. Has anyone had experience of sound-proofing a floor? To stop sound travelling to the flat below. A carpet won't be enough, but I believe you can raise the floor. Has anyone done this? Does it work? Are there some professionals you can recommend please?
Thanks, Marian
Tags for Forum Posts: sound proofing
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by 3brmuo8fnxc0l on
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Years ago my mother had her ceiling lowered to stop noise from flat above. It worked really well & did the job. I'm assuming that having the floor raised would have the same effect.
But sorry so long ago I don't know anyone that does it but assume any builder can.
Pat
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Permalink Reply by Marian Leatherby on
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Oh thank you, I hadn't thought of lowering the ceiling. Hm.
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Hello Marian. I had my flat soundproofed. I live in first floor flat in the ladder and did not want to disturb people below nor inhibit their lives by making them be too quiet.
The job can be done from below, but is easier from above I guess. I lifted floorboards, and you then fix batons along the joists. Then you fix more plaster board on these batons and seal with a filler. This helps cut out low frequency noise (by increasing mass). Then you add some loft insulation type material which helps cut out higher frequencies. Then put floorboards back, and seal up the gaps between them with mastic. That final bit is like shutting the door -- the difference between leaving a door ajar, and shutting it properly.
So, after that detail.... (Which I know you did not ask for....;-)..... Yes there are pro companies that do this, and I'll dig out the one I used and post it here later
Cheers
Andrew
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By the way it works really well. I've lived above two starter families now, and I am not disturbed at all.... And I think / hope not them by me.
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That's amazing, thank you Andrew. It is good to know that this can be done.
By the way, were there fire places? Or had they been filled in or something? I was told once that the fireplace carries sound very strongly.
It would be great to know the name of the company.
Thanks again, Marian
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Hello again
The companies I used were Soundstop.co.uk who supplied the materials and Soundproofing.co.uk who supplied the labour. I think the companies are linked.... You will find adverts for one on the others site.
Yes I have a fireplace, which had a concrete hearth at the same level as the floorboards in front of it. I'm not sure I hear much from below via that route....and I've kept it as a feature anyway.
The other thing I looked into was getting good underlay. You can get slightly thicker stuff which is designed to absorb the impact of you walking around.... You can go to town and spend the earth but I found a reasonable solution that was not more expensive that good standard underlay.
Finally, to complete the story, I did put a layer of hardboard over the floorboards before I put underlay and carpet down. That probably helps with some soundproofing too.
I never considered not having carpet. It seemed silly to go to all that work under the floor then still have the impact sound of feet / shoes on wood clattering around.
I've NEVER regretted the hard work, inconvenience and expense. I can live a normal life knowing I'm not unnecessarily inconveniencing my neighbours below. In fact they told me once that they had been in next door where the flats don't have any sound proofing and it was very very noticeable (and bad) compared to what they were used to living beneath me. They were grateful to me for having put mine in. I regard this work i have done as an asset to the flat if I ever sell.
Hope this helps.
I'm not sure I will remember to back on this thread again, so if you have any more questions you can get me on andrewburke@live.co.uk.
Good luck
Cheers
Andrew
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THANK YOU ANDREW!
Will get on to Soundstop.
I'm so grateful you took all this trouble. Thank you Harringay Online as well.
Marian
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