Noise through floor question and answer

Question

I am considering putting an acoustic plasterboard against a party wall of block. I could also drop acoustic rockwool between the joists to reduce noise penetration.

This room will house a grand piano and also a steel girder resting on this party wall. It occurred to me that I could sit the wheels of the piano on a sound insulating mat, and maybe place the ends of the girder not just on pad stones, but also resting on a similar mat.

Furthermore, it might be possible to lay some sort of thin membrane on top of the joists prior to laying the solid wooden tongue and grooved floor. 

Any thoughts of the efficacy of these ideas would be appreciated.

Answer

Thank you for your enquiry.  Adding Acoustic Plasterboard to a masonry wall will not improve the sound insulation by any degree that would be appreciated by the ear.  At the very least you will need to lose about 2 inches (50mm) by installing our M20AD wall soundproofing solution.  For best results an independent stud wall should be installed clad with 30mm of Acoustic Plasterboard and infilled with AMW type Acoustic Mineral Wool.

With regard to isolating the piano from the floor along with the steel girder, you could use our 10mm Anti-Vibration mat available in 1m x 1m sheets.  For best results, the AV Mat could be used to make a floating platform utilising one layer of AV Mat with a tongued and grooved floor glued on top on which the piano would sit.

100mm of AMW100 Acoustic Mineral Wool would also help as a loose fit between the joists but it must be realised, that to get the best results with upgrading the sound insulation of any floor, AMW should be used along with additional sound insulation such as installing a floating floor using R10, our resilient insulation on top of the existing floor with our 18mm tongued and grooved high density QuietBoard acoustic flooring on top.  If access is possible to the ceiling below, then this could be acoustically upgraded and the combination of upgrading both the floor and the ceiling along with AMW between the joists will give you the best results.

More information on Anti-Vibration Mats along with our floating floor system  can be viewed on our web site via the following links. 

Anti-Vibration Mat    –           https://www.keepitquiet.co.uk/vibration_pad.html

Floating Floors         –           https://www.keepitquiet.co.uk/floating-floor-system.html

Current prices for all of our noise control products are also on our web site or call us on 01993704981 for more information