Silence in the apartment is the key to healthy sleep and not shattered nerves. But to achieve complete silence in modern apartment building, very difficult. To get rid of noise, you need to carry out a set of works on partial or complete soundproofing of your apartment, and this requires significant financial costs and time. But if the desire to live in silence is more expensive for you, then we advise you to read our article, from which you will learn how to isolate your apartment from extraneous noise and what materials to use.

Before proceeding with the soundproofing of an apartment, let's look at the types and sources of annoying noise. Indeed, in order to get rid of noise, sometimes it is enough to isolate a certain element of the apartment’s design and does not spend money on complete soundproofing.

Noise is of two types:

• Wave noise - transmitted through the air, from the source to the eardrums, using sound waves. Wave noise includes loud music, raised voices, barking dogs, and so on.
• vibration noise- transmitted by vibrations along the walls emanating from the source. Vibration noise includes - hitting a wall with a sledgehammer, the operation of a puncher or a washing machine.

Now let's deal with the sources of noise:

• Noise from the street - comes mainly through the windows. The sound of squealing brakes, the voices of screaming children and grandmothers, the hum of a flying plane - all this is noise coming from the street. You can get rid of street noise by installing quality windows with triple glazed windows. An additional soundproofing element can be curtains made of dense material.
• Noise from the entrance - enters through the front door. In order not to hear the sounds of a working elevator or neighbors cursing on the landing, it is enough to soundproof the front door. In addition to upholstery of the door with sound-absorbing materials, it is necessary to install seals between the leaf and the frame, otherwise the noise isolation will be ineffective.
• Noise from adjoining apartments- enters through walls, through sockets and gaps between floor slabs. Noise from neighbors is the most common reason for wanting to soundproof an apartment. If there is only one source of constant annoying noise, then it is enough to soundproof the walls adjacent to the source. If you are unlucky and noisy neighbors surround you from all sides, then in this case, you will have to completely soundproof the apartment.
• Noise from your apartment- comes to the neighbors in the ways listed above and annoys them. If you often have noisy groups, if you are a musician rehearsing at home, if you have children who love to jump and have loud fun, then for the sake of preserving good relations with your neighbors, it is better for you to soundproof the walls, ceiling and floor without waiting for the visit of the local police officer.

Soundproofing methods

Sound insulation of walls, ceiling and floor is carried out in three ways:

• • Frame - this method involves the installation of rails on the wall for the installation of cladding panels. Between the guides, sound-absorbing material is placed, after that, sound-reflecting panels are installed. In some cases, such as in recording studios, panels have a non-reflective surface, but an absorbent surface.
    Dignity this method, is high quality sound insulation, but disadvantages, high price work and reducing the usable space of the room.

• • Installation of plates and membranes- in this method, the soundproofing material is installed or glued directly to the wall, floor or ceiling. After that, the plates and membranes are plastered or covered with thin panels.
    With proper observance of the technology for installing plates or membranes, the quality of sound insulation is not inferior to the frame method, and the financial costs are much less.

• “Floating” - this method is used only for soundproofing the floor. The insulating material is spread on the floor and covered with a waterproofing layer. A reinforced screed is made on top and a floor covering is installed. The advantage of this method is the absence of rigid fastenings, which contributes to a significant reduction vibration noise.

Soundproofing materials

Soundproof materials are of the following types:

soft insulation

Soft sound insulation includes materials made from different kind fibers sold in rolls:

• • Soundproof membranes- there are self-adhesive and ordinary, made from synthetic and natural fibers. Used for walls, ceilings and floors. Separately, for floor insulation, membranes are produced from bituminous polymers with a layer of polyester felt.

• • Needle Punched Fiberglass Material- Used for walls and ceilings. Good insulation for frame structures.

• • Polyester backing- made specifically for the "floating" floor, great as a substrate under the laminate.

• Mineral wool– simple and affordable heat and soundproofing material used in frame method isolation.

MaxForte SoundPro

A new generation material created taking into account theoretical developments in the field of building acoustics and practical experience installation work. At minimum thickness 12 mm material provides maximum protection against airborne and impact noise and is indispensable in small apartments, where every centimeter counts! Completely environmentally safe: does not contain adhesives and other chemicals. MaxForte-SoundPRO is ideal for any premises: apartments, kindergartens, schools. Also, the material acts as a fire protection (completely non-combustible) and thermal insulation!

