ᐅ Soundproofing Drywall Construction: Special Case Staircase

In our house construction, we got a locally cast spiral staircase. Unlike usual designs, our staircase runs through two rooms. The lower part is located in the hallway, while the upper part runs through the utility room. On the plans, this all looked very simple and practical. Now, after the staircase has been completed, the question has arisen about exactly how the wall between the two rooms should be positioned. Currently, it is still possible to see from the hallway into the utility room.

The original idea was to build a wall exactly between the two rooms. This way, there would be a space on the (lower) hallway side for shoes, and on the higher utility room side a space for the washing machine.

Now there is a third opening that nobody had considered: the upper part of the staircase is also open towards the hallway.

According to our builder, the upper part cannot be (or can only be with great effort) enclosed with masonry, so it is to be constructed as drywall. I don’t have a problem with this in principle, but sound insulation is important to me because I don’t want the noise from the utility room to be heard on the upper floor.

What measures can be taken in drywall construction to achieve good sound insulation? Is a simple double layer of drywall boards sufficient, or should additional steps be taken?

The rest of the utility room is also "only" built with 11mm (half-inch) aerated concrete blocks. However, this never played a significant role in my mind since I had considered the staircase itself as a form of separation. I am not concerned about the ground floor since no noise-critical activities take place nearby there.

Take a look at blue, green, and standard drywall panels; you can find datasheets for wall construction showing wall thicknesses, single and double layering, and sound insulation values.

Ok, thank you very much in advance.

Are there any additional details? I was thinking of something like special mats to place under the wooden battens, or foam to put between the panels.

There are extra heavy soundproof drywall panels available from various manufacturers, as well as special insulation wool. It is recommended to use multiple layers of drywall, apply decoupling techniques, and so on. Manufacturers provide detailed guides for each product, including information on the types of sound transmission they help prevent.

We installed Knauf Silentboard, which in my opinion is on the lower end price-wise for this topic. Since your area is quite small and the sound level is likely already high, you might want to invest a bit more in high-quality materials.

Stefan001 schrieb:

Now there’s a third opening that nobody considered: the upper part of the staircase is also open to the hallway.

Staircases really reveal the limits of spatial imagination ;-(
Could you please show, as a “dear-children-please-do-not-try-this-at-home” example, how this mastermind design looks in the floor plan?
We’ve had similar discussions here before:
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/treppengelaender-aus-ytong-mauern-haelt-das.28045/
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/treppengelaender-mit-trockenbau.33240/
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/treppenauge-schliessen-vs-offen-feedback-erwuenscht.37219/

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When it comes to sound insulation, the first and foremost help comes from mass and properly executed construction details.

However, drywall installations don’t necessarily have to provide maximum insulation, as the 11.5cm (4.5 inches) aerated concrete wall is not the ultimate solution for soundproofing.