Avoid The Boot – Use Acoustic Supplies

How to Reduce Noise Travelling from Your Home

Music, television, conversations, home entertainment systems and everyday household activity can sometimes be heard more clearly in neighbouring properties than expected.

This does not always mean that the sound is unusually loud. Lightweight walls, poorly sealed doors, shared floors, ceiling voids and connected structural elements can all allow noise to travel between homes.

Considerate behaviour should always form part of the solution. Lowering speaker volume, moving equipment away from a shared wall and avoiding particularly noisy activities late at night can all help. Where ordinary use of a room still produces too much sound transmission, home soundproofing may provide a further reduction.

The most effective approach is to identify the type of noise and the route through which it is leaving the property before choosing any products.

What Type of Noise Are You Producing?

Noise leaving a home will normally involve airborne noise, impact noise or vibration travelling through the structure.

Airborne noise

Airborne noise travels through the air before reaching a wall, floor, ceiling, door or window. Common examples include:

• Music and television sound
• Conversations and raised voices
• Gaming and home cinema systems
• Musical instruments
• Dogs barking
• Kitchen and household appliances

Reducing airborne noise usually involves improving airtightness, adding suitable mass and introducing separation between layers of the construction.

Impact noise

Impact noise is created when something makes direct contact with the building. Examples include:

• Footsteps on hard floors
• Furniture being moved
• Exercise equipment
• Children running or playing
• Objects being dropped
• Doors closing heavily

The impact causes vibration that can travel through floorboards, joists, concrete slabs, walls and ceilings. Resilient floor layers or isolated structures are often more useful for this type of noise than simply adding more board to a wall.

Low-frequency vibration

Subwoofers, speakers, washing machines and exercise equipment can transfer vibration directly into the structure of a building.

Low-frequency sound can be especially difficult to control because it may travel through several connected surfaces. Isolating the equipment from the floor or wall may therefore be an important first step.

Begin with Simple Practical Changes

Before beginning building work, consider whether the source itself can be repositioned or isolated.

Useful measures may include:

• Moving speakers away from party walls
• Keeping subwoofers away from corners
• Using suitable isolation pads beneath speakers
• Placing exercise equipment on resilient mats
• Adding rugs and underlay to hard floors
• Using soft-close fittings where practical
• Keeping doors and windows closed during louder activities

These steps may not solve a weak separating structure, but they can reduce the amount of sound energy entering it. Soundproofing should support considerate use of the room rather than be treated as permission to create unlimited noise.

Identify the Main Sound Path

Sound may leave a room through several routes at once. The most obvious wall is not necessarily the only part of the building that needs attention.

Potential sound paths include:

• Party walls
• Internal partitions
• Floors and ceilings
• Joists, beams and structural frames
• Doors and door frames
• Windows and glazing
• Ventilation openings
• Pipework, sockets and cable routes
• Loft spaces and ceiling voids

Sound travelling around the main separating surface is known as flanking transmission. For example, noise may bypass a treated wall by travelling through the floor, ceiling or adjoining side wall.

Upgrading one surface without considering these surrounding paths can limit the result.

Reducing Noise Through a Shared Wall

Music, voices and television sound commonly pass through party walls. A suitable wall soundproofing system may use a combination of additional mass, acoustic insulation and resilient separation.

The correct system will depend on whether the existing wall is masonry, blockwork, timber stud or another construction.

Possible elements may include:

• Acoustic insulation within a cavity
• Resilient bars or isolation clips
• Independent wall linings
• Dense acoustic boards
• Carefully sealed perimeter joints

Products such as JCW Silent Board Plus may form part of a suitable wall system, but one board should not be regarded as a complete answer. The supporting structure, cavity treatment, fixings and junction details must all work together.

Wall-mounted televisions and speakers can also transfer vibration directly into a shared wall. Moving or isolating them may support the performance of the wider treatment.

Reducing Noise Through Floors

Footsteps, furniture movement and exercise equipment can create impact noise that travels into a room or property below.

A suitable floor soundproofing system may include an acoustic underlay, resilient deck or floating floor construction. Treating the floor close to the source is usually more effective for impact noise than relying entirely on work to the ceiling below.