MaxForte EcoSlab 60

Material MaxForte-ECOplate is made of 100% volcanic rock (without impurities, slag and blast-furnace waste). MaxForte-ECOplate has excellent acoustic properties, which makes it possible to successfully use this product for soundproofing the most acoustically difficult objects: multiplex cinemas, recording studios, listening rooms, home theaters, etc.

MaxForte EcoAcoustic

It is made from 100% polyester (polyester fibers) without the addition of adhesives. For shaping, an innovative thermal bonding technology is used (melting the polyester fibers themselves). The material is manufactured at modern equipment SIMA (Italy), exclusively primary raw materials are used in production. EcoAcoustic is completely safe for human health: the plates do not emit and do not contain harmful substances!

Sealant MaxForte

Sealant MaxForte is intended for sealing seams, joints, holes in the soundproofing of walls and ceilings, as well as in the construction of "floating" floors and floors on logs. Due to the low modulus of elasticity, the sealant has excellent vibroacoustic properties and provides a significant reduction in the vibration load between building structures, acting as a damping layer.

VibroStop Pro

Vibration-isolating mount designed to combat impact noise penetrating through floor slabs and walls. The use of VibroStop PRO allows you to significantly reduce the vibration load on the profile and provide additional sound insulation of the ceiling and walls at a level of 21 dB.

MaxForte Shumoizol

The rolls are spread with the soft side on the floor, the edges lead to the walls. After work, any excess can be easily cut off. The joints between the rolls are coated liquid rubber MaxForte Hydrostop.

Advantages:

1. Impact noise reduction 27 dB.
2. The material does not tear and does not crack during laying, due to the addition of imported plasticizers to the composition.
3. It can be used as waterproofing, the material is waterproof.
4. The material can be used for dry screed and under the laminate.

MaxForte SoundPro

Installation is carried out by analogy with Shumoizol, the edges lead to the walls, the rolls themselves are overlapped by 5 cm, and the joints between them are coated with MaxForte Hydrostop liquid rubber. Next, a building film is laid, this is done so that the screed solution does not penetrate the sound insulation layer.

Advantages:

1. Impact noise reduction 34 dB.
2. Airborne noise reduction 10 dB.
3. Rolls are resistant to moisture. Not subject to decay.
4. It belongs to the sound absorption class "A" out of five possible.
5. The material does not attract rodents.

MaxForte EcoSlab 110 kg/m 3

To begin with, the MaxForte tape is laid around the perimeter in two layers. The plates are placed on the floor close to each other and covered with construction film.

Advantages:

1. It belongs to the sound absorption class "A" out of five possible.
2. Completely non-combustible material.
3. Does not contain phenol resins.
4. Due to the optimally selected density of 110 kg / m3, the screed does not spring and does not burst over time.
5. Sound insulation at the level of 36-38 dB.

If it turns out that the apartment already has a screed, or it is an old housing stock where the ceiling simply cannot withstand the heavy weight of the screed - effective option This is a floor on joists.

solid insulation

The type of solid sound insulation includes simple slabs and combined panels made of sound-absorbing materials:

• • Combined panels- represent a design of two sheets and an interlayer. Sheets are made from chipboard, cork or synthetic materials. Often used as a layer quartz sand and mineral wool.

• • Basalt slabs- made from basalt fiber. Additionally, the boards can be treated with a water-repellent compound.

• • Polyester fiber boards- synthetic sound insulation, easily cut to the desired size, widely used in frame construction.

• • Staple woven fiberglass boards- designed to fill the inter-profile space, insulate suspended ceilings and frames installed on the walls.

• • Cork slabs are made from cork fiber. Wall panels and cork laminate can be installed without additional soundproofing materials.

• foam boards– the cheapest and most widely available famous material for sound insulation. Foam plastic slabs are inferior in sound insulation quality to more modern materials, but thanks to affordable price, remain a popular option for budget renovations.

Handy soundproofing

Few people know that some interior items can serve as good sound absorbers and reduce noise levels by 20-30 percent:

• • A large carpet - laid on the floor or hung on the wall - can significantly reduce the level of incoming or outgoing noise.

• • furniture wall- installed along a common wall with neighbors, will save you from loud noise, turning it into a soft hum.

• Thick material curtains- able to muffle the sounds coming from the street.

Soundproofing walls, ceilings and floors

Soundproofing technologies for floors, walls and ceilings are different from each other, therefore, we will consider each process separately.

