Acoustic Mineral Wool

When upgrading the soundproofing of a stud wall or timber joisted floor, it is often felt by the uninformed that installing mineral wool will have the desired effect and magically soundproof the structure.  The reality is that often, there is no discernible improvement in reducing the noise that you want to reduce.  This is because the insertion of just mineral wool will only give an improvement of about 1dB.  A better result would be achieved if the correct density Acoustic Mineral Wool (AMW) is used and installed as a loose fit and not tightly.  This is because the AMW is a sound absorber not a sound barrier.  On its own, AMW will give an improvement of up to 2dB which would still not be noticed on its own.  It is designed to absorb the noise within the voids of stud walls and floors and will work best as part of an overall upgrade that would include the installation of sound blocking materials such as high density Acoustic Plasterboard for stud walls and ceilings, and high density floating floors which we will talk about in another Blog.

The thickness of installed AMW is also important.  It is another myth that the more you put in the better the soundproofing will become but this also is not true.  For timber joisted floors a maximum of 100mm (AMW100) is all that is required.  Any more would be a waste of time and money and again for stud partitions, just the thickness of the stud is required up to 100mm.

When a greater improvement is required, the AMW can be replaced with our SoundBlocker Quilt which we will also talk about in another Blog.  This Blog is designed to inform you that Acoustic Mineral Wool is an important part of any upgrade of the soundproofing of stud walls and timber joists but must be used along with other soundproofing materials properly installed to obtain the best results.  For more information on our Acoustic Mineral Wool and other soundproofing products, go to our domestic web site www.keepitquiet.co.uk