Underfloor Sound proofing!

Would putting down a good thick carpet and underlay make much of a difference?. The carpet thats down in my bedroom at the moment is very thin and the underlay is the cheapest rubber stuff you can get. I was planning on putting a thin membrane down (fiber that stops the underlay sticking to the floor boards) then this really good quality rubber underlay. The underlay is called hallmark, i got a small sample and its very heavy and thick and feels good quality. Then a thick piled carpet over the top. I was hoping that would make a difference but looking at all the work you did i don't think it'll do much.

Was the rock wool dear to buy?, also which would be best for under floor boards, the 50mm denser stuff or the 100mm?.

I was hoping not to take all the floorboards up as that would be a massive job. My plan was to just tape all the floorboard joins with ducktape or aluminium tape and seal any big gaps with sound dampening sealant.
 
Mark A said:
Would putting down a good thick carpet and underlay make much of a difference?. The carpet thats down in my bedroom at the moment is very thin and the underlay is the cheapest rubber stuff you can get. I was planning on putting a thin membrane down (fiber that stops the underlay sticking to the floor boards) then this really good quality rubber underlay. The underlay is called hallmark, i got a small sample and its very heavy and thick and feels good quality. Then a thick piled carpet over the top. I was hoping that would make a difference but looking at all the work you did i don't think it'll do much.

Was the rock wool dear to buy?, also which would be best for under floor boards, the 50mm denser stuff or the 100mm?.

I was hoping not to take all the floorboards up as that would be a massive job. My plan was to just tape all the floorboard joins with ducktape or aluminium tape and seal any big gaps with sound dampening sealant.
Click to expand...

a lot of people say that if you block all the gaps, this will create an effective sound barrier. In practise I found this to be incorrect. Imagine dividing a room into using a think material say paper - all taped up so that the 2 partitions are separated. Sound will easily transfer between the 2 partitions, because the partition itself is too thin. You need thickness and varying densities to block out various frequencies of sound.

The carpet and underlay will block out (and muffle) mid and high frequencies - read voices. Farts are lower down the frequency spectrum and perhaps a carpet on its own wont do much.

Keep in mind that although my solution wasnt totally effective against impact noise, it did do a good job at substantially reducing air bourne noise (which is what you want to stop).

In order to hit as many frequencies as possible, with regards to mineral wool, it would be best to perhaps use 50mm of 100kg/m cubed and 50mm of 140kg/m cubed. This way you have 2 different densities cutting out noise. If cost is an issue you could use 60kg instead of 100kg. In both cases it will cost you £100s.

It really depends how desperate you are to sort this noise problem out, once and for all. And how much money you are prepared to spend.

If you want to go all the way then use rockwool. Use underlay. Use carpet. Use duck-tape. Use sound proofing membrane. Use baseboard. After this, you will begin to have to spend large amounts of money for diminishing returns.

Some other ideas:
http://www.sheffins.co.uk/newslette...02_2004.pdf#search=""rockwool flexi" density"
 
norm said:
Fit a vacuum between yourself and the cieling above. That'll kill any sound. : )
Click to expand...

Hehehe, I thought about that, but then noise would still creep in through the walls.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom