Soundproofing a flat?

Pulsedriver

Pulsedriver

Pulsedriver

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Hey folks, I have bought a flat, and whilst im not moving in for a few weeks whilst all the formalities are completed, I will be able (soon) to do a few things whilst im not in the flat itself to make it easier, this for one;

I basically want to soundproof a couple of the rooms, the living room and the bedroom (not for that reason! :D)

Lounge size is 4.78m x 2.97m

Bedroom 1 size is 3.78m x 2.67m

Now whilst I appreciate no soundproofing will work if I plan to sing at the top of my voice every day, what I was looking for is a cheap way, to improve existing soundproofing , for the TV and for the computer etc, if I happen to be listening to music fairly loud (not OTT!) without making everyone else suffer, although headphones are an option...Which will be used at night for sure!
The carpets will be getting lifted and re-laid anyway, so it's an ideal time to lay some acoustic mat down.

Does anyone have any experience of this, and has it made much difference? I know modern flats have a 'floating floor' system, but this is a late 1990's flat so I doubt it has any kind of sophistication like that!
 
I very much doubt the acoustic mat will be effective on the floor in the thinknesses you'll be able to lay it.
 
So you want to make sure no one can hear the screams...

My advice don't do your killing at home! Rent a van, do it in the woods, make a day trip of it, bring the kids, bring a picnic, just make sure to clean up after your self as being caught littering could land you in some bother.
 
Build a vocal booth, it will be a far more efficient and cost effective way of going about this. One of the best ways to sound proof on a larger scale is to make a room within a room.
 
Unless there are very unusual building circumstances, with soundproofing measures built into the architectural design of flats (ie very thick, solid walls & floors), you basically live with your immediate neighbours as if you shared one big house.

You'll probably find that apart from good thick underlay any other measures you take will just be money down the drain.
 
its very very difficult we have had to spend close the 30k to sound poor our floor.

to sound poor the floor properly it will need to be completely decoupled from the walls using a permitter isolation strip, you can then put down a sound poor floor I found a product called Elco floor which is quite cheap at 16 pounds per m2.

http://www.soundsolutionconsultants.co.uk/acoustic-products/acoustic-flooring.aspx

The walls are not so hard to do, if you are plasterboard walls you can fill them with something like acoustic isoover then use a high density plasterboard (such as 15mm Soundboard).

There is no cheap and easy way to do this, but you could try and put down carpet if you have wood floors.
 
Andrew_McP said:
Unless there are very unusual building circumstances, with soundproofing measures built into the architectural design of flats (ie very thick, solid walls & floors), you basically live with your immediate neighbours as if you shared one big house.

You'll probably find that apart from good thick underlay any other measures you take will just be money down the drain.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, this. It's the same for me and I'm end of terrace house, you can hear the neighbours pretty well next door. I've looked into sound proofing before and anything effective would involve major cost/work and even then it's not 100% - at least that's how I've read it.
 
You need lots of space really, sound deadens the most when transitioning between two materials therefore you need to be able to build several layers with air gaps in between. Of course this is how they sound proof studios, amongst other methods, perhaps not suitable for a domestic setting.

Just gag them with duck tape first tbh.
 
Wall wise the above suggestion is the best way, this will cost a fair bit if you pay someone to do it but fitting plasterboard and insulation is incredibly easy if its to a stud wall and only a little harder when having to dab it to brick yourself.
 
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