Noise travels through gaps and cracks so avoid these at all costs. So does heat.

Do not use plasterboard off cuts as hard-core or as any fill. It is possible though not as easy as ti should be to recycle these free to the place where you bought it.

Using the off cuts to form a double layer is a good idea and have done it many occasions myself, there are better ways that cost money.

Inside the house between rooms - I don't like hearing stuff between floors vertically and also between rooms horizontally.

ie i have a shower next to a bedroom and don't like hearing the shower - also if I play music loud in one room someone else might not want to hear it in the next room.

Trying to contain my own noise as it is a quiet area - semi rural but relatively high density of houses and mostly old people (could be an argument there for diminished hearing anyway ?!)

Thanks
Ed

Posted By: TimberDoors are also the key, and usually one of the weeker points in the chain.

All doors should be reasonably heavy duty with good seals and minimal gaps arround (bottom) the door.

This is something I've been meaning to ask. I understand that with a well sealed house and MHRV/MVHR it's necessary to leave a gap under internal doors to allow adequate air circulation. If this is true, then isn't it effectively impossible to "soundproof" rooms?

I'm interested since I am also averse to hearing other peoples ablutions and do not want to be forced to listen to my offspring's future musical tastes throughout the house (at least when they get older and have grown out of Bob the Builder and learned how to control the music themselves).

Posted By: Paul in MontrealOnly if you have only one of the two ducts that are required. If you have both, you don't need a gap under the door. It would be unusual to have both unless you already have forced-air heating, though it is possible to route both if you have a HRV system.

So the solution is to have both extract and supply vents in each roof that you want to keep "isolated". Since this is likely to be about half the rooms in the house to some degree it sounds like a lot of ducting.

Posted By: Paul in MontrealOf course, if you are using fully ducted source/return, it's important to use acoustically insulated ductwork if you're really concerned about sound transmission.

Presumably this is a problem for any such ventilation system, not just fully ducted source and return (although twice the ducts gives more transmission). How big a problem is this, and what is different about the acoustically insulated ductwork to cut down on noise transmission?

So for resonance reasons it's better to double wall each side rather than create a partition int he stud wall centre. ie ||###|| is better than |##|##|.

I'll try to use some offcuts so that they are fluch with the edge of the studwork and then face with fresh plasterboard on a wall to see how much of an effort this is (but good not to waste the offcuts).

I guess I could even put two layers flush with the studwork and then face with a single fresh layer to give three each side of the wall or is this overkill ?

I've been looking at heavy mineral wool and the local yard sells Isowool Acoustic APR1200 which is £63 for a 50mm thick roll (600mm x 13metres). Is this material good ?

My studwork is 100mm x 50mm so I will need to add two layers of 50mm mineral wool. Is it better to try and cram in three layers or will this over pack the void ?

I've also seen acoustic matting. Is this worth facing the studwork with and then applying plasterboard or will two layers of plasterboard be enough ?

I think that I will need to do the ceilings too to avoid sound 'jumping' over the wall. I have added in thermal insulation to this already so will either have to take this out and add offcuts snuggly into the spaces between the joists and then replace the Kingspan (100mm) or add something over the top.

As for doors - I was planning on getting fairly solid ones (not the cardboard ones that all new builds seem to have) and then maybe adding some sealing like I did for the external ones (acquamac 21 or something like that).

Thanks
Ed

For noise insulation:
http://www.greengluecompany.com/

Another good paper on sound insulation.
http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/pubs/cbd/cbd239_e.html

I put up a new page on soundproofing if anyone is interested http://www.viking-house.co.uk/soundproofing.html

Hi Joiner, I'm not well up on sound, so if you could tell me what you think I should change I'd appreciate it! I get some people complaining that Timber Frame construction is noisy, I wanted to show what can be achieved by putting soft materials between hard materials.

Having looked at Viking House's link above I like the idea of de-coupling the walls by having separate studs for each side of the wall but only having 45mm x 45mm stud for plasterboard support (even one side only) does not seem man enough for me. Being a practical bloke I would like to see 75mm or 100mm studs at 300mm centres but every other one off set so each side of the wall is fixed at 600mm centres to their own stud. Start and stop studs would need to be bigger or 2x singles. I hope this makes sense, I may do a diagram after tea if I have time.

Is it beneficial for the soundeadening material within the wall to touch the plasterboard both sides or be loose?

<blockquote><cite>Posted By: borpin</cite>How does fermacell stack up? AIUI it is much better sound insulant so the reduction in work (double board) would offset the additional cost?</blockquote>

I was wondering the same thing