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UK Soundproofing Services

Soundproofer UK: If the level of noise is an issue in your UK home then it might be time to think about putting in some soundproofing to make your living room, bedroom, studio or home office a peaceful haven from the outside world. You may also be aware of noise from a family room or home cinema room escaping and causing a disturbance to other inhabitants. No matter which soundproofing needs are required, it will be vital for everybody's peace of mind.

First we should learn how sound travels and is transmitted before we are able to identify ways to reduce any sound intrusion or escape from your home.

Sound is able to move in only two ways:

1. Through the vibration of objects or materials.

2. By the vibration of air molecules.

Despite the fact that sound also travels through water, unless you're wanting to eliminate noise from an aquarium or pool, we'll just be concerned at how to soundproof the rooms of a building.

SOUND THROUGH THE AIR

Sound can be transmitted into and out of a room through gaps around doors, open air-ducting, ill fitted windows and even electrical switches and sockets. What we hear and identify as sound is basically air molucules being vibrated and reaching our ear drums. It matters not whether it's nearby traffic, kids playing, music, heavy machinery or aircraft, they all create and transmit sound in the same way.

If you try to visualise your room as a bucket, you are attempting to find any leaks that need sealing before you can fill it with water.

SOUND TRAVELLING THROUGH STRUCTURES AND OBJECTS

We now know that sound is merely the vibrations of air reaching the ear, but those vibrations are also transferred to solid materials. Sound will vibrate the walls, ceilings and floors of your rooms, and can lead to a resonating effect that's transferred outside of the room itself. Even a solid concrete room, such as a basement, can create a path of resonance which transmits sound waves, and sometimes amplify them, to other rooms in a property.

However, how can these sound generating effects be prevented from creating an issue? The solution is not surprisingly, soundproofing!

SIMPLE SOUNDPROOFING STEPS

If you have bare floorboards or floors, consider covering them with carpet or laying a few rugs to help in reducing any sound reflections and vibrations. The rugs or other soft coverings will help absorb noise but can also add a touch of style to an otherwise bare room. Curtains, particularly substantial blackout ones, will also repress any noises from invading or escaping a room, cost-effectively and without the need for professional installation.

Finding and sealing any gaps or holes in the room, think electrical sockets, doors, light fittings and windows, is also a straightforward job for a capable do-it-yourselfer. Sealing the holes and gaps with a special acoustic sealant that can be purchased in some DIY and building material shops, will make a huge difference to how your room sounds. Acoustic sealants are inclined to be a little more pricey than normal sealant products, but their unique soundproofing qualities far outweigh the small extra cost.

If your room is an empty canvas and you're soundproofing as you decorate or renovate, consider installing a layer of soundboard or plasterboard, (also known as sheet rock, drywall or gypsum board). Plasterboard is a very dense material that is both economical and efficient in soundproofing a room. It's perfect for spaces such as home cinemas, studies or studios being built within your home in the UK. It is preferable to hire an experienced UK tradesman to fit the plasterboard unless you've some experience in this kind of work.

The final do-it-yourself solution is to look at the doors within your home in the UK. Hollow doors are comparatively cheap although their soundproofing capabilities are far from ideal. Switching hollow core doors for solid core will enhance the soundproofing attributes of a room with only a small extra cost.

PROFESSIONAL SOUNDPROOFING SOLUTIONS UK

Some homes, for example those alongside busy roads or on aircraft flight paths, have naturally more sound pollution problems and will require other ways to tackle the predicament. This is when appointing the services of a specialist soundproofing service will deliver the greatest results.

They should ask the following four questions during a basic assessment of your requirements:

Where is the main source of noise emanating from? i.e. Above, through the ceiling, windows, doors, floors or walls, or a combination.
What are the specific noises that you need to be soundproofed? i.e. Is it external noises such as next door neighbours, traffic noise, overflying aircraft etc, or is it from within your property such as a music room or family room.
How large is the space you need to be soundproofed?
What is the area you wish to soundproof made from? (i.e. a stud partition wall, a fully lined concrete wall or a brick wall).

With answers to these queries a good quality soundproofing company in the UK will provide you with solutions to suit your situation, and just as important, your allotted budget. They'll offer different strategies to soundproof each of the trouble spots within your home.

PROFESSIONAL SOUNDPROOFING OF CEILINGS, WALLS and FLOORS

There are 2 key areas that must be addressed to successfully soundproof any room:

Lessen the effect of sound reflection, amplification and vibration by hard surfaces.
Maximise the absorption of sound.

This will require an on-site survey to find out precisely what areas require enhancing from the present condition.

A professional will look at the different ways to add density and mass to the troublesome areas. The use of acoustic foams and rubbers of different mass and density will help to absorb noises and reduce reflections and transmission sources.

Any noticeable voids in the area may need some form of muffling material to be placed between them to lessen sound resonation. Floor and ceiling voids and cavities in walls can all be likened to a drum, where the space acts like an amplification source for undesirable noise.

Combined layers of materials with different masses and densities work better at absorbing noise than a single soundproofing material layer of one type. The various materials will isolate different sound frequencies and offer a more rounded auditory experience and feeling to a room.

All soundproofing companies in the UK will be needing to follow the legislation for residential buildings as laid out in the Building Regulations (Part E). These legislation should be adopted so as to safeguard yourself and others from being negatively impacted by sound pollution.

The Institute of Acoustics (IOA) and the Association of Noise Consultants (ANC) are trade bodies who offer qualifications and training, and are representative of the very best in contractors and companies which offer soundproofing solutions. Any UK company bearing IOA or ANC accreditation has been appraised to ensure they provide the highest reliability, standards and quality of work within the industry.

UK Soundproofing Tasks

There are a number of different tasks that can be carried out by your local UK soundproofing specialist including soundproofing surveys, soundproofing, acoustic mineral wool installation UK, soundboard installation, home soundproofing services in the UK, soundproofing price quotes, cheap soundproofing in the UK, soundproofing services, party wall soundproofing services UK, soundproofing underlay, acoustic membranes, acoustic services, industrial soundproofing UK, soundproofing insulation, soundproofing doors, sound insulation, soundproofing walls in the UK, soundproofing windows, echo reducing, sound management services, under floor hanger systems, noise control, acoustic thermal installation, concrete floor soundproofing UK, and lots more.