Floor soundproofing

Floor soundproofing is done to block noise coming from the apartment located on the floor below, or vice versa, so that the noise produced in your apartment does not annoy the neighbors downstairs. To isolate the floor, you can use the "floating" floor method, or make a frame from a log.

In the first option, you need to spread soundproofing material over the entire surface of the floor, then make concrete screed. After that, a laminate, or other type of flooring, is laid on the screed. In the frame method, it is necessary to make a crate of wooden bars (lag). Insulating material is laid between the lags, the field of this crate is closed with chipboard or boards. To reduce vibration noise, it is recommended to place special vibration-damping pads under the logs.
Detailed article.

Wall soundproofing

You can block sounds coming from the apartments of your neighbors on the floor by soundproofing the walls adjacent to them. Please note that it makes no sense to isolate all the walls in the apartment, including internal partitions.
For wall insulation, you can use self-adhesive soundproofing membranes, combined panels or boards installed in a special frame. Keep in mind that the thicker the sound insulation layer is, the less usable area of ​​​​your apartment will remain.
Another important factor in soundproofing walls is pass-through sockets; in order to block sounds coming through them, you need to fill the empty space between yours and your neighbor’s socket with soundproofing material, for example mounting foam.
Detailed .

Ceiling soundproofing

For soundproofing the ceiling, it is better to choose lightweight materials that will not peel off due to their own weight or heavily load the ceiling frame.
If you already have a false ceiling installed, then you just need to remove the panels and install the insulation on the main ceiling, then install the panels in place.

Remember the "golden" rule - soundproofing is much easier and cheaper to do before finishing work than after the repair is completed!

You can listen to this article!

The vast majority of apartments in panel buildings are characterized by rather poor sound insulation, which is associated with the small thickness of the interfloor ceilings and loose joining of the panels. As a result, any sound source, be it furniture being dragged across the floor, a running TV, loud conversations, or even footsteps, causes significant inconvenience. And if the neighbors are starting renovations or a noisy feast, then you will have to forget about peace altogether for some time.

It should be taken into account that the human need for silence is not only psychological, but also physiological in nature. A noise level of about 40 decibels will no longer provide the opportunity to fully relax, and noise above 85 decibels is dangerous to health and can lead to serious mental disorders. The only thing that can help combat noise in conditions apartment building- This is a comprehensive soundproofing of the apartment.

The noise entering the apartment may be of an acoustic or vibrational nature. Acoustic noise is associated with the propagation of sound vibrations through the air and enters the apartment due to the presence of gaps between walls and ceilings, insufficiently dense window and door blocks, through openings for sockets and ventilation ducts. This type of noise can include loud music or voices in a neighboring apartment, the sounds of passing cars, noise arising from the operation of the elevator, etc.

Vibration noise is acoustic vibrations propagating in a solid medium. The source of such noise may be concrete walls, reinforcement of building columns and crossbars, as well as water and heating system. Many of us know from our own experience how well it can be heard when neighbors upstairs rearrange furniture or throw heavy objects on the floor. And if someone in the entrance works with a hammer drill or jackhammer, then a terrible roar occurs not only in the neighboring apartments, but throughout the entire riser multi-storey building. This is vibration noise.

How to make soundproofing in an apartment with your own hands

Thick concrete walls and high-quality floor joints provide good protection from noise, however, during the design and construction of typical panel houses such important factor, as sound insulation, unfortunately, is not taken into account. Most residents of high-rise buildings have thought at least once about how to soundproof an apartment. In order to provide comprehensive protection against noise, it is necessary to soundproof the walls, floor and ceiling using sound-absorbing materials.

In addition, you should pay attention to sources of sound penetration such as:

• sockets and mounting boxes,
• heating and water supply risers,
• joints between walls, floor and ceiling,
• window units and entrance doors.

Let's take a closer look at how you can implement Do-it-yourself soundproofing of an apartment.

Soundproofing walls in an apartment from neighbors

In panel houses, walls and partitions are usually thin, so they do not absorb sound well. In order to provide the necessary soundproofing walls in the apartment usually increase their thickness using drywall. The space between the wall and the drywall is filled with porous material: mineral wool or foam rubber, which will prevent the propagation of sound vibrations.

First, a frame is mounted from steel profiles. In order to prevent the transmission of vibrations from the walls and floor, it is necessary to make gaskets made of rubber or other elastic substance in the places where the profiles are attached. After the frame is ready, a sound-absorbing material is glued to the wall, which should cover its entire surface, and the thicker its layer, the more effective the sound insulation. Then sheets of drywall are screwed to the frame.

