Sound resistant plasterboard

S

Seph

New Member
Hi everyone I’m not sure I’m in the right place to ask this question but hopefully someone may be able to help.

My question is, Does soundproof plasterboard actually work ?

I have a council house that is adjoined onto two flats, upstairs and downstairs. Upstairs neighbour is fine but downstairs is a jobless alcoholic who has his friends round a lot. They stay up all night talking rubbish and we can hear them whilst lying in bed trying to get to sleep. I’ve knocked on his door and reported him to the council numerous times. To be fair he does try to keep it down but I still hear them. Both flats have their living room straight through the adjoining wall and the walls are just 1 course of breeze block with plasterboard dabbed on each side. If I were to board this wall by taking the plasterboard already there off and fixing timber to the breeze blocks, filling the voids with soundproof board then double boarding the whole wall with these boards will that be enough to reduce the noise. I ask because I have heard mixed reviews about these boards ? I can literally hear my neighbours cough !
Any and all answers / suggestions welcome. Thanks, Joe
 
SoundBloc plasterboard is only effective if fitted in the correct way.
Sound travels through solid objects so complete waste of time dabbing boards directly onto walls with Dri-wall adhesive or screwing onto timber battens,you have to create a barrier between the solid board and the wall and you can do this by using an acoustic adhesive that never dries solid.
If you can afford to lose a bit of room you can retro fit boards onto existing walls (ensuring existing substrate is good and sound) using the adhesive and for a greater degree of soundproofing you can lay more boards on top again with the adhesive.
The one I use and recommend is Green Glue and I use 2 tubes per 8 x 4 sheet it's quite pricey though but bloody good.
And if you're on a budget, the Everbuild AC50 is also good.
Keep the boards off the floor and leave a gap of around 5mm across ceilings and adjoining walls and fill those gaps with the adhesive.
Leave each board to dry for a day before laying any more on top.
Fit skirting boards with adhesive also and again leave gap at bottom and fill with adhesive.
Basically try and make sure that when fitting,nothing solid is touching the floor,ceiling and any adjoining walls.
I have used this method of sound proofing for many years including sound proofing music rooms to great effect and is a good effective way of quietening things down a bit without losing to much space in your rooms although please bear in mind this will not give you 100% sound-proofing as sound will travel through floors and ceilings but it should certainly improve things for you.
 
Thank you
carl-the-plasterer said:
SoundBloc plasterboard is only effective if fitted in the correct way.
Sound travels through solid objects so complete waste of time dabbing boards directly onto walls with Dri-wall adhesive or screwing onto timber battens,you have to create a barrier between the solid board and the wall and you can do this by using an acoustic adhesive that never dries solid.
If you can afford to lose a bit of room you can retro fit boards onto existing walls (ensuring existing substrate is good and sound) using the adhesive and for a greater degree of soundproofing you can lay more boards on top again with the adhesive.
The one I use and recommend is Green Glue and I use 2 tubes per 8 x 4 sheet it's quite pricey though but bloody good.
And if you're on a budget, the Everbuild AC50 is also good.
Keep the boards off the floor and leave a gap of around 5mm across ceilings and adjoining walls and fill those gaps with the adhesive.
Leave each board to dry for a day before laying any more on top.
Fit skirting boards with adhesive also and again leave gap at bottom and fill with adhesive.
Basically try and make sure that when fitting,nothing solid is touching the floor,ceiling and any adjoining walls.
I have used this method of sound proofing for many years including sound proofing music rooms to great effect and is a good effective way of quietening things down a bit without losing to much space in your rooms although please bear in mind this will not give you 100% sound-proofing as sound will travel through floors and ceilings but it should certainly improve things for you.
Click to expand...
ha
 
gps said:
Don’t thank him lol, you will be sorely disappointed if you just add plasterboard to your wall, no matter what you stick it on with.
Click to expand...

and why would the poster be 'sorely disappointed' then if just plaster boards are added?
Enlighten us all please.
Or are you a salesperson for Soundstop?
 
