ᐅ Improving Sound Insulation for Interior Walls and Ceilings

Hello,

I hope this is the right subforum; I wasn’t completely sure which category would be best.

We bought a single-family house, built in 2013, with a timber frame construction.

Now, the following issues are bothering us:

The interior partition walls are extremely noisy. The construction is as follows: drywall (gypsum board) 12.5 mm (0.5 inches), OSB 12 mm (0.5 inches), 6x8 cm (2.4x3.1 inches) KVH (structural timber) with 40 or 60 mm (1.6 or 2.4 inches) Rockwool insulation (according to documents Sonorock, some parts are insulated with 40 mm, others with 60 mm for reasons unknown), OSB 12 mm (0.5 inches), drywall 12.5 mm (0.5 inches).

For example, you can already hear even the slightest throat clearing or when someone places a cup in the next room, not to mention other noises.

Since we plan to renovate anyway, a messy, more extensive effort would not be a problem. The question is, what would be most effective for us?

We could leave the interior walls as they are and, for example, build an additional interior wall in front using calcium silicate blocks (structural support would allow it), or remove the partitions and rebuild with thicker calcium silicate blocks? Or simply add another drywall partition in the same construction method in front? There is enough space for these options.

Then we also have the ceiling issue: exposed beam ceiling, insulation above, screed, floor covering. Here, too, the noise transmission is very noticeable. We would like to start with simpler measures, for example, removing laminate flooring and laying carpet.

We would prefer to keep the visible beams at least partly. Of the 26 cm (10 inches) beam height, about 16 cm (6.3 inches) could be insulated and covered with Heraklith boards, so approximately 6 cm (2.4 inches) of the beams would remain visible. Or would a full insulation and a suspended ceiling be more effective here?

Unfortunately, the house planner was unable to provide much support regarding soundproofing improvements.

As it stands, this is state-of-the-art technology, and millions have no issues with it. The simplest solution is to screw on a fiberboard panel (Fermacell), possibly with a thin decoupling layer. This way, all connections (electricity, TV, water) can be retained. Replacing the wall is the most complex solution from a structural point of view, while a stud wall takes up space. Replacing laminate with carpet does not help with impact noise. If you really have such high requirements, look for a company experienced in acoustics that can demonstrably have completed similar projects (schools, concert halls).

Starkindustrie schrieb:

We bought a single-family house, built in 2013, with a timber frame construction. [...] We could leave the interior partition walls as they are and add an interior wall made of calcium silicate bricks (the structure would allow for this), or remove the partition walls and rebuild them with thicker calcium silicate bricks? [...] Ideally, we would like to keep at least part of the visible beams; of the 26 cm (10 inches) beam height, about 16 cm (6 inches) could be insulated and covered with wood wool panels,

Just the idea of using calcium silicate bricks inside a timber frame panel house is *ROTFL* at its best.

You should definitely consult an expert—my first choice here would be a prefab house specialist (in Schleswig-Holstein I probably don’t need to recommend colleague Zink from Bavaria). Walk through the house with them and have a proper plan drawn up. Trying to fix as much as possible in the wrong place is nonsense. Like using a plaster cast for a toothache—you get my point, right?

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11ant schrieb:

The joke about using calcium silicate blocks in a timber frame panel house is *ROTFL* at its best.

You should go through the building with an appropriate expert—my first choice would be a “prefabricated house expert” (in Schleswig-Holstein, I probably don’t need to recommend colleague Zink from Bavaria)—and have a proper plan drawn up. Just doing as much as possible in the wrong place is nonsense. It’s like using a dental anesthetic for a toothache... you can see that yourself, right?

What a pleasant atmosphere here, truly a reflection of society.

Especially since I don’t understand the concept of a house built by a carpenter and a prefabricated house expert.

I don’t think it makes much sense to double up the walls — the loss of space is quite significant, and the effort is relatively high. The simplest solution would be to replace the drywall panels — as mentioned before, there are special soundproof drywall boards (e.g., acoustic gypsum boards) as well as other gypsum fiber boards (starting from 15 mm (0.6 inches)) that would provide noticeable improvements. Another option could be to add an extra layer of panels — the space loss is limited, and installations can usually be reused without any problems.

Both Knauf and especially Rigips offer online acoustics calculators that let you simulate soundproofing, for example, between two rooms. With Rigips, you can even compare partition walls made of timber and panels versus solid walls.

It’s also possible that the walls are not properly insulated, and/or the structural separation (e.g., to the screed) is not correctly executed. However, checking and correcting this involves considerably more effort.