Soundproofing the ceiling in the apartment

Soundproofing the ceiling in an apartment is most important, since as practice shows, the most inconvenience is associated with the noise produced by neighbors above. Ceiling insulation is carried out according to the same principle as wall insulation: first, a frame is assembled from profiles, and one should not forget about the rubber gaskets in the places where it is attached, then the entire space inside it is filled with a sound-absorbing substance. To do this, you can use foam rubber, glass mat or special soundproofing boards made of mineral or basalt wool. Such slabs have an excellent absorption effect with a relatively small thickness, so after their installation the ceiling height in your apartment will not decrease significantly.

Soundproofing the floor in the apartment

If there is no intermediate layer between the ceiling and the floor covering, then sounds from the lower apartment will penetrate to you unhindered. At the same time, your neighbors will hear everything that happens in your place, right down to the sound of footsteps and chairs being moved. The issue of soundproofing the floor is solved using a special sound-absorbing material, which is thin and consists of fiberglass, special paper, foamed polymer or other synthetic substance. During repairs, depending on the material of the sound-absorbing layer, it can be placed under the laminate or directly under the screed.

Due to its plasticity and elasticity, this type of sound insulation effectively dampens vibrations and absorbs shock impacts. When laying a soundproofing layer, a waterproofing film is placed on top of it, and the screed covering it should not touch the walls.

Soundproofing of sockets and junction boxes

Sockets and electrical boxes are also sources of noise. The point is that in reinforced concrete slabs ceilings are specially provided through holes for installation of electrical equipment and fittings. In order to ensure sound insulation of the outlet, it must first be de-energized. Disassemble the socket and pull it out, then place a specially cut washer made of dense sound-absorbing material into the hole: thick cardboard or compressed mineral wool, then carefully cement it with gypsum mixture.

Mounting boxes are located under the ceiling, usually in the middle of the wall. In some cases, they are hidden under the wallpaper, and in order to detect them, it is enough to tap the wall. Insulation of boxes is carried out according to the same principle as sockets - we remove the plastic plug, then install and cement a washer made of soundproofing material. Before carrying out work, you must make sure that there is no voltage in the network.

Soundproofing of central heating risers

According to building codes, the risers are laid through the interfloor ceilings through special sleeves, which should prevent the spread of noise. The sleeve is a fragment of a larger diameter pipe that is mounted into the ceiling. The gap between the sleeve and the riser pipe is filled with mineral wool or other sound-absorbing material. In practice, builders often cement risers without using a sleeve. Over time, the cement breaks down, the gap between the pipe and the wall increases, and sound from the upper apartment easily penetrates through the resulting cracks. In order to ensure sound insulation of the riser, it is necessary to carefully remove the concrete around the pipe to a depth of no more than 10 cm.

Wrap the freed pipe in fiberglass or mineral wool and then cement it again. Excess noise-absorbing material is cut off, and the area next to the pipe is puttied.

Soundproofing of joints

During operation panel buildings Cracks often appear along the joints between two walls, as well as between the wall and the floor, through which sound can penetrate from neighboring apartments. The causes of such cracks can be various deformations of the building, as well as poorly fitted panels to each other. To ensure sound insulation of joints, it is necessary to use a chisel or screwdriver to widen the cracks as much as possible, clean them thoroughly, prime them and cover them with plaster. After the putty has dried, the surface of the joints is covered with acrylic sealant.

In order to eliminate the gap between the wall and the floor without disassembling the parquet, simply fill it silicone sealant and glue it with a special tape, then install the plinth in place.

If you decide to increase sound insulation in your apartment, then remember that good result is possible only with an integrated approach. In this case, you should use only high-quality and proven materials.

Sound has a noticeable effect on our psyche, emotional and physical state. If even the slightest noise accompanies you at work, rest or leisure, this leads to stress, decreased perception and premature fatigue. Therefore, soundproofing a house from street sounds and noise coming from neighboring apartments when arranging the interior is perhaps the most important task of the homeowner. Ensure an appropriate level of acoustic comfort in own house anyone can do it. And for this it is not at all necessary to use the expensive services of specialists in the field of sound insulation. It is enough to study the properties of the materials that are used for these purposes, after which all that remains is to select the best option for your situation and begin to implement it.

