Nowadays our world is louder and busier than the ancient world. As populations are growing more and more people live very close to one another due to the need for effective soundproofing is growing.
Noise is a common issue in big cities which creates primary health problems for billions of people around the globe. Like poor sleep, hearing problems, and mental health problems.
These problems will be solved only when we do soundproofing very well. But as we don’t know much about soundproofing it becomes very impossible to do.
No need to worry we are here with a detailed overview of soundproofing. After reading this article you will get all kinds of information and understand how soundproofing works.
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What is Soundproofing?
Soundproofing can be defined as the reduction of sound transmission from one place to another place. Basically from source to receiver.
A key rule of Soundproofing is if air can pass through the noise can pass through too. So soundproofing is all about properly making the property so that vibration and airborne sound are efficiently dispersed and absorbed.
Soundproofing is an integral part of any studio, office, theatre, or mixed-use space and can be done during any new building construction or as a renovation to an existing building.
How Soundproofing Works?
Soundproofing works by reducing the use of Soundproofing materials that either absorb or reduce the sound. When the sound isn’t blocked completely then substantial noise reduction is possible.
Soundproofing works by griping the two ways through which sound travels. Air is the best way or medium to transmit sound.
The common way through which sound travels is as airborne sound, this occurs when someone speaks and plays music the sound waves travel through the air.
The second way sound travels is as impact noise, this occurs when sound vibrations travel through a solid medium.
Importance of Soundproofing
No one likes noise pollution around them. Proper soundproofing helps keep your neighbor’s sound out and your sound in.
Unlike water, sound waves are not limited by physical mass, so a one percent opening will offer around fifty percent sound leakage.
There are some major benefits of are:
- Reducing the transmission of direct unwanted sound waves.
- Soundproof homes allow folks on different schedules to cohabit.
- A soundproof business will allow business hours at all hours, confidential meeting spaces, uninterrupted business flow, and premium resale value.
- Remove indirect unwanted sound waves.
Different Types of Soundproofing
We can generally divide soundproofing into three main areas. Each type is discussed in detail below:
- Residential Sound proofing
- Automotive Sound proofing
- Commercial Sound proofing
Residential Soundproof
Residential Soundproofing involves keeping unwanted sound out of the home. Home spaces such as living room, bedroom, balcony, home theatre, etc.
The main focus of residential sound proofing is the existing structures of the home like doors, windows, and walls. It should be better to use solid wood doors as a sound barrier than hollow doors.
Soundproof curtains and thick glass are used to reduce the sound. Double-pane windows have good properties to dampen the sound than single-pane windows.
In the USA, the FAA offers an average of 65 decibels of sound to reduce the home sound fall within the noise contour. It is part of the residential sound installation program.
Automotive Soundproof
Noise caused by the car engines, exhaust, and motors needs soundproofing to keep them quiet to operate. These are used to eliminate the sound coming from those parts of the cars.
There are so many noises created within the vehicles which change the driving speed and environment of the vehicles. With the installation of different soundproofing materials in the vehicles, the noise can be reduced by up to 9 decibels.
To achieve proper automotive soundproofing, a variety of materials can be used such as dampers, absorbers, and barriers.
Commercial Soundproof
Keeping the unwanted sound out of commercial properties like schools, colleges, offices, and hospitals is the main motive of commercial soundproofing.
In the USA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has requirements regulating the noise at a certain level for workers.
Other than reports saying that soundproofing offices can improve productivity, Employees can readily be contacted by phone ringing with other employees’ conversations.
This type of Soundproofing is also helpful in educational places where students can focus and concentrate on their studies. Conference or seminar rooms stay quiet which ensures that the meetings carried out are undistracted.
Soundproofing Against Airborne Noise
Airborne noise is the noise that travels through the air. Common examples of airborne noise are talking, playing TV, Radios, boxes, etc.
Airborne noise can create a problem in homes were have a thin internal wall that is poorly insulated and that have gaps in between them.
Poorly insulated means the sound can travel freely through the gaps in the wall without being absorbed. Reducing airborne noise effectively involves adding mass and dampening.
Soundproofing Against Impact Noise
Impact noise means when the impact is created and the vibrations carry out through the building. Impact noise is a problem in homes where there are uninterrupted connections between the rooms.
Impact noise examples are someone walking heavily on a floor, doors closing, hammering, dancing on the floor, furniture being moved, etc. This involves creating a small gap to disrupt the flow of vibrations.
Adding rubber insulation (adding mass) to those gaps which absorb any remaining vibrations is crucial to soundproofing against impact noise.
How Much Noise is Too Much
We measure the sound intensity in units called decibels. The decibels can be expressed as dB. Decibels are measured on a logarithmic scale, which indicates that the difference between the values increases as the values increase.
We provide different tables below to give a rough indication of how loud some common noises are measured in dB.
