One of the easiest ways to improve your buildings sound insulation by directly employing your own ‘trusted’ builder.
First of all you have to decide how the sound is travelling into your home. It may be coming directly through the separating wall or floor or it may be coming along another indirect route (called a flanking path). The most common such path is the inner leaf of an external cavity wall. Some examples of flanking paths are shown in the image below, which clearly show sound transmission paths for airborne sound through rooms in a pair of flats separated by a timber floor.
Problems with airborne and structure borne sound are often associated both with direct transmission through a floor and flanking transmission via supporting walls and other associated structures. It is essential to establish if your problem is due to direct transmission, flanking sound transmission or a combination of both so that the most effective remedial treatment can be chosen. If you are unsure where the sound is getting through then contact us, as we should be able to identify the worst areas.
The unwanted noise travelling along direct and flanking paths makes the building structure vibrate and this causes the sound to radiate into your room, which will result in a sound test failure. One solution is to build another wall or ceiling beside the original, but not connected to it (often called an independent wall or ceiling). A basic description of this treatment is given below.
There are two distinct types of noise to consider through floors.
- Impact noise, (for example footsteps directly on the floor above)
- Airborne noise, (for example speech and music)
Even if both types of sound are emitting through the ceiling/floor then there are some easy installations that should reduce the sound levels, resulting in a successful sound test.
Please lookout for our next blog, which will explain a couple of simplified acoustic treatments.
If you would like more information in regards to sound testing please contact us at info@aptsoundtesting.co.uk or call us on 01525 303905.