carl-the-plasterer said:
SoundBloc plasterboard is only effective if fitted in the correct way.
Sound travels through solid objects so complete waste of time dabbing boards directly onto walls with Dri-wall adhesive or screwing onto timber battens,you have to create a barrier between the solid board and the wall and you can do this by using an acoustic adhesive that never dries solid.
If you can afford to lose a bit of room you can retro fit boards onto existing walls (ensuring existing substrate is good and sound) using the adhesive and for a greater degree of soundproofing you can lay more boards on top again with the adhesive.
The one I use and recommend is Green Glue and I use 2 tubes per 8 x 4 sheet it's quite pricey though but bloody good.
And if you're on a budget, the Everbuild AC50 is also good.
Keep the boards off the floor and leave a gap of around 5mm across ceilings and adjoining walls and fill those gaps with the adhesive.
Leave each board to dry for a day before laying any more on top.
Fit skirting boards with adhesive also and again leave gap at bottom and fill with adhesive.
Basically try and make sure that when fitting,nothing solid is touching the floor,ceiling and any adjoining walls.
I have used this method of sound proofing for many years including sound proofing music rooms to great effect and is a good effective way of quietening things down a bit without losing to much space in your rooms although please bear in mind this will not give you 100% sound-proofing as sound will travel through floors and ceilings but it should certainly improve things for you.
Click to expand...

Probably the most concise, constructive and relevant reply I've read on here in a long time. Fair play
 
carl-the-plasterer said:
and why would the poster be 'sorely disappointed' then if just plaster boards are added?
Enlighten us all please.
Or are you a salesperson for Soundstop?
Click to expand...



because it would give virtually a zero increase in the uplift of decibel levels.

and yes I'm a secret salesman for soundstop lol
 
We are renovating a large pub right now, the function room had hundreds of egg cartons stuck to the walls and a stud wall in front of it. Owner claimed the noise was drastically reduced
 
Seph said:
Hi everyone I’m not sure I’m in the right place to ask this question but hopefully someone may be able to help.

My question is, Does soundproof plasterboard actually work ?...
Click to expand...

A good start is to get a copy of the BG White book and it will show you all the various systems that can be used to reduce noise. It's free or you can download a copy but it's huge.

You'll start to get an idea that it's not plasterboard that makes a wall sound dampening but the overall system of construction. You need to identify all the possible routes that sound is transmitting. Gaps are worst as a keyhole sized whole will negate any amount of soundproofing material. Transmission through joists can also be a problem in some cases.

Independent stud or resilient channel is best bet to isolate your wall from the party wall, make sure you seal it all round with a low modulus sealant of flexi-foam (not regular foam).

It doesn't have to be all that expensive.
 
I agree with the teech guy in terms of a system kind of but it will definitely cost to be done right, there’s no cheap in this scenario at all
There’s no way it’s a diy job attempt either and the boards alone will do nothing

Question I’d ask the original post person is
Are you ok to have your ceiling ripped down and spend a grand or two to get the sound stopped? Forget the boards on there own not got a clue what the guy was on about with the sticky stuff but it was nice to try and help.
 
Vincey said:
I agree with the teech guy in terms of a system kind of but it will definitely cost to be done right, there’s no cheap in this scenario at all
There’s no way it’s a diy job attempt either and the boards alone will do nothing

Question I’d ask the original post person is
Are you ok to have your ceiling ripped down and spend a grand or two to get the sound stopped? Forget the boards on there own not got a clue what the guy was on about with the sticky stuff but it was nice to try and help.
Click to expand...



I’ve used the green sticky stuff it’s very strong and like he’s says doesn’t dry solid.

You will never completely block out the sound either,
I used to do the plastering work for a Soundproofing firm in London, and would often think how in the gods name can the client be happy with the results, but I never heard what it was like before though.
 
Sound reduction is usually achieved as a result of a mix of products - not just a single gypsum board...

sounds are made of high and low frequencies, you need hard surfaces for one end of the noice spectrum (to bounce noice back) and soft surfaces for the other (to absorb noice)...

Not an expert, but listened to people explaining things in the past ....

Think most of the posts above cover it well
 
Vincey said:
I agree with the teech guy in terms of a system kind of but it will definitely cost to be done right, there’s no cheap in this scenario at all
There’s no way it’s a diy job attempt either and the boards alone will do nothing

Question I’d ask the original post person is
Are you ok to have your ceiling ripped down and spend a grand or two to get the sound stopped? Forget the boards on there own not got a clue what the guy was on about with the sticky stuff but it was nice to try and help.
Click to expand...
If he has the ceiling height he could fit a MF ceiling save pulling the original down, we converted a shop into a flat using it for blocking sound transfer to flat above it passed the sound test so may be worth looking into
 
Mouldyoldspudgun said:
If he has the ceiling height he could fit a MF ceiling save pulling the original down, we converted a shop into a flat using it for blocking sound transfer to flat above it passed the sound test so may be worth looking into
Click to expand...

Tends to work with noise from above... the noisy git is below...

Maybe help a bit though...
 
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