Rules For Installing A Soundproof Layer Under The Floor Screed In An Apartment

2023 Author: Philip Bishop | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 07:54

Soundproofing options
What to work with?
Modern materials
Creating a floating floor
Floating dry screeds
Noise insulation under laminate
Laying rules

High-rise buildings often generate a lot of noise from neighbors. This prevents not only getting enough sleep, and doing household chores. The best option in this case is a soundproofing device. All noise can pass not only between the walls, but also in the floors. This suggests that special attention is paid to gender. Soundproofing the floor in the apartment under the screed can be done independently without any extra effort.

Soundproofing options

To reduce the noise level in the apartment, there are several options for installing the sub-floor. One of the simpler ones is soft floor. But it is arranged only on the existing basis, for example, a wooden floor. The materials are usually felt-based linoleum, carpet and so on. Among the disadvantages can be noted the impossibility of installation in rooms with high humidity levels.

Another option is to use spacers when laying laminate, hard linoleum or, for example, parquet. There must be a soundproofing substrate that can absorb high noise levels. The installation does not take much time and is very simple. The most suitable material is polyethylene foam. Fibrous materials are also great.

Impact noise can also be eliminated. For this, "floating" floors are usually arranged, which have the main feature - the lack of connection with any kind of floor covering. Consequently, the vibrations from the sound do not get inside the apartment. In this way, the floor is soundproofed under the screed.

What to work with?

In the work, completely different materials can be used to absorb sound. This is primarily due to the use of various methods for sound insulation. There is a huge range of them on the construction market, both domestic and foreign. These can be plates for sound insulation, mats on basalt or fiberglass, mineral wool and its varieties, cork, types of rubber, particle board, slag with a fine fraction, screening of expanded clay used for dry floor screed and many others.

Expanded clay is most often the very first when installing sound insulation under a screed on a wooden base. There is also a classification of materials depending on the main components:

Mineral. They are based on components such as cement, mineral wool or expanded clay.
Plastic (polymer). Mostly presented in liquid form, it can also be foam or other types of reflective materials.
Silicate. The most demanded is glass wool.
Wood-shaving. Plates, plywood sheets, as well as ordinary sawdust.

Noise insulation under the screed

Depending on what degree of rigidity the material has, they are all divided into:

Soft. Presented by mineral wool, fiberglass.
Solid. Maybe mineral wool, but already granular.
Semi-rigid. Cotton wool has a honeycomb structure for use as a noise absorption element.

There are also sound-reflecting materials, which are also actively used when installing a floor screed in an apartment. These are most often solid materials in the form of drywall, brick and concrete, stone and others. Some components can absorb noise, but not let it go further. Such quality is possessed by materials with a fibrous, cellular or granular component.

Each of these materials is poured into several layers, each of which is usually 40 mm. It is this "pie" that will be enough to fully comply with building codes and regulations on the level of noise absorption in the apartment.

Modern materials

Technologies do not stand still and constantly offer on the market numerous new materials that can eliminate extraneous sounds inside the room. Among them, the most popular is "Shumanet", presented in the form of a complex structure of elastic material. Most often it is sold in rolls with a thickness of 3 mm. It is able to protect against shock type noise. If you choose a screed in this case, then such insulation is performed under the "floating" option. During the flooring, the overlap must be maintained on the subfloor and also raised to the required level on the wall. The latter will depend on the fill level of the solution. All joints between sheets must be glued when using construction tape.

Another option is Tescound. It is based on the mineral aragonite. Despite the insignificant thickness of 2-3.7 mm, the effect of use is brought to the maximum. The construction of the sub-floor together with the screed remains practically unchanged. Does not in any way affect the height of the ceiling in the equipped room.

Due to the flexibility of the membranes, the installation process is straightforward and carried out as soon as possible. This material has other positive qualities - the ability to withstand low temperatures, the appearance of mold and mildew during operation. In addition, in the future, you can lay any kind of flooring. Noise insulation under the screed in the apartment will be of high quality and will meet the stated requirements.

Under the "floating" screed, you can use "Vibrostek-V300". In addition, it is perfect for finishing the sub-floor.

The thickness of elastic rolls is usually 4 mm. It is enough to lay them end-to-end to each other, and then lay a special Vibrostek tape on top. Usually, no difficulties arise during installation if a floor screed with sound insulation is arranged. If the floors have logs, then to create a protective layer against noise and sounds, you can use a material such as Isover. They are distinguished by their ease of construction.

When it is necessary to insulate the floor in the apartment under the screed, the materials can be completely different. Everything will depend on the specific conditions of the work, as well as on the chosen option for pouring the floor screed.

Creating a floating floor

Some people think that a screed with soundproofing of the floor in an apartment requires special knowledge and a waste of time and effort for installation. But it is enough to study the technology in detail in order to perform the entire volume of work on your own.