Airborne noise may also travel through gaps between floorboards or through an uninsulated floor cavity. In these situations, the system may need to combine cavity insulation, additional mass and a resilient floor layer.

Floor upgrades can affect thresholds, doors, skirting boards and fitted furniture. More substantial systems may require an experienced installer or competent tradesperson.

Ceilings and Noise Travelling Upwards

Noise can also travel upwards into a flat or room above. Voices, television and music may pass through the ceiling and floor construction, while vibration can spread through joists and adjoining walls.

A ceiling soundproofing system may include acoustic insulation between joists, resiliently mounted boards or an independent ceiling.

An independent ceiling can provide useful separation from the existing structure but will reduce room height. Lighting, detectors, ventilation components and service openings must also be detailed carefully.

Ceiling treatment alone may not address vibration travelling through surrounding walls or structural elements, so flanking paths should be considered before installation.

Check Doors and Doorways

A lightweight or poorly sealed door can allow sound to pass into a hallway and then travel to adjoining properties or rooms.

A soundproof door may be appropriate where the doorway has been identified as a significant weak point. Its performance depends on:

• The mass and construction of the door leaf
• The door frame
• Perimeter seals
• The threshold seal
• The quality of installation

Replacing a door is unlikely to provide a substantial improvement if most of the noise is travelling through the wall, ceiling or ventilation system. The doorway should therefore be assessed as part of the complete room.

Windows and Ventilation Routes

Music and voices may escape through open windows, lightweight glazing, damaged seals and ventilation openings.

The performance of a window depends on the glass, spacing between panes, frame construction and perimeter seals. Closing a poorly sealed window may still leave significant gaps around opening sections.

Ventilation routes should not simply be blocked. Homes require adequate ventilation for air quality and moisture control. Acoustic vents or attenuated ventilation systems may be needed where airflow openings are a significant sound path.

Any changes should retain suitable ventilation and comply with relevant building and safety requirements.

Seal Gaps and Service Penetrations

Small gaps can weaken the performance of a wall, floor or ceiling. Common areas include:

• Pipe and cable openings
• Board edges
• Gaps beneath skirting boards
• Electrical sockets
• Junctions between walls and ceilings
• Openings into floor or loft voids

A flexible acoustic sealant can help close appropriate perimeter joints within a complete soundproofing system.

Sealant alone will not provide sufficient mass or separation to soundproof a room. Its role is to reduce air paths that would otherwise weaken the main construction.

Service penetrations may also require appropriate fire-stopping measures. Acoustic work must not compromise the fire resistance of a separating structure.

Flats, Apartments and HMOs

Reducing noise in flats and converted properties can be more complicated because several homes may share walls, floors, ceiling voids, beams and service routes.

A noise problem that appears to involve one wall may actually be travelling through a connected floor or ceiling. Lease restrictions and fire requirements may also affect which alterations can be made.

Our guidance on flat and HMO soundproofing explains some of the common acoustic challenges found in multi-occupancy properties.

Soundproofing Is Not the Same as Sound Absorption

Soundproofing helps reduce noise passing from one space to another. Sound absorption helps reduce echo and reverberation within the same room.

Absorption panels or acoustic foam may make a music room or home cinema sound more controlled. They should not be relied upon to block music, voices or bass through a wall, floor or ceiling.

Some rooms may benefit from both treatments, but they should be selected for their separate purposes.

Set Realistic Expectations

Soundproofing can reduce noise escaping from a home, but it cannot guarantee complete silence or prevent every sound from being heard next door.

The result will depend on:

• The source, level and frequency of the noise
• The building construction
• The severity of existing weak points
• Flanking transmission
• The products and system selected
• The quality of installation
• How the room is used after the work is completed

Low-frequency bass and structural vibration can be especially difficult to control. A realistic goal is usually to achieve a meaningful reduction while continuing to use the room considerately.

Choose the Correct Soundproofing System

Before ordering soundproofing products, identify the main noise source and transmission route.

Applying materials to every wall, floor and ceiling is not always necessary. A targeted system that combines mass, resilient separation, cavity absorption and careful sealing is generally more useful than choosing individual products without considering how they work together.

Call Acoustic Supplies on 01204 548400 or contact the team online to discuss your soundproofing project.