Sound proofing a lounge

[michaelgordon]

Im after some advice around sound proofing. I live in a terraced house with shared walls on left & right. i want to listen to my films & music at a high volume but don't want to be a noisy neighbour or 'that guy'. I have noisy neighbours to the left and would also like to drown them out.

I only have a small room so building a frame and room in a room is a no go plus its a normal lounge so needs to be used as one.

What im currently looking at is the reductoclip direct to wall system. its a clip & bar that attach tot he wall, fill the gaps with a acoustic wool/wood material then 2 acoustic plasterboard layers with a layer of sticky absorption rubber it looks like between them and filling gaps with acoustic glue. Ive been quoted just over £1000 for the materials and i can easily fit.

Anyone have any experiences with this? Only 1 search result for this so thought id ask. Also any alternatives anyone could advise on. Im think do i need the clips and bars, could i just go direct on to the wall and source thicker/denser plasterboard? Both walls are solid brick.

 

[Harkon321]

Isolation is important (which clips and channel will give). Then the rest as you said, 2 layers of acoustic plasterboard, insulate behind. Green Glue between sheets of PB if you can stretch to that. Shop around for materials as you can make a saving by doing that. For the gaps you need Acoustic Sealant not glue.

Don't expect miracles. Depends how loud you listen, but it will help a lot.

I've done 4" isolated stud work then 12" of brick. Two layers of PB and green glue - and I can still hear it if I turn it up.

 

[reevesy]

i did a bit of this in my last house..didnt have a lot of room to play with so did the best i could.

long story short i got better results on one wall where i fixed a 2 or 3 mm thick acoustic rubber matt on the wall first...then built the stud ..filled with acoustic insulation then finished with a mid thickness acoustic plaster board

the rubber matting was bought from amazon,,and i've read it does the same job as green glue...but how they compare i dont know

....i know theres a lot of love for green glue but i could'nt bring myself to pay a small fortune for some 'green mastic'

in my experience the biggest benefit seem to be from the rubber matting .... if i was going to do it again......and i might have to yet!......i'd go rubber matting first.....then acoustic plasterboard then another sheet of rubber sandwiched between the 2 bits of the plasterboard..thickness's depending on what you can use and afford

thing is weight....acoustic plasterboard is well heavy...rubber matting gets heavy too when hanging it up....i did most it of it on my own so struggled a bit

well i'm no expert ....but it's all a lot of work and money ....and the results can vary

maybe work with your neighbour to see what level of volume you can get away ?

be a lot easier and cheaper in the long run

 

[michaelgordon]

Cheers. Sounds a lot like what the reducto clip system is. I do need to speak with them.

 

[Harkon321]

They do different things.
Mass loaded vinyl is an effective way (but expensive) of adding lots of mass. Similar to multiple layers of PB.

Green Glue is a damping compound.

Clips and channel or decoupled studs give isolation.

Insulation is the 4th.

Read the sound proofing thread on AVS forums. That’s your best starting point. Or get Rod Gervais book.

 

[michaelgordon]

@reevesy don't suppose you have a link to the rubber matting?

Think I'll go ahead anyway but try and source in bits and pieces, won't seem as much then and will shops round.

 

[reevesy]

It was advanced acoustics matting ...by advanced acoustics

 

[michaelgordon]

cheers

 

[Topmetom 2]

After last nights james bond fest from next door, i really need to look into this again.

 

[michaelgordon]

the more i look into it, the soundproofing store system seems the best and cheapest. Tried sourcing the bits separately as well.

 

[Topmetom 2]

Its the delivery that getsme

 

[michaelgordon]

Its the delivery that getsme

Oh thats not happening, im going to call when im ready to go and just say, im not spending £1000 with you and have another £120 delivery on top thats outrageous, especially as its their own trucks that deliver and not a company

 

[4ohhh4]

Oh thats not happening, im going to call when im ready to go and just say, im not spending £1000 with you and have another £120 delivery on top thats outrageous, especially as its their own trucks that deliver and not a company

I was in a similar situation as you, got a quote from them I was reasonbly happy with (although much cheaper solutions out there but they do have the best reputation) but when I saw the £120 delivery fee I decided to take business elsewhere.

Spoke to these guys on the phone and they reccomended this product to me which is a lot cheaper:

Easy Soundproof Wall with SM20 Panels

How do you soundproof a wall? We're the experts! Excellent performance using our heavy duty stick on SM20 panels. DIY soundproofing made simple - see our video to see how it is done step-by-step..

www.soundstop.co.uk

Also these guys have a similar product to soundproofing store:

Stud Wall Kit 50mm DFM Wall Soundproofing - Noisestop Systems

Stu Wall Kit 50mm DFM acoustic insulation for stud walls. Wall soundproofing solution. FREE Nationwide delivery for orders over £750. Read more.

www.noisestopsystems.co.uk

How do you plan to proceed next? I also really want to sort my sound problem out!

 

[michaelgordon]

cheers, ill tke a look

 

[Topmetom 2]

Ive looked at soundstop not seen the noise stop lot...the other issue i have is central heating pipes at the bottom of the wall and one double socket to contend with. My noise seems to be coming from the ceiling? I did think of boxing the pipes in but i dont like electricity....

 

[michaelgordon]

so if im looking at it correcty, i can achive basically the same level of reduction 55db with the reductoclip system and 50db with the noisestop acoustic panel for less than half the price, infact i could double up on the acoustic panels for even more and still pay less than soundproofing store.

Think ill give the a call tomorrow to discuss.

 

[Topmetom 2]

Please let us know how you get on?

 

[michaelgordon]

Spoe to the people at noise stop, they recommended stud wall as anything direct to wall will help with noise from next door and normal levels of noise from escaping from my room but not high volume or bass.

