Sound proofing for floors?

[Matthew]

Hi All,

We are currently redecorating some of our bedrooms. One of our bedrooms is used for my guitar practice. All the walls are solid so they are fine however the floor is a standard suspended floorboard type and sits immediately above the kitchen. Is it possible to add an overlayer to the floorboards to prevent noise from being transmitted downstairs through the floor to the kitchen. I need something thats cost effective and easy to fit. (I dont want to add anything inside the ceiling floorboard void.) Has anybody any possible solutions. I did think about maybe sheets of hardboard or some kind of rubber DPM type thing.... Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Matthew

[Vass]

build a soundproof room 'in' your room A small cubicle big enough to play

[Matthew]

Nice idea however the solution has to be 'wife-friendly' as the room is actually our guest room and gets occasional use as a bedroom therefore has to look like a bedroom.

Matthew

[Rumble]

Matthew said the following on 09/01/2006 11:53:

The first rule of sound-proofing is to make the space air tight, so make sure the door and windows are as well sealed as possible.

To reduce transmission through the floor, you need to acoustically isolate yourself (and your guitar) from the floor.

You should consider the following solutions in order of effectiveness and cost/effort: -

1. Put your guitar amp on the bed, not the floor.

1. Fit as expensive an underlay and as thick a carpet as you can afford.

2. Lift the floorboards and stick neoprene strips to the tops of all the joists.

Re-lay the floor with interlocking chipboard sheets.

Make sure that you drill clearance holes through the chipboard and then screw the boards down (don't nail them and don't over tighten the screws).

Make sure that the boards are not touching the walls/skirting board.

Fill the gaps between the boards and the walls/skirting board with a suitable sealant to make the gaps airtight.

Fit as expensive an underlay and as thick a carpet as you can afford.

see here:

[Séan Connolly]

This kind of stuff helps a lot I find:

you ever considered using an amp simulator (Pod, v--amp etc) though ? Helps you get 'that' sound without the volume.

[Richard Faulkner]

In message , Matthew writes

Google for Reduc Strata - it's not absolutely soundproof, but makes a big difference.

[Donwill]

A cheap solution might be to use headphones if appropriate.? Don

[The Natural Philosopher]

Only two things really work. NO AIRGAPS and sand filled panels.

Sure a layer of carpet cuts noise down a bit...but not really enough.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Gutars won't feed back properly with headphones - the amp is an integral part of the guitar.

Playing a leccy guitar through hedapones is like playing an acoustic guitar with no soundbox.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If you're running it to the sort of levels where feedback occurs, you're into *a lot* of money to sound isolate the room.