What you need to know about noise?

It is very advisable to deal with the issue of sound insulation at the stage of renovation or arrangement of a new apartment. If you missed this moment for one reason or another, you will still have to return to it over time. But it will cost much more, since the repairs will have to be done all over again.

Soundproofing is a very expensive pleasure, but it is not at all necessary to seal the entire apartment. It is enough to isolate rooms where silence is vital. This is the bedroom, children's room, living room and other rooms in which you sleep or relax.

There are three types of noise:

1. Air

Airborne noise pollution occurs when sound waves are emitted into airspace. Reaching an obstacle - walls, partitions or interfloor overlap– the sound causes them to vibrate and is transmitted to the rooms located on the other side building structures.

"Airborne" noise load

1. Shock

This type of noise is produced when falling various items on the floor, walking or other actions that cause vibrations in building structures.

1. Structural

Sound has the property of spreading through the structural elements of a building. A classic example of structural noise is the renovation of your neighbors, which you, by the will of fate, have to hear, as a rule, at the most inopportune time.

This differentiation of noise load allows us to talk about three types sound insulation:

• original- formed by building structures;
• additional- achieved through some modifications of the building frame elements;
• special– provided by a range of sound-absorbing and sound-reflecting materials.

Types of soundproofing materials in the photo

The most important thing when arranging soundproofing at home is to set your priorities correctly. Otherwise, it may turn out that, despite all your efforts and expenses, the noise coming from the street or from your neighbors’ apartment will continue to mercilessly poison your life.

Sound insulation and sound absorption: what is the point?

Any building material, be it brick, wood, concrete or metal, has soundproofing properties. In addition, any object in the room can also absorb sound. This is the main difference between the concepts of sound insulation and sound absorption - the first means the ability of a material or structure to reflect sound without absorbing it.

The more massive the wall of the house is, the more noise it can reflect. However, if you increase the thickness of walls or other single-layer building structures in order to improve sound insulation performance, this will significantly affect the consumption of materials, the load on the building foundation and the free space inside the room (if sound insulation is done from the inside). That is why it is advisable to use lightweight materials for acoustic insulation. multilayer materials. An example is the combination of plasterboard, which is used to level the walls, and mineral fiber (mineral wool), laid between it and the main building structure.

There are other soundproofing systems - sandwich panels, acoustic plasterboard, external soundproofing sheathing, joint fillers, etc., which, however, are still not able to give 100% results. By the way, this needs to be addressed Special attention when arranging or repairing premises. After all, what's the point of paying more if the result will differ slightly from what was achieved with less expensive materials?

On the other hand, it is still worth looking for a more effective option in terms of sound insulation. But it depends not only on the properties of the materials used for this. To do this, it is necessary to understand the nature of sound, as well as the mechanism of its propagation in building structures and the voids between them.

Exterior walls and windows

massive external walls buildings that perform a load-bearing function have good performance reflection and absorption of sound. However, they may not be sufficient to provide an adequate level of comfort in interior spaces.

You can improve the sound insulation performance of external walls different ways. The main thing to remember is that they largely depend on the area and windows of the structure window frames. So, if the latter have rectangular shape, provide a tight closure around the perimeter and do not contain ventilation valves, then they are a more than reliable acoustic screen. At the same time, when purchasing windows, you should check the availability of quality certificates and the reputation of the manufacturer - often the same thing design for a number of reasons (profile material, glass thickness and air space between the inner and outer glass, etc.) has significant differences according to soundproofing parameters.

Even if the windows you purchased have normal acoustic insulation, this in itself will not provide a normal sound background in the apartment. The essence lies in the method and quality of their installation.

Modern technology for installing window frames involves the use of mounting anchors and foam, which is a fairly weak sound insulator. Thus, even if you have expensive windows, noise from the street will make its way into your apartment. Effective Solution To solve this problem, seal the internal and external slopes, which will hide the layer of polyurethane foam and, in addition, provide additional thermal insulation of the opening. Finally, covering the outer plane of the wall with foam plastic or other insulating material can significantly improve its sound-absorbing qualities, which will once and for all rid you of street noise in the apartment.

Sound insulation in panel and block buildings

Block-type buildings have much lower sound insulation rates than brick or brick-concrete houses. Despite the fact that the acoustic indicators of building structures are regulated by law, in most cases they turn a blind eye to their compliance when putting a facility into operation. The reason for this is the ambiguity and complexity of measuring the permissible noise level in premises.

