Soundproofing room - looking for thoughts and advice

kungfuman

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Hi, I’m looking for some advice regarding some sound proofing options.
I recently moved into a detached house (so neighbours are not a problem) and had intentions to convert the garage into a dedicated home cinema room. However we are having second thoughts about that and now considering using one of the spare bedrooms. We have a young baby so will have to try keeping the noise down and I’m looking at options to improve the sound proofing. The baby’s room is located at the opposite corner of where the HC room would be (see attachment). Door to door is around 4-5m distance away. I have done a little research here but not sure what’s the best way to go. I’m not looking for 100% sound proof as that will be unachievable without spending crazy money but certainly if any good improvements made will be worthwhile. The room isn’t that big: measures 3.4m by 3.5m so I would prefer to lose as little space as possible for the sound proofing.

I was thinking of improving the walls highlighted in red and also the ceiling and the floor by doing the following:

· Main walls in red: These are plain stud walls which I believe have some insulation in them already (I found out recently when having to drill into the wall and it pulled out some insulation). I’m looking at removing the internal existing plasterboard and fitting a double skin of 15mm soundbloc plasterboard with a Green Glue interface. I’ll probably replace the insulation that’s there already with rockwool or acoustic mineral wool. Originally I was thinking of attaching this to the studs directly but read resilient bars should be fitted first to further improve dampening.
· Ceiling: I’m thinking of adding a 15mm single layer of soundbloc plasterboard to the existing ceiling with a Green Glue interface in between.
· Floor: I’ve read the best economical way is to lift the floor boards and fill the cavity with rockwool. Can you just lay this straight into the void? I’m worried if the ceiling below will take the weight as its probably just plasterboard. Are there any other materials I should install here i.e. other membranes or sound insulation inlays that will also improve things?
· Door: Install a fire rated internal door and seal up the edge.
Just wondering if anyone can give any thoughts as to the effectiveness of doing all this or anything thing else that I should consider?
 

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Hi there,

I asked our technical team the best way to soundproof walls and ceilings, and they came up with 3 options depending on budget, and by the looks of it you are not far off with your ideas:-

  • For highest spec and best results use CMS IsoMax clips and channel, onto 50mm x 50mm wooden battens, with mineral wool insulation in the void 30mm thick, then 12.5mm Soundbloc plasterboard, CMS WB10 acoustic barrier mat and 15mm Fireline plasterboard
  • Medium solution: Same as above but without CMS IsoMax clips and channel.
  • Cheapest way: 15mm Fireline plasterboard, CMS WB10 acoustic barrier mat and 12.5mm Soundbloc plasterboard

For floors, in addition to any isolation you can fit into the cavity space, we usually recommend the use of a barrier mat product, then underlay and then your choice of flooring.

I hope this helps, please get in touch if you'd like any more advice through our site at Soundproof My Room | Acoustic & Soundproofing Solutions

Thanks, Alexis
 
Hi there,

thanks for your question.

With regards to the Soundbloc both thickness are readily available however the 15mm is more expensive than the 12.5mm and does not offer a huge acoustic difference.

The reason we recommend the 15mm is because Fireline is a different density to Soundbloc and alternating density between different materials performs acoustically better than two boards with the same thickness and density. Also using Fireline gives the added benefit of fire protection which the Soundbloc does not.

Hope that helps, please just shout if you'd like any more help.
 
Thanks,
The reason we recommend the 15mm is because Fireline is a different density to Soundbloc and alternating density between different materials performs acoustically better than two boards with the same thickness and density.

Is there any lab results that reinforce this or expand on it further? I'm curious to know how low the less dense material should be, before it's just 'not dense enough'.
 

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