What materials are not suitable for effective sound insulation of an apartment

The noise level inside our home directly affects our health. Due to the increased sound irritation, hypertension can develop, and the accumulation of the action of several stimuli as a result will lead to depression or neurosis.

Ways to create silence

There are 2 ways to make your apartment quieter:

• Soundproofing - or the use of materials that reflect noise;
• Sound absorption - the material scatters or dampens sound.

For private apartments, sound-absorbing materials are rarely used, since there is no need for absolute silence, and the price of this type of protection device is quite high.

Type of sound stimulus

Before choosing the material and the method of noise isolation, it is worth deciding which particular noise is bothering. Two types of sound should be divided:

• Shock - occurs when a direct impact on the walls or floors;
• Structural - spreads through the elements of the building.

Depending on the noise, we select the material:

• To combat shock noises, sound insulation of the cellular structure is suitable;
• To reduce the level of external air sound, fibrous or porous noise insulation fabrics are used;
• To reduce structural sounds at the joints of floors, it is worth using cushioning materials.

What does not work?

There are a huge number of tales about noise insulation and how to lay it. It’s difficult to list everything, but here are the main ones:

• They say that cork covering the walls and ceiling in the apartment will solve all the problems with noise. The truth is only partly. the plug will reduce the level of external air sound, but will not save the neighbor from the loud radio;
• Mineral wool will save you from noise. Some believe that if mineral wool is laid in a frame structure, the percentage of penetration of external and structural sound into the room will decrease. True, but in part. It must be a special acoustic mineral wool, otherwise it is just a heater;
• The situation with polystyrene is about the same. This material is more related to thermal insulation and it is more appropriate to mount it outside the building;
• Good sound insulation can be thin. The absolute myth. For sound insulation to work, the layer of material must exceed 20 mm. In reality, a design with high soundproofing qualities will be more than 50 mm in thickness.