How to soundproof a room 

Can you fully soundproof a room?

The quietest room in the world can be found at Microsoft's headquarters in Washington. Granted, with three 'rooms within a room' (each isolated from one another) it's unlikely you are trying to replicate your very own 'anechoic' chamber within your own home. The prospect of hearing your own heartbeat, or bones grinding when you move probably doesn't sound overly appealing (or achievable!). As reported in  The Mail  this room's deafening silence makes for a rare sensory experience, with many people only able to stay in there for a few seconds at a time......

You might not need a soundproof chamber, but are you one of the many people suffering from unwanted noise within your own home? Rest assured this doesn’t have to be the case. Simple,cost effective room soundproofing solutions are only a phone call, or website click  away.

Firstly, you need to figure out where the noise is coming from? Is it coming from noisy neighbours through a wall, or from above, or from below? Alternatively, is the noise coming from within your own home and are you wanting to fully soundproof a room, e.g. a cinema room, or music room?

Depending on the answer to the above and the level of noise, and if the noise is Impact noise (e.g. footsteps, doors banging) or Airborne noise (people talking, TV’s, dogs barking etc), will mean a different soundproofing solution for your room.

Learn more about the difference between Impact and Airborne noise .

The science behind soundproofing a room

Soundproofing a room whether this be a lounge, dining room or kitchen follows the below principles:

• Adding mass - high mass blocks noise. By adding mass to a structure, e.g. to a wall, this reduces the ability of the noise to pass through it

• Dampening or decoupling the building - when sound hits a wall or floor it becomes a vibration that travels through the structure. To prevent this vibration travelling through, you need to dampen the vibration, or in a perfect world decouple the structure and then add mass - thus preventing the sound energy from passing through

• Sound Absorption - sound can be absorbed by soft materials, the likes of soft furnishings; carpets, cushions and curtains. Different furnishings will be better than others at sound absorption. For example a leather sofa won't be as effective at absorbing sound as a fabric sofa. Adding cushions and throws to leather sofas will increase its ability to absorb sound better. Not as widely used in peoples homes, but used within rooms with hard surfaces, there are sound absorbing products, such as ProSound Wall Panels and ProSound Ceiling Panels which can be used for the sound proofing of offices, schools, village halls and restaurants. These specialist sound absorption panels minimise the amount of reverberation of sound within a room.

Easy ways to soundproof your room and myths

We will discuss the top performing products for effective room soundproofing. There are soundproofing hacks which can be used, such as adding cushions, carpets to wooden floors and bookcases to alcoves etc which can improve your soundproofing to a small degree.
In this blog we are going to list the top performing soundproofing solutions for walls, floors, ceilings, garden rooms and music studios.
To find out about the effectiveness of soundproof myths such as egg boxes, soundproof wallpaper, soundproof paint and the likes of noise absorbing glue, click here

Before deciding the best soundproofing solution for your wall, do a quick checklist:

• Where is the noise coming from? Do an ear test to the wall to check it's definitely coming through the wall and not from elsewhere
• What type of noise is it? Airborne (talking, TV etc) or vibration, or a combination of the two?
• How loud is the sound you are trying to block?
• What is the wall made of? Is it a solid wall or stud wall?

Below we will highlight the best performing soundproofing solutions for walls.

Creating a room within a room   (think back to Microsoft's soundproof chamber, on a much lesser scale)   whereby a new structure is isolated from the existing structure, will give the highest level of soundproofing. An extremely high performing room soundproofing system, which can offer high levels of soundproofing within residential properties to block out the noise from noisy neighbours, as well as being used for recording studios, band practice rooms and home cinemas, is the ReductoClip system.

Independently tested on a single brick wall, the ReductoClip system achieves a massive 65dB total sound reduction, blocking excessive levels of noise.
To learn more about the ReductoClip ™ Independent wall system for room soundproofing, click here .

ReductoClip™ Soundproofing Solution Overview

How to soundproof a wall using the ReductoClip Independent Wall Solution

ReductoClip™ Direct To Wall System

ProSound™ Soundboard 4™ wall soundproofing

If you are wanting even less space loss than the ReductoClip™ Direct to wall system, then the next best performing product to soundproof walls within a room, (at a thickness of ony 30mm) would be the ProSound™SoundBoard 4 ™ . This market leading soundproofing product for walls is a simple direct to wall installation and uses four different soundproofing layers, laminated together. The completed board offers exceptional performance against medium to loud levels of noise, such a clear TV, conversation or music noise. The Soundboard 4 ™ also exceeds the new Building Regulations Part E target of 43dB by 15% when applied to a brick or block wall. The loss of space is only 30mm with SoundBoard 4.
Find out more about the SoundBoard 4™.

For further wall soundproofing solutions which take up even less space and offer different levels of soundproofing, click here .

