Soundproofing Tips and Advice

Impact Noise (Impact Sound) arises from impacts directly on the floor above e.g. footstep noise or moving furniture, which send vibrations into the floor deck, the timber joists or concrete floor and then down into the plasterboard downstairs. This can be reduced by the addition of a quality resilient layer on top of the floor to absorb the impact. This can be a soft product but please be aware that foam and rubber products do flatten and harden over time and lose their effectiveness. PhoneStar has a soft but compacted filling that will not compress over time – in fact it has a very high loading capacity (5kN/m²) and so will withstand very heavy loads. Decoupling of the ceiling downstairs is also critical to significantly reduce vibrations between the floor / ceiling structure and the plasterboard. PhoneStar very significantly reduces impact sound through both timber and concrete floors.

Airborne Noise (Airborne Sound) arises when sound waves from television, music, talking or traffic pass through the air and then vibrate the wall or floor so that they pass through to the other side. This noise can only be significantly reduced by the addition of a dense product with mass, but it must also be soft. PhoneStar is heavy (18kg/m²), is very dense (1200 kg/m²) and has a compacted but loose soft sand filling contained within an engineered, fluted cardboard carcass, and these are the critical characteristics required for airborne noise reduction. Soft and lightweight insulation products e.g. thermal insulation quilt will not reduce airborne noise in any noticeable way – it may reduce reverberation within a cavity though. Heavy and dense, but hard, products will give better results but they vibrate a lot within themselves and so are still not ideal. PhoneStar very significantly reduces airborne sound through masonry and timber structures, whether they are floors, walls or ceilings, due to its unique characteristics.

We undertook several rigorous and independent tests incorporating PhoneStar on various structures, at the UKAS accredited, Sound Research Laboratory (SRL). Please note though that these results may not be replicated on site, due to many influencing factors of a complex nature such as workmanship, flanking conditions, poor quality materials or other external factors which cannot be fully replicated within laboratory conditions. So it is advisable to try to exceed Building Regulation requirements to allow room for error.