Noise bleed between rooms sharing a common wall is a problem in millions of homes, because normal construction techniques seldom treat common walls with soundproofing materials. This article explains the noise bleed prevention methods of density and disconnection, and how you can use them in your own home.
Density noise bleed control uses soundproofing materials to seal an existing shared wall, and disconnection noise bleed control employs the construction of a new wall in front of the shared wall to create a dead space which can collapse the sound waves entering from the adjoining room.
Stop Noise Bleed through a Common Wall
What we interpret as sound is simply a collection of structured vibrations that travel from molecule to molecule through medium such as air and water as well as solids such as wood, concrete and glass. Untreated common walls between rooms are not generally equipped to prevent noise transmission between the rooms, and in fact tend to provide an ideal common surface through which sound can easily travel. Therefore, the goal in controlling sound transmission between rooms is to inhibit the ability of sound waves to pass through these common surfaces and into adjoining rooms.
Reducing the transmission of sound waves through the walls of a room involves isolating the room by increasing the density of the structure and establishing a disconnection from the original wall. An effective way to increase density is to line each wall in a room with a mass loaded vinyl such as dB-Bloc, which is a heavy membrane designed to be stapled or screwed over the entire wall surface. Adding density to a wall reduces its ability to vibrate, thus reducing the ability for sound vibrations to pass through.
The second phase of isolating a room to reduce sound transmission through its walls is establishing a disconnection from the original wall surface. The common walls adjoining one room to the next provides a means for sound waves to travel directly through the surface and into the next room. By creating a secondary surface and thus space between the walls, this treatment can force sound waves to collapse between the walls and significantly reduce the amount of noise that is audible in the next room. Creating a secondary wall surface involves affixing evenly spaced horizontal furring strips from floor to ceiling, and adding a new layer of drywall in front of each wall of the room.
Additional measures, such as sealing joints among walls, floors and ceilings with acoustic caulk and doubling up on the density + disconnection method described above can increase the effectiveness of a wall sound proofing project. For example, using two separated (not touching) layers of dB-Bloc and creating a third layer of drywall at a different depth than the second can improve the results that can be expected from a wall soundproofing project. The method of increasing density and disconnecting wall surfaces is extremely effective for sound reduction, though no treatment will generate a 100 percent reduction in sound transmission through common walls.
The need for wall soundproofing treatments span a wide range of applications, such as homes, doctors offices, school classrooms, sanctuaries and countless others. At the inception of any soundproofing project, consulting with a knowledgeable soundproofing professional is recommended to ensure that all variables are considered and the most effective treatment is applied.