SoundBoard 4 Product Overview

How to Soundproof a party wall against noisy neighbours using the ProSound™ SoundBoard 4™

How to soundproof a floor within a room

Unlike most walls and ceilings where airborne noise is most prominent, with floors the noise made and heard is usually down to impact noise (moving objects, footfall etc).
When it comes to soundproofing the floor within your room, it depends what the floor is made of. Different soundproofing solutions work better depending on whether the floor is timber or concrete.

To soundproof a floor effectively, you need to follow the below 4 principles:

1. Improve the mass of the floor - mass blocks sound, so high mass/density products need to be added

2. Improve the ability of the floor to absorb sound energy and vibration (footsteps). This is critical, as without using soundproofing solutions to absorb sound energy, the adding of any mass will have very little effect on impact noise

3. Within the timber joists, use acoustic insulation to eliminate sound resonating and amplifying in this sealed chamber

4. When adding high mass products, make sure it's different materials of high mass. A combination of different materials perform better for different sound frequencies and perform much better at soundproofing than simply using more of the same high mass material

Video of how to soundproof a timber floor

ProSound™ Reverso SoundMat - floor soundproofing solution

The only high performing, reversible soundproofing mat designed for both hard and soft floor finishes. The Reverso SoundMat is only 18mm thick and its unique design means that it doesn't require an over boarding layer for most hard floor finishes. It also acts as a luxury carpet underlay for soft floor finishes.

The Reverso SoundMat is an excellent acoustic underlay, as it performs exceptionally well against loud levels of airborne noise and high impact noise.

Reverso SoundMat Product Overview

How to soundproof a floor with the Reverso SoundMat™

ProSound™ SoundMat 3 Plus - floor soundproofing solution

One of the best selling sound mats for floor soundproofing within a room. As with the Reverso SoundMat, the SoundMat 3 Plus is Ideal for loud levels of airborne and loud impact noise, such as clear conversation, TV noise and heavy footsteps.
Resulting in up to 54dB of airborne noise reduction and 49dB of impact noise reduction.

The ProSound™ SoundMat 3 Plus has been designed with two different soundproofing technologies laminated together for easy installation and suitable for all floor finishes. The completed floor offers exceptional performance and exceeds the new Building Regulations Part E target of 43dB when used as part of a full system. The system can be fitted to any level flat surface, without the need of any adhesive. Find out more about the SoundMat 3 Plus .

When soundproofing a concrete floor within a room, airborne noise is usually less of an issue in this instance, as you already have the mass of the concrete for blocking airborne noise. Often it's only impact noise which needs to be soundproofed against. The ProSound™ SoundMat 2  is our best performing product for both impact and airborne noise on a concrete floor.

ProSound™ SoundMat 2 provides a high level of soundproofing for impact noise and airborne noise, offering the industry’s highest performing 12mm soundproofing mat.
Resulting in up to 47dB of airborne sound reduction and 53dB of impact sound reduction.
Ideal for medium levels of airborne and impact noise, such as muffled conversation, music, TV noise and footsteps.
Other effective soundproofing solutions for concrete floors can be found by clicking here.

 Designed to completely isolate ceilings,  the ReductoClip system is a high performing sound reduction system. We mentioned above how the system is successful for wall soundproofing and below is a video showing how to soundproof a ceiling using the ReductoClip system.

By attaching the ReductoClip to timber joists, this simply and easily secures the furring channel and decouples the new high mass wall layers from the structure, greatly reducing the transference of sound vibration energy. The addition of high mass wall layers also blocks airborne noise, perfect for soundproofing recording studios, band practice rooms or soundproofing against noisy neighbours.
The ReductoClip ceiling system results in a sound reduction of up to 49dB for airborne noise and 55db for impact noise.

If the part of your room you are looking to soundproof is your ceiling, there is a dedicated blog which discusses how to soundproof a ceiling, both for concrete and timber joist ceilings. To read more about ceiling soundproofing, please click here .

We've touched upon some of the best performing room soundproofing solutions for different areas of a room; walls, floors and ceilings. The obvious room soundproofing solution we haven't yet discussed is soundproofing the whole room. To read more about how to soundproof a room within a room;   Music room , garden room , home cinema room or garage . To soundproof any of these rooms, it does use the concept of building a room within a room, as we mentioned at the start of this blog. A case study is also available on how to soundproof a basement music studio.

Building a room within a room helps absorb or decouple vibrations. This is critical for stopping noise vibrations (such as music) from transferring into the structure of the building and is crucial in soundproofing the rooms listed above.

Top Tip - Soundproofing is like waterproofing, in that any weaknesses and it will find a way through. Doors, windows and air vents need to be considered and any air gaps need to be sealed.

Hopefully this blog has helped to answered your questions on soundproofing a room, building a room within a room, or soundproofing part of a room. Our expert team are only a phone call away should you wish to discuss any soundproofing solutions in more detail, or alternatively,   The Soundproofing Store   website contains lots of product and installation downloads, which we hope you will find useful.

If you were wondering about the cost of soundproofing, why not read our blog on  How much does soundproofing cost?