Hello dear forum members,
I would like to ask for your experiences regarding sound insulation in interior doors.
Last year, we had our own house built and also did a lot of the work ourselves. Among other things, my father (a longtime carpenter/joiner) and I installed the interior doors by ourselves. I have read a lot about home construction... but some topics, like the one mentioned above about interior doors, took a bit of a backseat. Honestly, we focused more on appearance and price than on function. In the end, we chose what we think are visually appealing interior doors with honeycomb core. After several months, however, I have realized the reason for the low price... in my opinion, the doors provide almost no sound insulation. Since we have a very open living area, a lot of noise carries into the upstairs rooms. I might be able to live with that if we didn’t have small children who are very light sleepers...
By now, I have come to the conclusion that “buying cheap means buying twice.” So at least I want to replace the doors on the upper floor. But how much improvement does such a replacement really bring? Since the doors need to fit the existing frame, the selection is limited. I have now found doors with a tubular chipboard core... does that already offer a meaningful improvement? Or do you need a solid core door?
With the current interior doors, I cannot notice much difference between closed and open. Does anyone have experience with how much sound insulation different door cores provide? For example:
- Honeycomb core / 20 dB
- Tubular chipboard frame / 40 dB
- Tubular core / 50 dB
- Solid core / 55 dB
The goal is to figure out whether it makes sense to choose a certain core type. If the difference between solid core and tubular chipboard frame is small, then tubular chipboard is enough for me... if only the solid core really improves sound insulation and the difference between tubular core and honeycomb core is barely noticeable, then I can save myself the tubular chipboard option...
What kind of doors do you have and how satisfied are you with the sound insulation?
Best regards,
Basti2709
I would like to ask for your experiences regarding sound insulation in interior doors.
Last year, we had our own house built and also did a lot of the work ourselves. Among other things, my father (a longtime carpenter/joiner) and I installed the interior doors by ourselves. I have read a lot about home construction... but some topics, like the one mentioned above about interior doors, took a bit of a backseat. Honestly, we focused more on appearance and price than on function. In the end, we chose what we think are visually appealing interior doors with honeycomb core. After several months, however, I have realized the reason for the low price... in my opinion, the doors provide almost no sound insulation. Since we have a very open living area, a lot of noise carries into the upstairs rooms. I might be able to live with that if we didn’t have small children who are very light sleepers...
By now, I have come to the conclusion that “buying cheap means buying twice.” So at least I want to replace the doors on the upper floor. But how much improvement does such a replacement really bring? Since the doors need to fit the existing frame, the selection is limited. I have now found doors with a tubular chipboard core... does that already offer a meaningful improvement? Or do you need a solid core door?
With the current interior doors, I cannot notice much difference between closed and open. Does anyone have experience with how much sound insulation different door cores provide? For example:
- Honeycomb core / 20 dB
- Tubular chipboard frame / 40 dB
- Tubular core / 50 dB
- Solid core / 55 dB
The goal is to figure out whether it makes sense to choose a certain core type. If the difference between solid core and tubular chipboard frame is small, then tubular chipboard is enough for me... if only the solid core really improves sound insulation and the difference between tubular core and honeycomb core is barely noticeable, then I can save myself the tubular chipboard option...
What kind of doors do you have and how satisfied are you with the sound insulation?
Best regards,
Basti2709
mertmk3 schrieb:
I think it will be an RSPK door with a Schallex floor seal. Is there a ventilation system installed?
MayrCh schrieb:
Is there a ventilation system installed?Yes.
I have read up a bit on the issue. Of course, I only have either exhaust or supply air in a room, never both, except in the living/dining area.
Isn’t the keyhole and the general leakage enough to allow sufficient airflow? So, is it absolutely necessary to consider an overflow function when using drop-down floor seals?
mertmk3 schrieb:
Is the keyhole and general leakage not enough to allow sufficient airflow? Is it absolutely necessary to have an overflow function for drop-down door seals?No and yes.
But it’s not a big issue. Talk to your door supplier. The frames can be designed accordingly.
N
nordanney24 Sep 2018 07:33mertmk3 schrieb:
Great tip, I will create a groove on the horizontal part of the door frames to allow air to flow over the frames.... and also the sound you want to keep out of the room with the floor seal.