Independent Stud Wall Solution

When soundproofing a wall it is necessary to improve three basic components.

1. The mass of the wall - Light weight walls do not soundproof as well as heavier walls. All the solutions we offer aim to increase the mass of the wall. This is generally achieved by adding acoustic plasterboard.

2. The resilience and acoustic separation of the wall - When designing the ideal acoustic wall you would, if space permits, create a new wall in front of the existing wall. The bigger the gap between the two walls the better the result, particularly for low frequency sounds. In action, this wall should have in built springiness which will mean it performs above and beyond a normal stud wall. This springiness, or resilience, can be achieved with Genie Clips or resilient bars. The performance of the mass on that wall is enhanced by around 40% when mounted using one of these solutions.

3. The sound "absorbency" of the wall -By adding different materials the sounds energy gets trapped more easily within the wall- The most cost effective method is the use of acoustic mineral wool.

However where noise is extreme from next door we have to add further elements.

1. Depth of soundproofing - The deeper your soundproofing barrier the better it performs. Hence 100mm walls are better than 50mm.

2. Separation - The deeper the soundproofing solution the more effective. However a physically separate wall ( even if separated by just 10mm from the original wall provides a significant uplift in performance. This stops the vibrations of the sound energy from reaching your side of the wall.

3. Acoustic Barrier -By adding different materials the sounds energy gets trapped more easily within the wall- For the absolute maximum protection an acoustic membrane can be incorporated into the mix.

You will notice two figures quoted. The total performance, which is normally quoted on most sites, refers to the performance of an average wall with soundproofing materials added. The other value is the improvement, or performance uplift, over the existing wall. Be very aware of sites that claim that the product they sell will improve performance by 40 dB. We know that this is not physically possible and that the figure quoted refers to a total performance figure including the existing wall being soundproofed.

When trying to understand the performance of an acoustic treatment look at the Db performance uplift. In broad terms every 10dB of performance uplift corresponds to roughly a 50% improvement in the performance of the wall. So 20dB would indicate a 75% Improvement over and above the original wall.

If you are thinking of refitting electrical sockets back into the wall. you might be advised to line your electrical boxes with our acoustic putty.

Remember, a 1% hole in your soundproofing surface can reduce performance of your soundproofing by up to 10%. Lining your plug sockets will go some way to reducing this leakage.

We are frequently asked whether it is necessary to run wall soundproofing around the chimney breast on a party wall?

While there is no definitive answer on this acoustic question, we are of the opinion that sound proofing the alcoves either side is usually sufficient. This is because chimneys are typically constructed to be fire and smoke proof and are at least of double brick construction, whereas the walls either side, the alcoves, may be poorly constructed and of single brick.

Of course there are exceptions, but in the majority of cases you can reduce your labour and time considerably by just sticking the acoustic panels in the alcoves.

Due to the acoustic nature of stud walls and timber framed walls we would recommend a different set of treatments when upgrading these walls as described in solution 5, stud wall soundproofing. Example results based on typical party wall construction of 100mm brick wall (38-43dB).

For those customers wanting to incorporate the highest performance materials into their soundproofing projects we introduce The GenieClip solution. The GenieClip is a very high performance solution that provides the best single component we know of when soundproofing a wall. The clip itself outperforms a resilient bar by around 7 dB, an impressive amount.

The GenieClip is screwed direct to stud work in the same manner that a resilient bar would be. Into the GenieClips, the furring strips are then clipped. To these furring strips plasterboard is then screwed.   The GenieClip system is a superior alternative to the conventional resilient bar system. It produces better performance and is far less prone to fitting error. In fact its virtually impossible to fit incorrectly.

The GenieClip is a moulded rubber and steel isolation clip used to to control the passage of noise. The integral springing mechanism provides much more dampening than the corrugations of a resilient bar system. In fact, performance numbers are superior even with a single layer of plasterboard potentially saving on materials cost and labour.

It significantly improves low frequency sound control performance and this is often the hardest frequency to improve. Of all the resilient solutions that fix direct to joist it offers the best performance.