ᐅ Interior Sound Insulation: Drywall Construction vs. Solid Construction

Hello,

we are planning the construction of a new detached house (1.5 stories) using solid construction methods. Now that the floor plan is mostly finalized, I noticed today that the interior walls in the attic are shown as drywall partitions on the plan.

So far, I had assumed all walls would be solidly built, as stated in the construction description. Now my question is: does a well-insulated drywall partition provide the same sound insulation to the adjacent room as a masonry wall?

I would prefer to avoid the children waking up because we are watching TV in the bedroom or someone is taking a shower in the bathroom.

Can anyone provide some insight on this?

Best regards,
Torsten

Torsten-HBS schrieb:
Does a well-insulated drywall provide the same sound insulation to the neighboring room as a masonry wall?

No, not economically. A drywall that achieves the same sound insulation values as a brick wall would be significantly more expensive and thicker than the brick wall. But precisely for cost reasons, drywall partitions are planned by your provider 😉

Hello everyone. It has been 6 years since this response, and technology may have advanced since then. So I’m bringing this up again.

We want to install a partition wall that, in the final stage of development, will separate a children's bedroom from the living/dining area. There are many options: drywall with a focus on sound insulation, bricks, or a timber stud exterior wall (since part of the house may be extended with a timber stud wall, it might be possible to continue the exterior wall here directly).

What is currently the best solution for this? Until now, I assumed drywall is the ultimate option because of the cavity in the middle, at least if the focus is on soundproofing, but this thread has made me uncertain.

And I have a follow-up question: should the screed be additionally grooved/decoupled here? Or is this irrelevant for soundproofing within the same residential unit?

Sound insulation generally works better with heavy materials, such as a calcium silicate brick wall. Drywall construction can also be effective but must be executed very carefully (decoupling, proper layering, etc.).

You can add weight by installing a second layer of gypsum fiberboard. For decoupling, there are special rails available.

I imagine you could also use something heavier than mineral wool insulation in the cavity (wood fiber, loose fill?), but I don’t have enough experience with that.

Manufacturers of gypsum plasterboard provide information tables showing sound insulation values, depending on the board thickness and whether it is single- or double-layered, as well as whether the boards are white, green, or blue.