Soundproofing is a combination of materials and techniques developed to block or reduce the noise level in a given area to prevent sound from entering or leaving. Both insulation materials and absorbent materials such as sound-absorbing wood are used to achieve good soundproofing. The simplest example of this is buildings that need to be soundproofed and protected against noise generated by road or air traffic.
Soundproofing of buildings is not the same as acoustic insulation. However, the aim of acoustic insulation is to spread sound from a source evenly in all directions to create an ideal diffuse sound field. It is a common practice in concert halls, conference halls, theatres, convention centres, public buildings etc. as well as in boardrooms and offices where excellent soundproofing is required. Therefore, acoustic materials such as sound-absorbing wood panels, ceilings and acoustic panels are used to provide sound conditioning of such facilities.
The key to achieving good acoustic conditions is to try to minimise unwanted echo (the persistence of a sound after its source has stopped) by using sound-absorbing wood in wooden interiors, interior linings and wooden walls and ceilings.
What is Soundproofing?
Soundproofing is any means of reducing the sound pressure relative to a given sound source and receptor. There are several basic approaches to reducing sound; increasing the distance between the source and the receiver, using noise barriers to reflect or absorb the energy of sound waves, using damping structures such as sound baffles, or using active sound generators.
When designing acoustic insulation, two separate soundproofing problems may need to be considered to improve the sound in a room and reduce sound leakage to/from adjacent rooms or outdoor spaces (Sound transmission class and Sound Reduction Index). Acoustic insulation and noise control can be used to limit unwanted noise.
Soundproofing suppresses unwanted indirect sound waves, such as reflections that cause echoes and resonances. It reduces the transmission of unwanted, direct sound waves from the source to an involuntary listener by using distance and intervening objects in the sound path.
Studies on soundproofing and noise control are of great importance for our country and our people in terms of healthy and peaceful individuals, a clean environment, increasing interest and work efficiency and preventing work accidents. Noise is a significant problem today as a dimension of environmental pollution and causes many health problems whose causes cannot be analyzed at first.
How to Do Soundproofing
When planning new buildings, soundproofing should definitely be taken into consideration. Also, when determining the elements of the buildings such as glass, joinery, flooring, walls and ceiling, materials with high soundproofing properties should be carefully selected and used. By using soundproofing material, the transmission of sounds from the lower and upper floors and the sounds heard from the neighboring walls are also prevented.
How is soundproofing done in buildings that are built and in use and in the partition elements within the building?
- Increasing the density of structural elements.
- Doing double-layered wall work.
- Doing double-glazing, laminated glass applications in glass areas.
- Using thick, heavy and gapless doors. Taking precautions if they cannot be used.
- Preventing sound leakage from ventilation channels, pipes and surrounding spaces that we leave behind by drilling the walls.
- Making floating floor programs against impact sound; It would be correct to make neoprene, polyethylene, rock wool flooring details, and elastic fixed suspended ceilings.
Benefits of Soundproofing
One of the most requested private home installations is a custom home theater. Homeowners love the idea of watching their movies with the best sound and image quality. In this blog, we will explore some of the benefits that soundproofing can bring to your construction process, which will save you time on costly rework, as it relates to room acoustics and the construction of the building.
Soundproofing basically covers the measures to be taken to minimize the negative effects that noise can have on people. Noise is the general name given to the whole of irregular, different frequency components and generally disturbing sounds.
Noise is a natural result of urbanization today. Especially in places where urbanization grows irregularly and unplanned, noise harms human health and negatively affects comfort. The disturbing sounds made by the surrounding factories, the loud noise heard in residential areas around the airport, the voices of vendors, traffic sounds, and noise from neighbors can be disturbing. In order to minimize the harmful and disturbing effects of noise, soundproofing must be done meticulously.
Soundproofing Makes People Productive
As a result of noise, the efficiency of workers in factories and industrial facilities decreases, their attention is distracted, and as a result, work accidents occur. The decrease in work efficiency due to noise also harms institutions economically. A similar effect is seen on students receiving education. Students exposed to noise cannot efficiently receive the information taught due to their attention being distracted and their concentration being impaired.