To begin with, prepare a base for a floating floor that meets requirements such as cleanliness, dryness and evenness.

The final result and the service life of the resulting structure, which protects against increased noise levels, will depend on the quality. Here you should make every effort and do without haste.

Any previous floor covering should be removed. After that, the presence of elevation differences is established, which must be brought to the horizontal plane. The protrusions are knocked off, and the potholes are closed. As a material for work, they usually use a screed of sand and cement or self-leveling mixtures.

The next stage is the formwork device. After the completion of the work, so-called acoustic bridges should not form. Insulating the flooring from existing partitions and all walls will help to cope with this. For this purpose, a temporary formwork is created from plywood, drywall or thin boards. It is mounted around the perimeter of the room in which the work is carried out. As soon as the screed becomes hardened, the formwork is removed, and the entire space is filled with polyurethane foam or existing remnants of sound insulation material.

As soon as the base is ready for work, the sound-insulating material is expanded onto it. In this case, it is worth paying attention to the fact that there are no gaps between the elements, as well as gaps. All of this can lead to sound leakage. Consequently, all work will be reduced to zero in usefulness. To ensure that there is a minimum amount of waste during laying, work is started from the selected corner in the room. If necessary, the joints of sheets or plates are additionally glued.

This completes all types of work, and you can start pouring using the prepared solution. Additionally, a reinforcing layer is arranged. As a result, the screed is at least 50 mm thick. If you make a thinner layer, then it is unlikely that you will be able to hide the reinforcement elements.

Floating dry screeds

Dry floating floors are distinguished in a separate category. Initially, a high-quality noise absorption material is selected here. The most effective of these will be mineral wool, which has a high noise reduction index. With a slab thickness of 2 cm, it can absorb 46.5 dB of noise.

There are no special nuances here. The matter concerns only the filling of the floor screed, which is carried out after laying the minelike material. After thorough tamping of the backfill, it is leveled according to the exposed beacons. At the same time, we must not forget about the edging tape, which is fixed around the perimeter of the entire room. It is also attached along the existing decorative elements, pillars, columns and other things. The tape is also made of material for soundproofing the screed in the apartment. Usually a thickness of 20 mm is taken. If extra and protruding elements appear, then they can be easily cut off with a sharp knife. But it is recommended to do this after all types of work are completed.

After the backfill has been completed, gypsum fiber boards are laid on top in two layers. In this case, the joint seams should not coincide with each other. The sheets are glued together with PVA glue, after which they are additionally fastened with self-tapping screws.

The popularity of this stage of sound insulation under a dry screed lies in the absence of "wet" stages. Each of the elements of the resulting "pie" screed exhibit sound insulation qualities. Once the gypsum fiber sheets have been installed, the flooring work can begin. The total thickness of the entire structure is 30-40 mm.

Noise insulation under laminate

When soundproofing a floor under a laminate is carried out, you should think about choosing a quality material for work. The sound absorption will depend on it (cork material, polymer film). He, in turn, will be the substrate.

If cork is chosen as the main component, then you can be sure that it is a truly natural material. It fights much more effectively with the soundproofing of the floor in the apartment under the laminate. Some skips cork material due to its high cost. But you should not save on quality here, since the structure is capable of serving for a long time.

Installation of the plug takes a minimum of time and includes laying the rolls on the base tightly to each other, after which all joints are fastened with tape. This suggests that soundproofing the floor in an apartment without a screed has enough advantages, especially for novice repairmen and builders.

There are enough modern materials for sound insulation under the laminate, including rubber cork, Texound substrates. This method is suitable for the selected floor covering due to the fact that it is practically impossible to create a flat base from a rough concrete screed. This is how the floor soundproofing is performed in an apartment without a screed.

An alternative material is flexible polyethylene foam with a closed cell system. The same applies to cellulosic sheeting or expanded polystyrene. They also act as a substrate, but in turn have significantly lower sound absorption levels than cork.

Regardless of what kind of material is used as soundproofing of the base of the floor, in the future, the baseboards should be fixed to only one surface. It can be a wall or a floor. In this case, additionally, a rubber or cork gasket must be laid between the wall. Nails should be excluded, as they can act as conductors of sound inside the room.

Laying rules

Sound insulation under the floor screed must be carried out in strict accordance with the requirements. There are certain subtleties that you should pay attention to during installation. First of all, this applies to the very soundproofing material. It is not worth taking it too soft, since over time the screed itself can sag. For residential premises, the optimal indicator is 5 mm. For this, the package has an abbreviation with the number "CP5".

If the structure will have several layers, then soft mats should be located first, and on top of them - more compressive materials for thermal insulation. In this case, you should pay attention to the seams of each layer, since they should not coincide with each other.