Effective sound insulation of adjacent sections of a block-type building is ensured by the arrangement of an expansion joint. It is carried out from the foundation to the roof ridge and filled with material with high sound absorption rates, such as mineral wool. The wall between sections, equipped with an expansion joint, can reduce the noise level to 50 dB. This is quite enough to not hear neighbors or, at least, significantly reduce the noise load in the room.

Distinctive feature panel buildings is the presence of cracks and gaps between the partition and floor slabs. By the way, residents often encounter this problem. brick houses. The solution in both cases is the same - before installing soundproofing boards, you should seal the cracks and gaps through which sound travels. You should also pay attention to the zones electrical switches and sockets - here the wall design is narrower, which allows unwanted noise to enter the room. Therefore, it is highly desirable to replace all built-in electrical equipment with one with an open type design.

Among other things in sound insulation in panel house There is an urgent need for any planning elements made from lightweight building materials. These include walls made, for example, of aerated concrete, as well as wooden partitions, panels of frame building structures, etc.

Internal partitions and ceilings

Getting rid of noise entering your apartment through walls or ceilings from neighbors on the side, above or below is not so easy. Isolating it alone may not bring results due to the peculiarities of sound wave propagation in building structures.

As a rule, soundproofing rooms is not limited to capping the wall or ceiling that you share with neighbors. Remember that sound does not penetrate to you through the brick or other material from which the building structure is made, but through the cracks and joints between other elements of the building frame. That is why you will most likely have to soundproof not only the walls, but also the ceiling and floor in the room. Often used for this frame cladding with sheathing, under which sound-absorbing material is laid. But before that you need to carefully seal cement mortar visible gaps and joints between walls and ceilings.

It is noteworthy that most complaints from owners of neighboring apartments concern the noise that penetrates through interfloor ceilings. Therefore, if you want to ensure normal acoustics in the premises of your apartment and do not want to become a source of irritation for your neighbors, you should think about installing a floating floor and additional soundproofing of the ceiling.

Arrangement of a floating floor in the photo

The face covering and screed of a floating floor should not come into contact with the side walls. Otherwise, sound bridges will form and all efforts aimed at providing sound insulation will be useless.

Finally, for additional soundproofing, you can install a soundproof ceiling hanging type. It will reduce the energy of reflected noise while absorbing it, which will significantly improve the acoustics in the room being finished.

High-quality sound insulation of individual rooms of an apartment or private house can only be done by competently taking into account the properties of sound waves and building structures. In fact, there is nothing complicated about this - just make the appropriate inquiries and choose materials suitable for ensuring normal acoustics in your home.

Panel houses built using prefabricated construction technology have one significant drawback - poor sound insulation. The concrete from which the panels are made does not absorb extraneous sounds well; in addition, the walls and ceilings are not thick enough, which also has a bad effect on sound insulation. The only way to get rid of outside noise is to soundproof the panel house yourself.

In Russia, noise insulation standards are strictly regulated and enshrined in the code of rules for noise protection SP 51.13330.2011. The standards concern airborne and impact noise levels:

• airborne noise (voices, music, etc.) - sound insulation at 50 dB;
• impact noise (repair work, moving furniture) - the permissible sound pressure level is 60 dB.

According to building codes, optimal thickness reinforced concrete floor considered 160 mm. For inter-apartment partitions, 100-150 mm is sufficient. But practice shows that a comfortable stay in an apartment in terms of noise level will be possible with a partition thickness of more than 200 mm.

Reasons for poor sound insulation of panel houses

There are several reasons why panel houses cannot boast of good insulation from airborne and impact noise:

• low quality of construction and repair work, the presence of unsealed seams and gaps between the slabs;
• poor housing design, which leads to poor joining of panels, cracks and distortions;
• non-compliance with the technology for installing inter-apartment and interior partitions;
• the use of cheap and low-quality soundproofing materials;
• non-compliance with standards for the thickness of floors and partitions;
• illegal redevelopment of an apartment by neighbors in violation of building codes;
• violations during the installation of window frames and doorways, as a result of which their tightness decreases.

The main reason for poor sound insulation is the desire of developers to save money on building construction, primarily on sound insulation. It is impossible to evaluate its quality without special equipment and the involvement of specialists, and the percentage of savings for the developer is soundproofing materials in this case it will be up to 40%.

