Sound proofing old floorboards

[waldopepper]

Hi! I've seen advice about particular problems in this section but as far as I can see, not for exactly what I'm after (unless I missed it!).

We're moving into our newly purchased flat in a few weeks and the seller took up the carpets to expose the original floorboards and help sell the place but we hear that noise travels very well indeed (in the bad way) to the flat underneath us. It's a Victorian building converted into flats, decent height ceilings.

We're going to put new decent carpets down and have a rubber underlay underneath it so this should deal with airborne and footstep etc noise. But being a movie and generally loud/bassy TV addict I was wondering if I have to kerb my bad habits completely or if there's anything not too expensive we could do at the same time before the carpets go down might help reduce the bass travelling downwards by a fair bit?

I've kinda heard that you can buy sections of sound-proofing boards (not sure what's in them) fairly cheaply but I'm not sure what will have what effect from all the ones on sale online.

It's a 1 bed flat with 4m by 4m living room and bedroom. The noise will pretty much only come from a home cinema bass unit in the corner of the living room. We won't be taking any floorboards up to do this but if there's something that can go over the top that would be great.

We thought if we can make a good difference to general/bass noise then we don't mind spending an extra few hundred or so to do this in the living room.

Can anyone suggest what might help us achieve this?

ta
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[mattym]

you can buy flooring that will help, its called Reduc, its a sandwich of mdf boards, acoustic felt and rubber, costs from £12 a piece IIRC

or you can make your own!

[waldopepper]

Thanks mattym, I'm going to call some places I've found tomorrow for prices lists and advice. Was there any specific place that sold these for around that price?

The main sites that keep cropping up are these two:
http://www.noisestopsystems.co.uk/sp...d_proofing.htm
http://www.acoustic.co.uk/H&H/floor.htm#f3539
http://www.mpacousticflooring.co.uk/...loor.html#sf15

But I'm totally clueless as to whether they might be the cheapest out there or a high-end material provider that's too much for my solution.

Has anyone bought reduc online from any sites recently? I'm probably just going to go for cheap(ish) 15mm reduc-like stuff.

PS from the sounds of things you don't actually fit this, just lay it over floorboards and let the carpet fitters fit over the top - is that right?

[mattym]

whatever version you use is laid on top of the existing floor, try hodgson and hodgson?

[spooney]

Waldopepper, did you consider rubber dampers?
All you can do is minimize the vibrations and the most inexpensive and effective way are those dampers.
They are self-adhesive and you will be able to get them in any electronic or hifi store.

Although the link is in German language please take a look at the first two pictures. They will illustrate what I am referring to:
http://www.teufel.de/de/Zubehoer/Standfuesse/

BTW: I would not but the bass unit/sub into a corner. Some frequencies will resonate between the walls and placing it into a corner may enforce the resonances resulting in participating neighbours

[waldopepper]

Oh thanks - I assumed reduc type stuff is the way to go but I'm completely clueless about all this so thanks for the advice.

As our carpets will have an average underlay but I'm not sure how well this will deal with general airborne and footstep noise compared to reduc or any other cheapish solutions. What we're really worried about is noise from our home cinema going down - would adding rubber dampers underneath my bass box have a big effect?

[spooney]

Originally Posted by waldopepper

What we're really worried about is noise from our home cinema going down - would adding rubber dampers underneath my bass box have a big effect?

Yes, it does. I had a wooden floor seamless fixed to the conrete in my old house and the difference was huge. My sub is 56x50x50 and has 300 watts RMS. I could easily blow off the roof

You will dislink the vibrations of the box from the floor.
If the speaker is directly on the floor all the vibrations of the case will be transmitted and you will hear it in the whole building.

But: There are still the sound waves. You will have resonances at certain wave lengths (divide 170 by the room width and lenght in meters and you will get the frequency, e.g. 4 m wide room results in a resonance at 42,5 Hz).
This will cause the walls to vibrate and act as a loud speaker. The good news is the noise of the vibrations will depend on the volume.

Practical experience: I have my HT in the basement of a row house. If I keep the volume to a decent level - still sufficient to enjoy a movie and you need to speak up to talk - at night-time my family upstairs and the neighbours hear nothing.

BTW: What if you invite the neighbours for a movie evening and with their help conduct some sound checks a few days later to find out the right volume you can use?

[mattym]

check the powerbuys for antivibration feet

[ChrisOH]

Hi,

I'm after the same thing and wonder if anyone has used Soundmat. How effective is it under carpet.

I am in a loft and can't soundproof because of cost but I would like to reduce any annoyance I may cause to a minimum.

TIA

Chris

[waldopepper]

Phew thanks for all the advice guys. I've been researching and calling the various dealers and it's generally much more expensive than I thought it would be! I don't know where £10 for Reduc came from - it's nearer £12 in all the stores I tried.

Using a combination of price, effect and ease of installation (some were quite involved) I think I'l going to go for this NSSF7 from Noisestop systems. It's only 10mm thick but is easily cut into shape (no tongue/groove boards or filling needed). For airborne or impact noise.

Does anyone know how good this stuff is?
http://www.noisestopsystems.co.uk/do...SSF7_final.doc

PS I assume with any of these solutions I should be sealing any holes in between the floorboards. Are any sealing products as good as any others?

I'm also going to get the bass dampening things - good idea spooney. PS what are powerbuys? Is that a site associated with AVForums?

[mattym]

http://www.avforums.com/forums/acoustic-optimisation-power-buys/


^^ powerbuys

[waldopepper]

Heh changed my mind again - I've got some 'ElecoFloor 36m' being delivered on Saturday. This stuff is tongue and groove and forms a proper solid floor base to fix my new carpets to.

http://www.productselector.co.uk/Doc...L107161.pdf?ac

One question though, does anyone know any good products for sealing floorboards before this floor goes down on top? Will any silicon sealant do to make sure it's as sound-proofed as it can be or should I buy a specific sound-proofing product (if there is such a thing?)

PS will be emailing you soon about the bass dampeners matt.

PPS just noticed an embarrassing typo below - it should have read "it's nearer £30" not "it's nearer £12". No idea how I typed that!

ta
w