How to Properly Install Sound Insulation: Tips from the Pros

Installing a sound insulation system will reduce the useful area of your apartment by 5–7 centimeters along each wall, floor, and ceiling, but in return, you can finally enjoy silence and peace. 

Dmitry Kulkov
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR AT «POINT OF REPAIR»
«Point of Repair» is more than just apartment renovations. The team is passionate about quality and personally takes responsibility for every repair.
First Step: Identify the Type of Noise

To effectively eliminate noise, it's important to first understand its source. 

There are only three main types:

• Airborne Noise. Sound waves travel through the air and do not dissipate, reaching a wall and continuing to spread beyond it. Sources of this type of noise include TVs, speakers, or loud speech.
  
• Impact Noise. This type of noise can occur, for example, when objects fall onto the floor.
  
• Structure-Borne Noise. This type of noise travels through the building structure, and it's the hardest to eliminate. 

For typical apartments, protection from all these types of noise is usually necessary. If you're concerned about noise from above, it makes more sense to insulate the floor in the neighbor's apartment – other methods provide little protection from unwanted sounds. However, if you enjoy karaoke or play drums and don't want to inconvenience your neighbors, then sound insulation for the apartment is recommended. 

Second Step: Choose the Right Material

For any sound insulation, you'll have to sacrifice space and thicken the walls. Choosing a thin sound-insulating material is pointless – it's almost ineffective. Sound waves are structured in such a way that they only attenuate at a material thickness of 50 mm. In this case, the sound insulation works in both directions – neighbors won't hear you, and you won't hear them.

For reducing noise in an apartment, stone wool is an excellent choice. For additional sound insulation of walls and ceilings, sandwich ZIPS panels are recommended. The basic model ZIPS-7-4 has a thickness of 70 mm and increases sound insulation.

Third Step: Begin Installation

Start with the floor: eliminate any deficiencies in the slab, unevenness, and gaps. Then select a screed technology – dry or wet. In the dry method, sound-insulating material is laid on the slab, and then covered with particleboard or GVL panels. In the wet method, an additional separating layer is applied, and particleboard is replaced with a concrete screed.

For sound insulation of walls, you'll need to mount a wooden or metal stud on the wall, lay sound-insulating material, secure joints with sealing tape, and cover with gypsum board panels. 

Similarly, you can insulate the ceiling. It is commonly believed that sound insulation is only possible for suspended ceilings. In reality, you can mount sound-insulating panels directly to the slab and then install a suspended ceiling. The fabric of a suspended ceiling provides additional noise reduction.

Read Also:

• How to Do Sound Insulation in an Apartment by Yourself
  
• 10 Useful Tips to Reduce Noise in an Apartment
  
• Bad Idea: A Shortlist of Unsuccessful Choices for Apartment Renovations