sound proofing bedroom

[sammy1990]

Hi all

Was hoping to get some advice on sound proofing. We are looking to soundproof our bedroom, just one party wall with our neiughbours, as when they speak in normal tones it sounds very loud and clear in our room, and its causing me to wake up whenever their baby cries at night or the mums playing with baby.

I was thinking of a fitting wooden beams to the wall every 50cm, screwing them to the wall, but fitting 6mm rubber washers between wood and wall tohelp prevent sound transfer through beams. Then to fit some kind of soundproofing material between beams. Then fitting a sound proof plasterboard on top.

Could anyone please advise on a make of sound proofing? I hear rockwool is good, but i know very little about it. Also is there a special type of pladterboard i can buy to increase soundproofing?

Any advice will be much appreciated.

 

[joe-90]

What matters is which way your joists run. If they run across the house into the nieghbours wall you are wasting your time.

 

[jeds]

Don't screw to the wall. Standard specification is a 100mm stud built independently about 20mm away from the party wall, infilled with 50mm acoustic mineral wool and double boarded with acoustic plasterboard. The boards should be fixed onto resilient bars - not directly to the timber. All edges must be sealed with acoustic mastic. Using 75mm stud probably wouldn't make a massive difference but will slightly reduce effectiveness. Be aware though that whilst sound does travel directly though the party wall, it also flanks around the edges. As joe says through the floor and also adjoining walls and roof structures as well. So you may be able to reduce it but you won't stop it altogether. Also be aware that there is no point taking short cuts. The above spec must be done properly and the correct materials must be used or there's no point doing it.

 

[sammy1990]

Thanks guys. Your advice is much appreciated.

Is there a particular make of acoistic insulation you can recommend? Ive done a lot of reading but theres so much info out there and conflicting advice that its left me a bit lost!

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

You don't say what the construction of the house is. Has the bedroom got a fire place? -joint flue with next door? or dodgy brickwork behind it. Have you lifted a floorboard to see if there are any holes in the party wall? Is there a good party wall up through the loft with loads of glass fibre on your loft floor (good sound suppressor as well as a heat insulation). My Victorian semi had a common front wall and a common cavity right across the fronnt of the houses! Lots of things to check for before investing money in a non solution.
Frank

 

[jeds]

Buy the cheapest you can find. As long as it says 'acoustic' it will do the job. It's basically the same as any other mineral wool except slightly more dense. If you want to be technical it should be minimum 10kg/m­³. You don't need a lot of thickness, most come in 50mm thickness which so fine, you might find some in 30mm thickness. All it does is disrupt the sound waves as they pass across the gap - 100mm wool doesn't disrupt any more than 50mm wool.