The ideal is the neighbor who makes noise at the same time as you. But so little luck. In most cases, people living in neighboring apartments, want to listen to music, do repairs or sing karaoke, just when you plan to relax. In this case, sound insulation will save. It will serve as a barrier between the noise and your apartment. Such measures are simply necessary if you yourself are a violator of public peace. To avoid oblique views of neighbors and even open confrontation with them, it is necessary to take full care of sound insulation. How to make sound insulation in the apartment with your own hands?
Noise: its types and sources
The whole room does not always need sound insulation – in some cases, it is enough to isolate one wall or another part of the apartment in order to get rid of the stimulus. For this, it is necessary to determine the type of noise and its sources. The noise of a wave nature are the sounds that are transmitted to the eardrum through the air using waves. These include loud music, dogs barking, children’s crying, etc. Vibration-type noise includes sounds that are transmitted through the wall by vibration. Such sounds are produced by a perforator, a hammer blow on a wall, a centrifuge working in a washing machine.
What sources of noise are?
- Extraneous sounds from nearby apartments. Noise enters through the gaps between the ceiling, sockets, and walls. If too noisy neighbors are behind one of the adjacent walls, then you can only soundproof it.
- Sounds coming from the entrance. It may be too loud steps, conversations, elevator noise, etc. In this case, you must seal the front door, which is the main conductor of this kind of noise.
- Street noise: passing cars, the cries of walking children, the talk of grandmothers on the bench, the roar of the engine of a flying airplane. You can get rid of such irritants in the apartment if you install triple-glazed windows. Not be superfluous also thick curtains.
If the source of noise in your home, you often get noisy companies, you like to sing or play musical instruments, and then you will have to provide comprehensive sound insulation.
The most common methods of sound insulation
You can protect your apartment from excessive noise or take care of the peace of your neighbors using such methods:
- Install the membrane or plate. In this case, the special material is glued directly to the wall or ceiling. After that, a plaster layer is laid on them, and thin-type panels are mounted on top. This is a budget soundproofing method.
- The way of floating character is suitable for sound insulation of the floor. If the neighbors complain from below that you are walking too loudly in your apartment, then the floating method is what you need. An insulating coating is spread on the floor, a reinforcing screed is laid on it, and the flooring itself is laid on it. The reduction of vibration noise is achieved due to the absence of rigid type mounts.
- The frame method involves the installation of special frameworks, guides, which are installed sound-reflecting or sound-absorbing panels. The latter type of material is often used in recording studios. Sound absorbing material is placed between the wall and the panel.
Which of these methods is better is determined individually, depending on the source data and budget.
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What materials are used for sound insulation of an apartment?
Soft insulation materials include mineral wool, self-adhesive or conventional soundproofing membranes, fiberglass, polyester backing, felt. Liquid silicone is used as a sealant for sealing joints.
The solid type of insulation includes combined panels (wood chips and synthetic material), basalt slabs, polyester plates, fiberglass staple weaving plates, cork material, foam plastic. The last option – the most common, due to its cheapness.
Not bad copes with protection from excessive noise ordinary carpet hanging on the wall. A furniture wall installed near the adjacent wall will turn the noise from the next apartment into a soft hum.
Stages of preparation
If you have already identified those places in the house that need to be insulated, then you must first work through all the cracks and crevices, as through them the sounds from the neighbors come in basically. For this purpose, putty is used.
After that, you must isolate the outlet. But first, it is necessary to de-energize the entire apartment and check the switching off efficiency with the help of a tester. Sockets are drawn, and the holes are filled with plaster or mortar. Remember that for these purposes it is impossible to use flammable material!
The heating system should also be isolated. All joints between walls and pipes need to be filled with a quality sealant. It must be heat resistant.
Soundproofing walls with panels
- Creating a frame. Experts advise using wooden slats for this purpose since wood has a low level of sound permeability.
- Laying the intermediate material. Mineral wool or other fiber materials are placed in the cells of the finished frame.
- Stitching the frame panels with screws.
- Gluing joints between the plates using serpyanka grid.
- Putting of walls, their further painting or wallpapering.
You can use special decorative noise insulation panels. In this case, you can do without the frame, glass wool and further work on giving the wall a proper look. But such material is much more expensive.
You can use several sound insulation materials to improve the quality of the insulation. For example: together with sound-absorbing plates to establish also a membrane, having increased sound absorption coefficient several times.
If the materials are selected correctly and the installation is carried out at a good level, then the problem of excessive noise will be solved. But if you are not sure that you can carry out sound insulation with high quality, then it is better to entrust all these processes to professional builders. Of course, this will significantly increase costs, but the result of all efforts will be optimal.
