ᐅ Drywall Soundproofing – What Do I Actually Need?

I would like to install three drywall partitions myself in our new house. It’s not much or difficult: three straight walls, each 3 x 2.5 meters (10 x 8 feet).

Now the question: what makes sense in terms of soundproofing?
The classic method is: a metal stud frame (UW profile), filled with glass wool insulation, and then covered with drywall on both sides. Is that enough?

One wall separates the bedroom from the children’s room. If my wife and I are sleeping, the kids shouldn’t necessarily hear us. (I would call it normal soundproofing; we’re not dealing with a band playing.)

Is the setup described above already sufficient, or should we do more? I keep reading about double drywall boards, meaning two layers. That would be significantly more work—does it make that much of a difference?

And one more question: how wide should the studs be—50 mm, 75 mm, or 100 mm (2, 3, or 4 inches)? What is common for an interior wall?

Rigips has a website where you can find a lot of information about soundproofing, including details on single or double layers, standard or blue boards, with decibel values—so you don’t end up having noisy parent meetings only after the kids have moved out.

Take a look at the installation guidelines and data sheets from the different manufacturers. There you can find the differences between the various wall assemblies. I think it is very important to pay close attention to the connection details.

Personally, I would recommend using double-layered sheathing only.

Leinad7331 schrieb:
One wall is the wall between the bedroom and the children's room. If my wife and I sleep together, the children ideally shouldn’t hear it. (I would say normal sound insulation). There’s no band playing.

In today’s single-family houses, you can basically forget about not being heard during sex in the neighboring room. Of course, it depends on whether you are someone who hardly makes any noise or screams like in a typical adult film. But even the physical sounds alone are audible.

Still, I would recommend at least double drywall layers using special drywall boards that promise better sound insulation. The joints are important too.

Thank you for the detailed explanation. Will only one side be double-layered with drywall, or both sides?

The one side (right) is definitely not load-bearing, and no one walks in front of it since it is suspended in the air, as shown in the picture:

Would you also add glass wool insulation with the double drywall?

One more question: I want to install a lightweight partition wall in the bathroom to support a wall-hung toilet. Is double drywall sufficient here? My architect suggested OSB boards, but is that really necessary?

Normally, both sides are always double-layered with sheathing.

If you want to build a great resonator, then leave out the mineral wool insulation! Why would you try to save on that? For example, Knauf does not provide insulation values for walls without mineral wool inserts in their datasheet, not without reason — the values are simply poor.

I find the joints (floor and ceiling connections) in your drawing interesting. Do you even have the possibility to properly attach the wall to the ceiling in the roof area? Depending on the construction, sound transmission could also be an issue there.