Hopefully by now you have browsed our Introduction to Soundproofing and are ready to choose a suitable method for soundproofing your wall.
Whether you are constructing the wall from scratch or altering an existing wall, you should find one of our soundproof systems to be suitable. You may have to tweak the design to suit, in which case we recommend you contact us for advice.
Sound proof walls are not dissimilar to the existing walls in your house, except with a number of upgrades in terms of design and materials. Read on to find out about the various types and how to soundproof them.
Stud Walls
Stud walls are the most common choice for internal dividing walls in newer properties. They are essentially a frame or ‘studwork’ with plasterboard screwed onto each side. In commercial building projects, the studwork is normally steel, and in smaller projects such as house extensions and DIY, timber studs (normally 4″ x 2″) are preferred. The soundproofing performance is very similar and both are available from builders merchants, so choose the product that you are happier working with.
To maximise performance of a stud wall, you should fill the cavity with a high performance acoustic insulation (such as Rockwool RWA45) and fix 2 layers of acoustic plasterboard to each side of the wall with QuietGlue Pro between each layer. If you are building a new wall, place it on Stud Wall Isolators to minimise the transfer of noise throughout the building.
Single Stud Walls
These walls are ideal for increasing privacy between bedrooms and offices. If you only have access to one side of the wall, you will still see a significant improvement by adding a layer of plasterboard with QuietGlue Pro. The wall may already contain acoustic insulation, so you may not need to worry about replacing it unless you really want the best possible performance. If this is the case you should consider Wall System 3 which has the addition of resilient bars.
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Soundproofing Tip: Use 45KG 100mm insulation such as Rockwool RWA45 in the cavity. This will give you maximum performance without greatly increasing the cost.
Double Stud Walls
These walls have 2 sets of studs with a gap between them. This means the 2 sides of the wall are ‘decoupled’ making it more difficult for noise to travel from one side to the other.
Double studwalls are the best choice if you are building a recording studio or home cinema where you need to contain high sound levels containing lots of bass frequencies. They are often combined with decoupled floors and ceilings for the maximum benefit, a technique known as room-within-a-room or RWAR.
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Soundproofing Tip: By increasing the cavity size and thickness of the insulation (in order to fill the cavity) you will improve the performance of your studwall for no extra cost! Worth considering if you have the space to spare.
If you are looking to soundproof a solid brick or block partition wall then you are in the same position as many of our customers. Increased privacy is a very common requirement in traditional semi detached and terraced houses in the UK.
Let’s get the bad news out of the way now: if you are looking for a significant improvement then it is not as simple sticking sheets straight on to the wall. There are certain ‘direct to wall’ products on the market but the laws of physics (specifically mass law) prevents them from making any real difference.
Our solution is to create an independent skin on the wall which is damped with QuietGlue Pro. As with all our soundproofing systems, the cavity behind the new skin is filled with Rockwool RWA45.
System 6 below uses resilient bars to decouple the new skin as it is easier to build, and is the lower profile of the 2.
System 7 follows the same thinking but with a free-standing stud wall in front of the block wall. The further you place the stud wall from the original wall, the greater performance you’ll get, especially at low frequencies.
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