Soundproofing materials

The owners of an apartment with poor sound insulation are most often forced to solve the problem themselves. First you have to look at the sources. extraneous sounds, and then start purchasing soundproofing materials.

Important! It is impossible to achieve 100% sound insulation in a building; it will be enough to reduce the noise level to an acceptable level.

Modern building materials make it possible to achieve high-quality sound insulation both in a new building and in a long-constructed building.

soft insulation

Soft roll materials have good sound-absorbing characteristics and are small in thickness. They do not take up space and can be used even in small apartments. is capable of not only absorbing third-party noise, but also repelling it from its surface, and thanks to its porous and elastic structure, sound vibrations are distributed evenly over the entire thickness of the building material.

Basalt (mineral) wool

Soundproofing an apartment in a panel house requires an integrated approach. Insulation is carried out only after a thorough study of all noise sources and selection of optimal sound-insulating and noise-absorbing materials.

At first they just talked in a raised voice, then they started shouting at each other. Then, it seems, they threw dishes and furnishings and clapped as hard as they could interior doors. At the end, the neighbor loudly and clearly called his wife a complete fool ( in fact, not quite “round”, but I substituted a synonym so as not to shock you), hastily got dressed and clapped front door to the apartment, which was triggered by a shock on the floor fire alarm. More and more often, neighbors were sorting things out in the middle of the night right behind our bedroom wall. Each time I wanted to do one of two things more and more. Either go out and kill them to death, or make good noise insulation. After weighing the pros and cons of each option, I decided to go with the second one. It seemed much cheaper to me. And then at one fine moment I found myself standing in the department building materials large OBI store on the outskirts of Moscow. Now I’ll tell you what I learned from the experts, and then I’ll show you how you can make an inexpensive slotted spoon with your own hands.

A little theory about sound propagation

Before we begin to build a great Chinese wall in your apartment, it is worth understanding some features of the nature of sound.

1. Sound is a wave

If it hits a wall, it is reflected, but gives up some energy to the wall. The wall, being made of solid materials, is not an ideal sound insulator. Therefore, we can perfectly hear loud sounds from the neighboring apartment. However, the wall significantly weakens sound waves. If along the way the sound encounters another wall, then for the residual waves it will become an almost insurmountable obstacle. In other words, the sound from the neighboring apartment will hardly bother us if we simply go to another room that does not have common walls with our neighbors.

2. Sound is a wave

Do you think I wrote this again by mistake? And here it is not. Now I will say one more unpleasant thing about waves. If there is at least a small hole in the wall in the path of the sound wave, then the sound passes through it perfectly, only slightly reducing the volume.

A simple example: the TV is on in the room, try to go into the next room and don’t close the door. What happened? That's right, almost nothing has changed. Close the door. The sound will still leak through the crack under the door. Try covering the gap with a blanket - it's better, but not ideal. Not ideal because it's not airtight.

3. Sound is a wave...

Again? Well, what can you do if it really is a wave that spreads much faster and better over solid structures. Remember: when one of the neighbors starts drilling something, it feels like they are drilling right in your apartment. And it doesn’t matter that the renovation was started 8 floors higher or lower. It will be completely impossible to stay at home.

That is why a specialist from the building materials department immediately said that there would be no escape in any case from the slamming of doors, the crash of dishes against the sink, which is rigidly mounted on the wall, or the sound of closing cabinet doors, which are also hanging on the wall. All these sounds spread with lightning speed across all the nearby walls, floors, and load-bearing columns.

However, sounds such as conversations behind the wall, music from the TV, grumbling washing machine It's quite possible to tone it down a little.

To do this, we need to proceed according to the following scheme.

The first step in creating soundproofing: Seal the cracks in the walls

Our efforts can bring much more best result, if before starting active actions we carefully check our walls for the presence of through gaps to our neighbors. Sometimes the house shrinks, foam concrete blocks peel off from the supporting columns, forming cracks.

Don't worry - the house most likely won't fall apart. But various troubles can penetrate into the resulting holes. For example, if your neighbor smokes right in the room, then cigarette smoke will easily find its way into your apartment. I myself suffered from this until I found the unfortunate loophole for the smoke. Even if they get high now, the smoke will no longer reach me... at least until the house once again turns its back to the forest, and its front to me.

In addition to smoke, the sounds of neighbors' activities will penetrate through the cracks in the walls. I have an apartment behind the wall that is for rent. What have I heard a lot :(. In modern buildings so the audibility is excellent. Especially on the upper floors, where the walls are thinner. And then there are these cracks.

