Soundproofing

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by bry 492 on May 23, 2012 at 13:41

YOU MAY BE ABLE TO HAVE STYRAFOME BEADING INSULATION  INJECTED INTO THE CEILING VOID BETWEEN THE  JOISTS FROM YOUR CEILING THIS WOULD GIVE YOU SOME PROTECTION AND WOULD BE THE LEAST INTRUSIVE METHOD OF INSULATING, THE AMOUNT OF SOUND REDUCTION ACHIVED THIS WAY WOULD HAVE TO BE INVESTIGATED BY YOURSELF. THE COMPANIES THAT USE THIS METHOID WOULD ALSO BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU A GOOD IDEA OF ANY RESULT YOU MIGHT EXPECT TO ACHIVE.

BEST REGARDS

             BRY492.

Permalink Reply by tulips on May 24, 2012 at 10:39

Thanks a lot for your advice.

Permalink Reply by Isabelle on May 23, 2012 at 17:48

I think there are regulations on what insulation should be installed, so perhaps the first step would be to get this checked – and perhaps by the council themselves, as they do have a department that deals with building standards.

They also have a department dealing with noise regulations, should you wish to file a complaint against your neighbour.

As for insulating the ceiling yourself, it is the ultimate best option, though expensive but so much worth it. It's not just sound but heat that goes through your ceiling (and up to the flat above). I did my living-room and it's so nice to know that the neighbour and I won't fall out either way on noise issues. Had foam sheets, phonewell sheets and acoustic boards, the lot. Can probably be done for less, but that's for you to decide. It shouldn't take too much of your ceiling height away...

Permalink Reply by tulips on May 24, 2012 at 10:41

Thanks Isabelle, that's very helpful. If you can let me know the name of the company you used and approximate cost, that would be great.

Permalink Reply by Isabelle on May 24, 2012 at 21:35

I used a friend! On his advice I bought some Steico Flex wood fibre sheets (from ecomerchant) which is a natural material for thermal insulation, though you could use cheaper and possibly as efficient products (my friend is an ecologist). These were fitted in between beams. Then another friend advised Phonewell for sound insulation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-UTEvhiaGQ). These sheets are like sand-filled and we fitted them below the Steico Flex (it got complicated as we installed them 'floating' rather than just screwed on like on that video). Then a final layer of acoustic plasterboards, don't know if these are necessary (they're certainly very heavy!) but I wanted to cover all possibilities. Then you might want to plaster the ceiling and decorate! I guess a real builder could advise and give you a quote for the works, while you can work out the materials cost by checking with suppliers. My ceiling was expensive, but like I said it's well worth it.

Permalink Reply by abstractjuz on May 25, 2012 at 9:10

Getting the floorboards secured will be a big improvement for a fairly small effort. My wife and I convinced an upstairs landlord to do this by asking him if we could at least get some quotes to see how much it would cost and how long it would take to do the room above our bedroom - turned out it was a pretty small job so he went with it.

From there it was easier to convince him to put some decent underlay and cheap carpet down which also helped us a lot.

As far as 'proper' soundproofing goes - depending on how your house/flat is constructed - you could be getting as much sound passing through and vibrating the walls as is coming through the ceiling. Expensive insulation on a ceiling that is supported by thin walls or walls with chimney breasts that travel (and carry sound) through multiple floors will only partially sort the problem.

HTH - good luck. 

Permalink Reply by Isabelle on May 25, 2012 at 23:01

That is so true. As much as my insulated ceiling worked for that room (which has thick supporting walls), I'm not sure what to do with the other room, where telly sounds travel from next door through thin walls and a chimney breast and also the upstairs washing machine gets a wall and windows shaking when it spins... Still I think that footsteps are usually just a ceiling problem. But you need to consider all options.

Permalink Reply by tulips on May 26, 2012 at 10:34

Thanks Isabelle. Yes I've got the upstairs washing machine vibration problem as well. It sounds like it's going to take off and come through the ceiling! I've heard that for airborne sound, blocking the chimney space helps and sealing air gaps by injecting expanding foam.

Permalink Reply by Isabelle on May 26, 2012 at 13:11

Ouch, not a good idea to block the chimney, it needs breathing to keep the building healthy (dry)... My builder and other people advised me not to touch it and to keep the chimney's existing small air vent in my room (it's there for a reason) – like you, I felt like filling it up!

Same goes with floors. I know previous occupiers of my flat sealed all possible air circulation under the floorboards, probably thinking it'd keep the flat warmer, but the end result was a stuffy musty environment, joists started rotting etc. So, as a general rule, keep the air flowing.

Permalink Reply by tulips on May 26, 2012 at 10:26

Thanks Justin for your good advice. If you have any details of companies used and cost, that would be great. The flat upstairs is rented out and the landlord is not keen to spend money, so I want to persuade them nicely! We are both leaseholders so they know they have a duty to ensure there is no transmission of noise through the flooring. The response so far is that they put some soundproofing in over 20 years ago so that should suffice. However, I guess flooring protection doesn't last forever and needs to be renewed. Also the floorboards must need securing as there is a lot of creaking as well. Any idea of how long it took to do the work would be useful as they have tenants living in the property.

Permalink Reply by abstractjuz on May 26, 2012 at 13:31

The floorboards can be done by any decent handyperson - there's a few here on HoL and I'd definitely recommend a guy called Nick Roche 07906 349 565 who we've used a few times now. The guy that did the last boards basically just went round with a power drill and a bunch of long screws and secured every board and joist he could. He was done in a couple of hours. We pointed out the worst/loudest places to him - it's one of those bizarre acoustic things that some areas that were really loud and creaky for us below were barely audible in the room above. Nick recently secured some boards in our current place by adding some extra cross-joists which gives more to fasten the floorboards to - that seems to have worked well.

I didn't source the underlay - but I can't imagine the guy upstairs spending much on it.

Try Steve at JB Carpets on Holloway Road 020 7607 4786 - we've used them before, they're well priced and reasonably reliable. He should have some pointers.