I'm having some issues at home with the sound environment in my daughter's room. We live in a converted shop space on the ground floor of an apartment building from the 1940s, which makes our circumstances a bit unique.
For one, the space wasn't originally planned as a residence, which makes me suspect that the walls and ceiling on the ground floor have less or different insulation than the original apartments in the building. The room in question is also adjacent to one of the building's stairwells and has windows facing the association's parking spaces. In both cases, this contributes to unwanted noise and clamor. The worst, however, comes from above, from the neighbors, when they walk or move furniture (we can even hear their toilet seat slam, probably made of porcelain...).
The room is about 10 square meters, with a ceiling height of 3.20 meters. There is concrete and/or brick in three of the four walls (unfortunately, I don't know about the ceiling). All of this makes the room a tremendous resonance box, with a reverberation time of over a second when you clap your hands in there.
We can live with it being a bit noisy—but how do we get rid of the worst noise and improve the sound environment? Grateful for any tips!
For one, the space wasn't originally planned as a residence, which makes me suspect that the walls and ceiling on the ground floor have less or different insulation than the original apartments in the building. The room in question is also adjacent to one of the building's stairwells and has windows facing the association's parking spaces. In both cases, this contributes to unwanted noise and clamor. The worst, however, comes from above, from the neighbors, when they walk or move furniture (we can even hear their toilet seat slam, probably made of porcelain...).
The room is about 10 square meters, with a ceiling height of 3.20 meters. There is concrete and/or brick in three of the four walls (unfortunately, I don't know about the ceiling). All of this makes the room a tremendous resonance box, with a reverberation time of over a second when you clap your hands in there.
We can live with it being a bit noisy—but how do we get rid of the worst noise and improve the sound environment? Grateful for any tips!
Thanks! However, it's not a rental apartment, but a bostadsrätt 
maybe I should have clarified.
maybe I should have clarified.
Tool enthusiast
· Stockholm
· 1 399 posts
Keep in mind that carpets and curtains only absorb high frequencies. To reduce the reverberation time in the lower frequencies where the vowels are located, broadband absorbers need to be added to the room. Preferably 50 mm thick.
Fairly cheaply, you can build your own sound absorbers; a good friend of mine did it with fantastic results. I don't remember exactly how he did it, but something along the lines of; a simple frame made of 21x120-panel in the size 70x100. He filled it with wool, I recall it was mineral wool, but you can google that. Then he stapled a piece of fabric over the frame/filling with a staple gun. Check out the home cinema forum as well, they are good at this and have some tips on solutions.
To convert a retail space into a residence, one must comply with the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning's building regulations, BBR. Regarding the acoustic environment, BBR refers to the Swedish Standard SS25277. The requirement is to meet sound class C, or possibly sound class D.
To determine if the sound requirements are met, an acoustician must conduct measurements. Documentation of the classification from when the space was renovated should be available.
The environmental office handles these matters and can require the housing association (brf) to conduct the investigation.
A few concrete suggestions:
Build a suspended ceiling. Hang two layers of gypsum board from the existing ceiling with an air gap of 200mm. Place at least 45mm of mineral wool in the air gap. Since you have high ceilings, this seems feasible.
Also, Google Adarmas sound profiles. That might be something.
To reduce the reverberation time, textiles and upholstered furniture are indeed recommended.
The above comes from my wife, who is an acoustician.
To determine if the sound requirements are met, an acoustician must conduct measurements. Documentation of the classification from when the space was renovated should be available.
The environmental office handles these matters and can require the housing association (brf) to conduct the investigation.
A few concrete suggestions:
Build a suspended ceiling. Hang two layers of gypsum board from the existing ceiling with an air gap of 200mm. Place at least 45mm of mineral wool in the air gap. Since you have high ceilings, this seems feasible.
Also, Google Adarmas sound profiles. That might be something.
To reduce the reverberation time, textiles and upholstered furniture are indeed recommended.
The above comes from my wife, who is an acoustician.
Renovator
· Näverkajakens födelseort
· 797 posts
I would have installed a suspended ceiling with wires, like ecophon
A room of that size should manage around 5000 SEK with installation. It will make an incredible difference for feedback/reverberation in the room.
A room of that size should manage around 5000 SEK with installation. It will make an incredible difference for feedback/reverberation in the room.