Normal Sound Range
The human ear can bear noises up to 85 dB sound. It should be known that busy road noise would not cause any hearing problems, even in long-term hearing.
However, even a normal-range sound noise of around 20 dB may be irritating if you hear it prolonged period or during sleep. So soundproofing is needed to raise those problems.
| Sound level In dB | Quality of Noise |
|---|---|
| 0 dB | Threshold of Hearing |
| 10 dB | Calm Breathing |
| 20 dB | Silent Study Room |
| 30 dB | Whispering |
| 40 dB | Stream Sound |
| 50 dB | A Quiet Office |
| 55 dB | Laughing Sound |
| 60 dB | Normal Conversation |
| 70 dB | Vaccum Cleaner |
| 75 dB | Washing Machine |
| 80 dB | Road or Traffic Noise |
Medium Sound Range
The medium sound range might fall between 80 to 90 dB. Exposure to noises of 90 dB and above is may good for short periods but prolonged periods of exposure can lead to gradual hearing loss.
The noise of 90 dB and above will pass through mostly windows and will make all. So if you live by a train line and lawn or farmers’ field that gets regularly cut then soundproofing your windows is necessary.
| Sound level In dB | Quality of Noise |
|---|---|
| 80 dB | Freight Train |
| 90 dB | Boiler Room |
| 95 dB | Running Motorcycle Engine |
| 100 dB | A Car Horn |
High Sound Range
High Sound range noises above 100 dB exposure for more than a minute at a time have a high risk of permanent hearing loss.
If you have trouble with any noise above 100bdB it should be very essential for you to reduce its impact of it by well-doing soundproofing.
| Sound level In dB | Quality of Noise |
|---|---|
| 105 dB | Jet Plane 100ft Away |
| 110 dB | Night Club |
| 120 dB | Thunder |
| 130 dB | Jet Taking Off |
| 140 dB | Threshold of Pain |
Different Soundproofing Methods
Many different methods of Soundproofing can be used to reduce noise or sound waves.
Some common methods are:
Absorption
Absorption of sound simply means absorbing the sound. In this process, the majority of the sound waves are absorbed by the soundproofing materials.
Then the sound waves are converted into heat energy. Soundproofing materials control reverberant sound pressure levels within the cavity or room.
Insulation foam is the most effective soundproofing material for sound absorption. Generally, it is used inside stud walls and beneath the floors.
In both cases, porous and fibrous best sound-absorbing materials are used to create acoustic panels, which absorb sound reflection in the room improving speech intelligibility.
Decoupling
Decoupling is a soundproofing method where floors, walls, or ceilings are fitted in a way that prevents them from directly touching anything that vibrations might travel through such as another wall, floor, or ceiling joist.
This is achieved by the use of resilient channels. These clip to the wall, floor, or ceiling joists, and the plasterboard is then attached to the resilient channels.
Resilient channels inside contain small winding riveted channels in which the sound waves travel, which means that the sound energy has to travel from very far to make it into the plasterboard.
Dumping
Damping is the process of reducing the resonance in the room, by absorption or redirection. Absorption will reduce the overall noise level, whereas redirection makes unwanted sounds harmless or beneficial.
Damping can reduce the acoustic resonance in the air, or mechanical resonance in the room structure itself or things in the room.
Adding Mass
Adding mass to the wall will deflect sound waves, if more mass is added more deflection will happen and the less likely sound waves are to travel through the room wall.
Different widths and densities of soundproofing mass materials include mass-loaded vinyl, plywood, drywall, concrete, soundproof sheetrock, fibreboard, or rubber.
You can buy a Digital Multi Server Tester ESC ccm consistency master speed control for better soundproofing to add mass.
Reflection
When sound hits a medium, the reflection of that sound is dependent on the dissimilarity of the surfaces from which it comes and contacts.
The reflection of sound waves may be different depending on the surface of the medium. The hard rough concrete surface has a different reflection than the soft fiberglass surface reflection.
Diffusion
If a reflection from a hard flat surface is giving an uncertain echo then an acoustic diffuser might be applied to the surface. It will help scatter the sound in all directions to reduce the intensity.
Walls
A common issue is how to soundproof a wall already built and how soundproofing works, If you follow our guidelines you can easily make soundproofing walls.
The walls are filled with mineral wool insulation. Depending on the noise level two levels of insulation may be required.
Installing soundproof drywall is recommended the reduce noise. Soundproof drywall combination with a viscoelastic compound may achieve a great noise reduction.
Floors
Leaving a gap between the joist and the subfloor is the most efficient way to install soundproof floors. U-shaped rubber spacers or Neoprene joist tape helps decouple the subfloor from the joist.
An additional layer of plywood can be installed with a viscoelastic compound named Mass Loaded Vinyl, in combination with closed-cell or an open-cell rubber foam floor underlayment will further reduce sound transmission.
