A bit worried about echo sounds in our planned new build?
I have been in a house with a high sloped ceiling, and it echoed insanely despite the furnishings!?
We will have a living room/dining area with a vaulted ceiling and oak parquet. Ceiling made of plaster and painted walls. I'm terrified of getting an echo in the house?
How does one ensure in advance that this won't happen?
I would be very grateful for your opinions and experiences...
I have been in a house with a high sloped ceiling, and it echoed insanely despite the furnishings!?
We will have a living room/dining area with a vaulted ceiling and oak parquet. Ceiling made of plaster and painted walls. I'm terrified of getting an echo in the house?
How does one ensure in advance that this won't happen?
I would be very grateful for your opinions and experiences...
Would there be a greater risk of echo because of a high ceiling?
Why?
The noise level should rather be generally lower because the air volume is larger, and the travel time from one reflection to another is longer.
Additionally, you get fewer parallel surfaces, which should reduce the risk of standing waves.
Echo depends on two factors:
1. The surfaces in the room.
Hard, smooth surfaces reflect sound better, i.e., it takes longer for it to dissipate, leading to more sound waves in the room, which is perceived as a higher noise level = echo.
2. The dimensions and shape of the room.
If you're "unlucky," the room has dimensions such that the sound waves amplify themselves, i.e., there is resonance and standing waves in the room. Since regular conversation has wavelengths on the order of magnitude of 10cm, the actual dimensions of the room should not matter at all; it’s just luck and chance that come into play. If you're unlucky, you move the bookshelf one centimeter, and the problem is solved.
If walls, floors, and ceilings are not joined at a 90-degree angle, the phenomenon is reduced, since there are shorter distances where the original sound wave travels (almost) parallel with the reflected one.
Both our parents and we ourselves have sloped ceilings on the upper floor.
They have lacquered parquet in half and wall-to-wall carpet in the other half, 1980s seagrass wallpaper on the walls, and wooden ceilings.
We have lacquered wooden floors, plastered walls, and wooden ceilings. None of us have problems with echo.
In the apartment we lived in before, there were painted concrete walls, a concrete ceiling (flat, ceiling height 240cm), and tiles on the kitchen floor. When that room was empty, it echoed quite a bit. With a dining table/chairs, curtains, and rugs, not at all.
The only time I can think of practical problems with echo in a residential room is small, cubic, or nearly cubic, rooms with very little furniture and hard surfaces.
As far as I know, there is no practical way to simulate echo.
/ Fredrik
Why?
The noise level should rather be generally lower because the air volume is larger, and the travel time from one reflection to another is longer.
Additionally, you get fewer parallel surfaces, which should reduce the risk of standing waves.
Echo depends on two factors:
1. The surfaces in the room.
Hard, smooth surfaces reflect sound better, i.e., it takes longer for it to dissipate, leading to more sound waves in the room, which is perceived as a higher noise level = echo.
2. The dimensions and shape of the room.
If you're "unlucky," the room has dimensions such that the sound waves amplify themselves, i.e., there is resonance and standing waves in the room. Since regular conversation has wavelengths on the order of magnitude of 10cm, the actual dimensions of the room should not matter at all; it’s just luck and chance that come into play. If you're unlucky, you move the bookshelf one centimeter, and the problem is solved.
If walls, floors, and ceilings are not joined at a 90-degree angle, the phenomenon is reduced, since there are shorter distances where the original sound wave travels (almost) parallel with the reflected one.
Both our parents and we ourselves have sloped ceilings on the upper floor.
They have lacquered parquet in half and wall-to-wall carpet in the other half, 1980s seagrass wallpaper on the walls, and wooden ceilings.
We have lacquered wooden floors, plastered walls, and wooden ceilings. None of us have problems with echo.
In the apartment we lived in before, there were painted concrete walls, a concrete ceiling (flat, ceiling height 240cm), and tiles on the kitchen floor. When that room was empty, it echoed quite a bit. With a dining table/chairs, curtains, and rugs, not at all.
The only time I can think of practical problems with echo in a residential room is small, cubic, or nearly cubic, rooms with very little furniture and hard surfaces.
As far as I know, there is no practical way to simulate echo.
/ Fredrik
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· Göteborg
· 11 228 posts
There are perforated plasterboards, like Gyproc Gyptone, that absorb sound if you treat the back of the plasterboard correctly. Expect it to be expensive.
Otherwise, I can confirm that most newly built houses with vaulted ceilings have an unpleasant echo and reverberation.
Otherwise, I can confirm that most newly built houses with vaulted ceilings have an unpleasant echo and reverberation.
During a visit to friends last summer, with high ceilings, I experienced their house as a bit 'glammy'. Certainly also stylish, bright and airy, but it's highly doubtful if I would choose to build in that way. But tastes vary...
A good friend of mine built a new kitchen a few years ago. They opened up between the old kitchen and the living room, changed the roof trusses to vaulted ceilings, and it is in total about 65 m2. It echoes quite immensely there, and we hesitate to visit because you're completely drained after a few hours. Now they have tried to do something about it and purchased sound absorbers for almost 9000:- and it's marginally better... So in response to your question, Yes, it can echo incredibly much...
Now I'm getting nervous 
We're supposed to sign this week, and I haven't thought it would be a problem with echo before,,,? But now I'm starting to doubt? Is it really true that nothing can be done about it initially without special plaster, etc.?
Doesn't feel like we're keen on redesigning the whole house like.
More opinions and experiences quickly, please.
We're supposed to sign this week, and I haven't thought it would be a problem with echo before,,,? But now I'm starting to doubt? Is it really true that nothing can be done about it initially without special plaster, etc.?
Doesn't feel like we're keen on redesigning the whole house like.
More opinions and experiences quickly, please.
Did anyone see Engineering Connections on Discovery the other week? They featured the acoustician who helped design the new Wembley. He demonstrated acoustics by replacing hard walls with mirrors and then shining a flashlight. If the sound (beam) then came back to the same point when you rotated the flashlight, you had a problematic echo.
Hi, I have also been thinking of building a rafter ceiling. How did it turn out for you? Did you get a rafter ceiling and if so, how is the noise level?
How big is the room and how high is it to the highest point in the ceiling? Best regards, Mimmi
How big is the room and how high is it to the highest point in the ceiling? Best regards, Mimmi