Studies conducted on residents of Munich Airport have determined that aircraft noise reduces children’s long-term memory and comprehension skills. In order for people to continue their work efficiently, it is essential to eliminate noise with soundproofing.
Why is Soundproofing Necessary?
As a result of scientific and technological advances, the noise problem that has emerged in social life has also begun to gain importance in our country. Noise control, an inseparable part of contemporary life comfort, has also begun to come to the forefront in newly designed housing projects. Despite all these advances, no serious and consistent steps have been taken in Turkey yet. However, depending on the purpose of use, the sound level should not exceed 25 decibels in rest areas, 30 in theater and conference halls, and 35 decibels in hotel rooms. It should not exceed 35 decibels in bedrooms, 40 decibels in living rooms, and 70 decibels in service areas such as bathrooms and kitchens. The sound level should be 70 in small-scale factories and 80 decibels in large-scale factories.
Despite this, the sound pressure of a jet plane taking off at a distance of 25 meters is 140 decibels, while in a very noisy factory, the steel riveting process can reach up to 100 decibels in 5 cm. The sound pressure level of a road excavation without a silencer at a distance of 7 meters is 90 decibels. An alarm clock ringing is 80 decibels, a car traveling at 50 kilometers per hour is 70 decibels in the cabin, normal conversation is 50 decibels, and a living room is 40 decibels. All of these constitute the most important elements of noise pollution.
The measurements show that the noise level inside the houses, especially in Istanbul and Izmir, is at disturbing levels. This situation shows that no attention is currently paid to soundproofing in houses other than new projects. Despite all of this, noise pressure above 60 decibels causes physical and mental harm and poses a danger to human health.
What are the Harms of Noise?
Noise has many psychological and physiological harms on humans. Noise is one of the most important causes of stress that leads to diseases. We can list the diseases caused by noise as follows:
Nervousness, difficulty in perception, decrease in work efficiency, insomnia, circulatory system disorders, abnormalities in detailed body secretions, permanent hearing loss, premature birth and miscarriage risk in pregnant women.
Even if a person becomes accustomed to noise over time, its harms will continue to increase. Moreover, there is no treatment for hearing loss caused by noise with medication or surgical intervention. Permanent hearing loss (deafness) usually occurs in those who are exposed to high noise for a long time and continuously. In addition, the efficiency of workers in industrial facilities such as factories decreases, and work accidents occur as a result of their distraction.
The areas that need to be protected from the negative effects of noise are all living spaces such as residences, schools, hospitals, dormitories, hotels, workplaces, etc.
The areas where the noise they emit to the environment needs to be prevented are; generators, hydrophores, heaters, entertainment venues with high noise levels, etc. soundproofing must be made in areas where the conditions of use are dependent on sound, such as cinemas, theaters, concert and conference halls, TV and sound recording studios, etc.
Why Is Soundproofing Important?
soundproofing is the name given to the applications carried out to protect buildings such as residences, schools, workplaces and the environment from the harmful effects of noise by isolating them from unwanted sounds; to create the necessary conditions of use by isolating places such as recording studios, cinemas, concert halls from unwanted sounds; to reduce the noise they emit to the environment by isolating noise areas such as generators, hydrophores, and heaters.
soundproofing essentially covers the measures to be taken in order to minimize the negative effects of noise on humans. Noise is an unwanted sound group that is made irregularly, has different frequency components and generally changes according to time. Noise, which is briefly described as disturbing sound, is a natural result of urbanization today. In regions where urbanization is generally unplanned, noise is among the factors that harm human health and comfort. Disturbing sounds made by a factory in the vicinity, strong noise heard in the residential area around the airport, vendor sounds, traffic sounds, sounds coming from neighbors can be perceived as noise at different doses by people and can be disturbing.
