What To Install on Floor (Summer House)?

SquirrelMadness

SquirrelMadness

SquirrelMadness

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Hi. So I have a concrete floor which probably isn't 100% level with a single layer brick perimeter.

I'm building a recording studio so need sound resistance.

Now deciding what to lay down for the floor so I can get this part over and done with quick.

Was thinking doing this:

Self leveling compound >> Batons around perimeter and some going across screwed into concrete >> Celotex between batons (probably 25mm thickness) >> chip board tong and groove >> laminate flooring

Which would bring the floor up about 50mm which is no big deal.

Is there any point in putting Celotex down on the concrete floor? Will it actually make any difference to warmth?

Also anyone got any advice on the sound insulation side of this type of floor? Should I run some rubber around the perimeter to decouple it from the bricks and timber walls?

Any other flooring ideas?

Cheers
 
Wouldn't a nice long pile carpet and underlay do a far better job for sound (and heat!). Laminate may be practical in a summer house but it will just reflect sound and cause a load reverb making recording more difficult.
 
My advice is (especially if this is in a normal residential garden) get some companies specialising to come over and suggest/quote, then you'll have some insight and what is important.

I know first hand that sometimes one small oversight when doing this can have a huge detrimental affect on sound proofing. My brother did this on his home cinema, floating floor on rubber isolators etc, proper sound proofed walls, but it was still quite audible outside the building. He had 2 quotes to do it properly which gave him the list of materials and order of installation and just bought/installed everything himself and it's night and day quieter.

For example, he built a raised floor with simple wood construction as you are suggesting:
- The long lengths of wood transmit the sound around the room quite efficiently, he ended up cutting the wood and use isolation material to stop this being transmitted.
- The celotex he placed between batons was too tight and was coupling too much to the wood.
- The batons fixed to the concrete also wheren't a good idea.

In the end the changes wheren't too bad, using isolation material (not just rubber) in a few places, and thinking about not creating lots of small spaces that are mechanically constrained that act like resonators and the room was impressively quiet..
 
I a summer house I would go for floor boards and varnish them (or just leave them bare) as opposed to laminate personally. Our cabin has a wooden floor (25mm T&G) and its lovely, far better than any laminate.
25mm or so T&G floorboards are going to cost similar to chip + laminate and be far nicer (IMO)

Oh ours is insulated with polystyrene as well. The insulation values are not that diff in reality, the cost is very significantly different.
 
Demon said:
My advice is (especially if this is in a normal residential garden) get some companies specialising to come over and suggest/quote, then you'll have some insight and what is important.

I know first hand that sometimes one small oversight when doing this can have a huge detrimental affect on sound proofing. My brother did this on his home cinema, floating floor on rubber isolators etc, proper sound proofed walls, but it was still quite audible outside the building. He had 2 quotes to do it properly which gave him the list of materials and order of installation and just bought/installed everything himself and it's night and day quieter.

For example, he built a raised floor with simple wood construction as you are suggesting:
- The long lengths of wood transmit the sound around the room quite efficiently, he ended up cutting the wood and use isolation material to stop this being transmitted.
- The celotex he placed between batons was too tight and was coupling too much to the wood.
- The batons fixed to the concrete also wheren't a good idea.

In the end the changes wheren't too bad, using isolation material (not just rubber) in a few places, and thinking about not creating lots of small spaces that are mechanically constrained that act like resonators and the room was impressively quiet..
Click to expand...

Did he have a thick concrete slab to lay the floor on as well? I'm starting to think maybe a raised Celotex floor would actually amplify sound versus simple underlay and flooring straight onto the concrete.

Was it the bass frequencies that were audible from outside? For the walls I was thinking of using resilient bars and acoustic plasterboard.

Can't seem to find anyone nearby doing sound proofing quotes.
 
SquirrelMadness said:
Did he have a thick concrete slab to lay the floor on as well? I'm starting to think maybe a raised Celotex floor would actually amplify sound versus simple underlay and flooring straight onto the concrete.

Was it the bass frequencies that were audible from outside? For the walls I was thinking of using resilient bars and acoustic plasterboard.

Can't seem to find anyone nearby doing sound proofing quotes.
Click to expand...

I talked to my brother to see how he was getting on and mentioned this thread, he has since remodelled his floor, largely around the materials he had, and did point me to:
https://www.ikoustic.co.uk/guide

currently he has:
Flooring
Simple floating construction using wood batterns, but they are sat on strips of acoustic absorbing rubber like material,
He reused the celotex, but cut it down so it had 2mm or so gap down each side and again cut strips of the sound absorbing rubber like material and loosely packed that to close the majority of airgaps.
On top fo that he put more sound absorbing material between the batten and normal wayrock flooring, the normalish underlay/carpet (underlay is advertised as sound deadening, but from a normal carpet shop).

Walls:
Sound absorbing plasterboard, then simple foam wall tiles (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product...c16-d4b886747c64&pf_rd_r=4X03SQNWYC3XSJXBWGEX) and on top of those, he made up fabric covered panels (really cheap) to make it look less studio'y..
 
Demon said:
I talked to my brother to see how he was getting on and mentioned this thread, he has since remodelled his floor, largely around the materials he had, and did point me to:
https://www.ikoustic.co.uk/guide

currently he has:
Flooring
Simple floating construction using wood batterns, but they are sat on strips of acoustic absorbing rubber like material,
He reused the celotex, but cut it down so it had 2mm or so gap down each side and again cut strips of the sound absorbing rubber like material and loosely packed that to close the majority of airgaps.
On top fo that he put more sound absorbing material between the batten and normal wayrock flooring, the normalish underlay/carpet (underlay is advertised as sound deadening, but from a normal carpet shop).

Walls:
Sound absorbing plasterboard, then simple foam wall tiles (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product...c16-d4b886747c64&pf_rd_r=4X03SQNWYC3XSJXBWGEX) and on top of those, he made up fabric covered panels (really cheap) to make it look less studio'y..
Click to expand...

Cheers mate appreciate it. I think I'm gonna do away with the battens and just lay 25mm Celotex on the leveled concrete floor and T&G chipboard on the top so it will all be floating. Then I will worry about the sound deadening stage when I'm about to do the top flooring... which will probably be some type of underlay.

There will be 1 stud wall dividing the summerhouse so I will put the rubber absorber under the stud wall.
 
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