Noisy!

[byggelibygga]

We have a problem with it being very noisy between the floors in our villa (shared with a family living on the ground floor). We have built a wall with a door to the stairs leading to the hallway downstairs, but it seems that most of the sound comes through our floor. I'm not so bothered by footsteps; it's the voices we want to get rid of. When they talk in the room below where I am, I can hear what they are saying! It doesn't sound muffled as if the sound is coming through the ventilation, but as if they're sitting in the next room, even though the sound is coming from below...

Between the floors, there is no insulation at all, and I wonder if this is causing our floor to act like a giant resonance box? Everything is made of wood, both the beams and their ceiling.

Question: How do I address the problem? Do I have to tear up my floor and insulate, and if so, with what?

Help!

 

[Västerhaninge 17]

Perhaps it is possible to spray in loose-fill insulation from the lower floor's ceiling (remove the inner ceiling in the middle)

 

[byggelibygga]

Thank you for the response! Yes, that does seem to be a solution, but how much does it help against sound? Don't you need something heavy too, like drywall?

 

[anaitis]

Maybe it is possible to spray in loose-fill insulation from the ground floor ceiling (remove the inner ceiling in the middle)

Unfortunately, this helps very little.

Gypsum underneath or on top is needed.

 

[Västerhaninge 17]

This unfortunately helps very little.

Gypsum underneath or over must be added.

If you compare a hard box that is completely empty with a box that is filled with some insulating material, the difference must be significant, right
If nothing else, it stops self-resonance in the hard material and standing sound waves (frequencies that amplify themselves).
Compare an entirely empty room with a room furnished with carpets/furniture/curtains

Complementing with heavy materials is of course even better.

Looking at the insulation companies' websites, they build with the sandwich method (many layers).

 

[anaitis]

If you compare a hard box that is completely empty to a box filled with some insulating material, the difference must be significant, right
If nothing else, you stop the self-resonance in the hard material and standing sound waves (frequencies that reinforce themselves). Compare a completely empty room with a room furnished with carpets/furniture/curtains

Completing with heavy materials is naturally even better.

If you look at the insulation companies' websites, they build with the sandwich method (many layers)

Sorry, but it's often not worth the money to do it afterward.
Putting in loose fill or similar during construction is something entirely different.
Well worth the money.

Materials that soundproof should be heavy and have low stiffness, low E modulus.
Mineral wool works as an absorbent for certain frequencies, usually the higher ones.

 

[byggelibygga]

Sorry, but it's often not worth the money to do it afterward. Putting in loose fill or similar during the construction phase is something entirely different. Well worth the money.

Materials that soundproof should be heavy and have low rigidity, low E-module. Mineral wool works as an absorber for certain frequencies, often the higher ones.

if you want to dampen regular speech and airborne noise? What frequencies are those?

 

[anaitis]

if you want to dampen regular speech and airborne sound? What frequencies are those?

Speech is relatively low-frequency. Naturally, it depends on the person and gender, but generally speaking.

Airborne sound can have any frequency!