In a word - don’t be lazy, you need to carefully “walk” along the joints and check if there are any holes there. If there is, you can seal it with simple foam or sealant.

Step 2. Measurements and calculation of the amount of material

To avoid buying extra materials for sound insulation we need to properly measure the wall, or walls that require our attention. Luckily, I only had one problem wall with my neighbors. Here she is:

It was made from ordinary silicate brick, so it conducted sound perfectly. Before going to the store, you need to arm yourself with a tape measure, measure the length and height of the wall, or rather, all the walls that need to be worked with. Can be used household. It is much more convenient and faster to work with than with a tape measure. Especially if there is no assistant who could “hold” and “step on”. Moreover, some rangefinder models themselves calculate the area of ​​the wall. A very useful thing for home master. I've been looking at it for a long time :).

It is better to write down the measurement results on a piece of paper, otherwise in the store you will painfully remember the numbers. As a result, you can easily buy more or less material the right amount. Both are equally offensive and inconvenient.

Step 3. Purchasing materials for soundproofing

Here everyone will have their own preferences. Let me show you what I bought.

Firstly, it is soundproofing mineral wool Rockwool Acoustic Butts:

A material specifically designed for sound insulation. Mineral wool fibers are arranged randomly, which makes the material an excellent absorber of sound waves. They simply get entangled in the fibers and gradually fade away, never reaching their destination, that is, your ears.

The same material has a couple of other excellent properties: it does not burn and does not “fall off”, that is, it retains its original volume for many years. It also retains heat and is not susceptible to fungus or rodents. In a word, Rockwool Acoustic Butts- this is exactly what we need.

The package shown in the previous photo contains 10 slabs of material with a thickness of 5 centimeters and dimensions of 100x60 cm. Thus, one package contains 6 square meters material. Knowing the area of ​​the walls that need to be insulated, you can easily calculate how many packages will be needed.

I needed two and a half packs. Naturally, I had to buy three. They cost about 2300 rubles.

In addition to the soundproofing material, we need to provide something that we will put on top of it. After all, we can’t just attach Rockwool boards to the wall and leave them exposed. We need something to cover it up. There are a lot of options here. Can buy gypsum boards, Can Wall panels type of lining. I chose the second one. Again, knowing how many meters of wall you need to cover, you buy a certain number of packages of panels.

Finally, fasteners and tools: drill, screwdriver or screwdriver, wood saw and knife for “carving” Rockwool boards.

Step 4. We begin to make sound insulation

We tear off the baseboard and carefully examine the joint between the floor and the wall. If necessary, we treat suspicious cracks with sealant or, in particularly advanced cases, with polyurethane foam.

After installing the first row, it becomes clear where you will need to drill to install the first horizontal crossbar. We get something like this:

So we move from bottom to top until we hit the ceiling. There, some of the slabs must be carefully trimmed to prevent the formation of uncovered sections of the wall.

The fact that when working with Rockwool boards, especially when cutting them, a lot of tiny particles are formed deserves special mention. They can dig into the skin of the hands and even be inhaled through the nose, being in the air in the form of fine dust. Hence, it is advisable to work with gloves and a respirator. At least a gauze bandage wouldn't hurt.

Before you begin to attach wall panels to the resulting horizontal bars, measures should be taken to eliminate the rigid connection between them and the panels. After all, the bars are directly attached to the wall, involuntarily becoming conductors of sound.

Therefore, you can stick this kind of tape made of porous material onto the bars. It's a little like tape for sealing windows for the winter.

The worst thing is to install the latest panel. We'll have to tinker. The more accurately you adjust it, the smaller the gap you will leave for noise to penetrate.

Now we put the plinth in place and refine the joints new wall with a ceiling and adjacent walls. You can use the same baseboard for this. I used wooden corners.

If there was a socket in the wall, you can bring it to a new wall surface or attach it to the baseboard, which is what I did.

How effective is this sound insulation?

As I already said, it does not save you from noise on structures such as slamming doors. Something more serious is needed here. However, now, when neighbors talk to each other, at least we don’t hear every word clearly. Yes, the sound still passes through, but it no longer has such an irritating effect.

There is something to compare with: this wall, bordering the neighbors, continues further, in the hallway. That's where everything remains the same. But the task was to make at least basic soundproofing in the bedroom. I think that I succeeded.