After applying these techniques, hardwood flooring can be installed. Additional area rugs and furniture will help reduce the unwanted reflection within the room.
Ceilings
Sealing gaps and cracks around electrical wiring, and water pipes using acoustical caulk or spray foam will significantly reduce unwanted noise as a primary step for soundproofing a basement ceiling.
When completing the ceiling, acoustical caulk should be used along with the wall and around all the fixtures and duct registers to seal the treatment.
So many soundproofing materials for the ceiling are used as soundproof panels in the soundproof technology.
Distance
The distance between the sound source and the sound receiver, when increases sound pollution, should decrease. In many cases, this is not a viable soundproofing solution.
If the noise problem is caused by something like a noisy generator, moving it away from the house will make a big difference. Sound pressure and sound intensity decrease in this case.
Room Inside a Room
Creating a room inside a room is the most effective way to reduce noise. A room within a room isolates sound and prevents it from transmitting to the outside environment.
The Inner room and the outer room both have solid walls that are decoupled from each other to prevent vibrations from traveling through the medium.
Most vibration from a room to the outside occurs through mechanical means. Mechanical transmission of the vibrations is faster more efficient and easily amplified than an airborne transmission of the same initial strength sound wave vibrations.
The vibration passes directly through the brick, cement, wood, and other solid elements. When vibrations contact an element such as a wall, floor, or window it acts as a sounding board of the soundproof room.
Soundproofing Materials
There are so many soundproofing materials available today. It’s used depending on your situation and economic status. Because they cannot be used everywhere and some are very costly.
Some of the best materials are listed below which are mostly used for soundproofing:
- Acoustic Foam
- Mineral Wool
- Soundproof Curtains
- Polyurethane
- Mass Loaded Vinyl
- Hanging Waffles
- Acoustic Fiberglass
- Spray Foam
- Acoustic Panels
- Green Glue
Active Noise Cancellation System
Noise Cancellation Systems also known as Active Noise Cancellation Systems (ANC systems) are high-tech soundproofing solutions.
This system works by using a microphone to listen to the noise coming into the room using their built-in speakers. This kind of technology is quite expensive and has its limitations.
Active Noise Cancellation technology struggles with external noise that could be any volume and come from any direction which makes it difficult to effectively counteract it.
Some FAQs Related to Soundproofing
1. What is the best soundproofing material for floors?
Ans. The best soundproofing materials for floors used are:
• Acoustic Underlayment is a type of substance that goes over the subflooring.
• Sound Deadening Vinyl MLV is a solid, rubbery substance with adhesive on one side.
• Soundproof Floor Insulation
• Acoustic Floor Tiles
• Sound Absorbing Carpet Padding
2. What is the best Rockwool for soundproofing?
Ans. If the Rockwool is thicker then it absorbs sound waves better, and this is especially true for low-frequency sound waves. If you’re trying to absorb low-end sounds, then 6-inch Rockwool, or 7-inch if you can get it, will be your best bet. For general purposes, 3 Inches should be more than enough.
3. How do I Soundproof my Doors and Windows?
Ans. If you are facing soundproofing problems, here are some ways in which you can soundproof your windows and doors:
• Use UPVC doors and windows for superior soundproofing.
• Buy thick soundproof curtains.
• Install window shutters.
• Put a rug on the entry side to soundproof your door.
• Cover your windows with soundproofed blankets.
4. How do you Soundproof Glass Windows?
Ans. If you follow the guidelines then you can soundproof your glass windows. These are
• Install window inserts.
• Replace single-pane windows with double-pane.
• Seal the gaps between the windows and acoustic caulk.
• Hang sound-dampening curtains to block the sound.
• Install double-cell shades.
5. How do you Soundproof a UPVC window?
Ans. There are many ways to soundproof UPVC windows. These are
• Double glazing windows are built with two panes of glass with a cavity of air in it. These provide soundproofing and work as a barrier to stop noise, heat, and cold.
6. How can I soundproof a room cheaply?
Ans. Curtains, rugs, and blankets are good for soundproofing a room cheaply. Other than there are some steps you can follow that:
• You can rearrange your furniture properly to dampen sounds.
• Start by keeping bookshelves and other large furniture against shared walls.
• Upholstered tables, sofas & chairs can reduce the noise coming from downstairs.
7. Does soundproofing work?
Ans. Yes, Of course, soundproofing works if the correct acoustic solution is being used. The correct sound insulation depends on the property, the type, and the level of the noise being heard, and ensuring any soundproofing is installed perfectly.
Conclusion
When there are any questions about soundproofing, I believe that after reading the article you will get a solution to all the inquiries regarding soundproofing.
Noise pollution has become a challenge in the world. However, there are so many steps to reduce them. Here we elaborate every terminology nicely With this help you can eliminate these noises actively.
If you have any soundproofing questions or want to give suggestions don’t hesitate to get in touch with Soundproof Galaxy.
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