Professional Floor Soundproofing Solutions
How does sound travel through the floor?
Two types of sound—airborne sound and impact sound—can penetrate the floor. Sound can pass through surprisingly small spaces, such as gaps under baseboards, as well as floorboards where there is no insulation gap between ceilings and floor joists. All soundproofing techniques involve creating a kind of insulating barrier as well as improving the vibration dampening capacity of flooring materials.
Floors are soundproofed against impact and airborne sound?
Effective acoustic insulation will help prevent the transmission of noise from both airborne and impact sources. But it's important to use the right technique for your situation; this will depend on how your house is built and to some extent whether you want to silence the entry of sound into your home - for example from noisy neighbors. Prevent noise from escaping (if you're a musician, maybe). Once you've determined the type of noise pollution you're dealing with, you can consider the type of soundproofing that's best for your situation.
Generally speaking, soundproofing a floor will include improving the floor's mass as well as improving its ability to absorb sound energy and vibration from footsteps. When it comes to adding mass, it is better to use a variety of materials as opposed to a single material used in bulk as they will isolate different sound frequencies.
What is the best Floor Soundproofing material for floors?
Different floor constructions such as concrete, brick or wood will require different approaches to Floor Soundproofing and a variety of soundproofing materials.
Some solutions are independent of construction type. Floor Soundproofing A floating floor provides the most comprehensive solution to the problem of sound, but transmitted, because it uses a locking system that isolates the floor from the rest of the building, thereby greatly reducing the passage of sound into the rooms below. Floor Sound Insulation sits on suction pads rather than being secured with nails or screws, which helps stop vibrations from getting through the joists. Soundproof floating floors come with a layer of acoustic insulation glued in place. We have found that Floor Sound Insulation is a reliable and popular floating floor of choice and always performs as expected when tested.
Floor Sound Insulation, Soundproof floor mat/mat can also help reduce noise from impact and airborne sources. They are available in ready-to-run layers to lay on existing ground and provide additional resilience/suspension under footfall to increase mass and reduce impact sound.
What kind of floor soundproofing are you doing?
How to make soundproof wooden Floor Soundproofing
You will need to insulate between floor joists to reduce the transmission of airborne sound through wooden floors. Floor Sound Insulation Special acoustic insulation or acoustic mineral wool is essential, unlike thermal insulation which is much less dense. This should fit tightly between the joists while leaving at least 25% free of material as an air gap. To soundproof the floor above the joists, a floating floor can be laid over existing floorboards or an acoustic mat can be used. We recommend Floor Sound Insulation for floating floors and Mutemat 2 or Mutemat 2 for acoustic mats / underlays. Both of these products create an effective acoustic barrier to influence noise.
You will also need to separate the lower ceiling from the joist system to ensure your floor is completely soundproofed. This is to ensure that the impact sound is not effectively transmitted to the room below. In addition to providing a high-density coating to weaken airborne sound transmission. The ceiling can be separated by British Gypsum Flexible Rods RB1, MuteClips and beam channels, suspended metal frame ceilings on Acoustic suspensions or an all new freestanding wood ceiling.
In summary, soundproof floors
Whatever floor type you have - concrete or wood - it will always find a way to get through unless you can dampen the noise. Ground Sound Insulation, Determining the type and level of noise is the first step. After diagnosing the cause – whether primarily airborne (sounds, TV) or impact-related (footsteps, impact), you can then consider the best soundproofing options. Note that the reduction of airborne noise will involve the installation of high-density acoustic materials and decoupling elements of the soundproof floor system. Impact noise requires an elastic layer within the soundproof floor system. Since most noise pollution will involve a mix of airborne and impact sources, you will likely need a solution that addresses both.