Looking into it, i can build a stud wall and get the soundproofing for about £650 and loose either 77mm or 60mm depending if using soundvreaker bars or not compared to 60mm of the reductoclip.

Building the frame seems easy enough in decent at DIY i thought it would be too much but i rekon this is the way forward.

 

[michaelgordon]

so update. i didnt add VAT or deliver so the actual cost was £800 and if i included the upstairs bits i also want to do £1000. I put a new post up about DIY to see if i can get more opinions but will put in here as well. My plan is to still build a stud wall frame with resiliant bars and rockwool insulation or equivilant.

Do i double layer 15mm soundbloc or other acoustic plasterboard with green glue or AC50 (is there a difference) this would cost around £500

or would i get a better result from using the Noisestop Acoustic Panel | Soundprooing Panels - Noisestop Systems instead of the double layer?

Cost of this for the same area is about £1000 would it be that more beneficial to get the dedicated panel or could i achive similar results with the double layer and perhaps addind some mass loaded vinyl sheeting before the first layer of platerboard?

 

[AdamAttewell]

so update. i didnt add VAT or deliver so the actual cost was £800 and if i included the upstairs bits i also want to do £1000. I put a new post up about DIY to see if i can get more opinions but will put in here as well. My plan is to still build a stud wall frame with resiliant bars and rockwool insulation or equivilant.

Do i double layer 15mm soundbloc or other acoustic plasterboard with green glue or AC50 (is there a difference) this would cost around £500

or would i get a better result from using the Noisestop Acoustic Panel | Soundprooing Panels - Noisestop Systems instead of the double layer?

Cost of this for the same area is about £1000 would it be that more beneficial to get the dedicated panel or could i achive similar results with the double layer and perhaps addind some mass loaded vinyl sheeting before the first layer of platerboard?

Maybe not what you want to hear but I would highly recommend watching this video with Anthony Grimani on sound isolation & what it takes to achieve the results you are looking for.

I really do recommend watching the whole video but at around 19:00 is where he starts talking about differing wall construction types.


Also Matthew Poes of Poes Acoustics on Youtube is worth a watch as he has some great videos on sound proofing.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_nD-WVnesYaw4EGmZ_VpAA

I myself want to soundproof my room but after watching these videos & seeing what it actually takes to get an STC of 65 on all the walls, ceiling, floor & door it just not going to be possible for me.

I was ready to spend a few grand but I am glad I did not as I am sure I would have not gotten the result I want.

 

[wwwebber]

Acoustic / thermal insulation for stud walls / floors - I'm looking at Rockwool RW3 or 5. Am I going in the right direction ?

 

[Gazgum]

Maybe not what you want to hear but I would highly recommend watching this video with Anthony Grimani on sound isolation & what it takes to achieve the results you are looking for.

I really do recommend watching the whole video but at around 19:00 is where he starts talking about differing wall construction types.


Also Matthew Poes of Poes Acoustics on Youtube is worth a watch as he has some great videos on sound proofing.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_nD-WVnesYaw4EGmZ_VpAA

I myself want to soundproof my room but after watching these videos & seeing what it actually takes to get an STC of 65 on all the walls, ceiling, floor & door it just not going to be possible for me.

I was ready to spend a few grand but I am glad I did not as I am sure I would have not gotten the result I want.

Watched the whole thing and found it very informative. Confirms for me what a daunting prospect it is if you’re going to tackle all this yourself!

Good to see ventilation mentioned, something that often seems to get left out. All very well having a sealed room within a room, but without adequate ventilation that becomes an unhealthy place to be spending many hours of your life enjoying the benefits.

 

[michaelgordon]

im hoping for my situation it will be ok, im not looking to completly remove the sound in or out it would be great but i know to do that would be a lot of time money & effort but if i can half or even quarter it, it will still be significant to me. im only bothered about my side wall & alcoves. Floor inst important neither is ceiling as no one above or below me.

im guessing that the added mass & materials long with insulation and decoupling and air gap will at least stop me hearing the arguments & kids next door, hopefully it stops some of my noise going th them.

Decided to go with the noisestop pnel, diy would be too heavy, id worry about it falling down.

 

[kbarnes70]

In my build thread (link in sig) I go into a lot of detail about sound containment. It was one of the principle design requirements of my room. I achieved the required drop of about 40dB from inside to outside, but just look at the hoops I had to jump through and the cost!

Sound containment has many benefits, but unless it is done properly, there is little point to doing it at all IMO. Even the smallest gap to the outside world allows a huge amount of sound to escape. There are YT videos which demonstrate that quite well. The worst result imaginable is to spend ££££s on 'soundproofing' only to discover it doesn't achieve the design objectives.

In the build thread, you will see that I used a double frame construction, acoustic plasterboard, the world's supply of rockwool, a hat channel and isolation bars, more acoustic plasterboard and special Techsound sheeting which weighs a ton. It cost a fortune!

 

[cineman]

Sorry to butt in here, but this was on a soundproofing article in an email! I can't find the right company's advert now, but I was looking into maybe closing off the back of my home cinema room/living room with some soundproofing curtains. There's this company who make many different ones and they all claim to reduce sound by 15db. My partner is a wheelchair user so to help her get around the house, we had a few doors removed which doesn't help in the noise stakes! So my room is very long with a large open area to one side at the back. I was thinking that if I can close off the back of the room before this open area (which leads into the hall and all the bedrooms in our bungalow), that should hopefully deaden the sound a bit, before it goes around the corner, through the bedrooms and into our attached neighbours house. One good thing is that our living rooms are on the outside of our two houses, but our walls still aren't thick enough to keep all the sound in! Has anyone else tried these curtains? And if so, do they work as well as they promise? I cannot build any kind of internal walls, as they would have to be in the bedrooms and they're small enough as it is!