In some environments, low sound level is one of the most important events of the job. The need for low sound levels in radio broadcasting and music studios, creating a quiet and peaceful area for patients in a hospital, cutting off noise coming from outside in a school are problems that need to be solved in the construction phase of a building. In order to provide a peaceful area in buildings, it is necessary to combat noise. In combating noise, two techniques are used. These techniques are acoustic planning and soundproofing. Acoustic planning is the regulation of the reflection time in a closed area. Soundproofing is the process created to reduce the amount of sounds transmitted through building elements.
Difference Between Acoustic Insulation and Soundproofing
Many people in the industry confuse the terms “acoustic insulation” and “soundproofing.” However, the difference is simple: soundproofing prevents sound from leaking through walls, while acoustic insulation helps to better soundproof a room.
When it comes to builders and architects, soundproofing is much more important. While acoustic insulation is usually just panels applied to a wall or ceiling, soundproofing can change the materials you use to create a wall.
How Does It Work?
You probably have an idea of how sound travels. When a sound is made, the vibrations travel through the air in waves until they find a solid object to bounce off of. The object then vibrates, causing the sound. Depending on the structure of the object (whether it’s hard or soft), the sound can be loud or faint.
Most rooms are made of fairly hard materials like wood, plaster, and concrete. This means that any sound coming out of a speaker will vibrate those materials. Of course, vibration isn’t specific to one side of a solid object; this means that you can hear sounds on both sides of the wall. Of course, there is some level of damping and absorption that means the sound will be weaker. But it will still be loud enough to bother the person in the next room.
So you can probably guess one of the most common methods of soundproofing: increasing the absorption and damping power of the walls. This means lining them with foam or other insulating materials to reduce vibrations and minimize the sound at the other end. While this method is common, it’s not the best way to soundproof any space.
Function of Soundproofing
soundproofing is similar to thermal insulation. It should not be expected that all the energy will be absorbed by a sound absorbing material. Therefore, it is not easy to expect a decrease of more than 10 decibels in the noise rate, and it is not economical either. A decrease of 10 decibels means that the noise level is reduced by half. When there is no possibility of eliminating the noise at its source, it is also necessary to take the necessary precautions to prevent it from spreading in the environment.
These precautions can be provided by placing a barrier, panel or wall in the environment where the sound spreads. In this case, the sound transmission loss and soundproofing level of the barrier material play an important role. As the temperature in the environment increases, the speed of sound increases, and as the pressure increases, the speed of sound decreases. Soundproofing means increasing the sound transmission loss and includes noise control. It includes preventing the airborne sounds originating from the environment from passing to the adjacent space and insulating the sound spreading in solid objects formed by impact.
It is necessary to eliminate the paths through which the sound that disturbs people inside the building spreads or to reduce the sound coming from outside in areas such as concert halls, cinemas, libraries, studios. For this reason, soundproofing should be done by insulating all partition elements with mineral-based materials such as glass wool and rock wool or polyurethane or melamine-based acoustic foams.
The Best Way to Soundproof
Soundproofing should be taken into consideration when building. For this, the materials used (windows, doors, etc.) should be materials with high soundproofing properties (insulation screed, insulation plaster, etc.). soundproofing is generally applied in areas where the sound is high. However, soundproofing programs can be made in low-noise areas as well. With soundproofing, you will be free from the noise created by the neighbors upstairs, and if you are the one making the noise and your neighbor downstairs is disturbed by you, you will be free from their complaints.
If you want to have floor soundproofing; material selection is made according to the desired application. For example; if effective insulation is desired, barrier and barrier-free bondex sponge is used.
Different materials can be used for wall soundproofing. These are stone wool, wood wool, acoustic sponges, panels, barrier sponges, bondex sponges, etc. The materials to be used vary according to the sound intensity of the environment. soundproofing is also applied in environments other than these (studio, gym, school, hospital, boat engine compartments, etc.).
This application is also important in terms of health and psychology before building. The best way to make a room soundproof is separation. This is the process of separating the inside and outside of the walls of a room so that sound cannot pass. Some professionals call this “building a room within a room.”
Would you like to learn more about soundproofing for an upcoming project? The professionals at “Dekorizon Insulation Solutions” can help you. Contact us today to ensure that your customer gets the job done right.
