Sound insulation of tongue-and-groove partitions

A person is surrounded by a wide variety of noises throughout the day, therefore, returning home, you so want to relax, read your favorite book, or simply be in silence. That is why special attention must be paid to sound insulation in the apartment.

In our review, we will talk about the features of sound insulation of tongue-and-groove partitions.

Partitions and walls in the apartment should protect a person from noise that can be heard from the premises in the neighborhood. Pets, children at play, TV, stereo system, hair dryer and some other household appliances can be sources of loud sounds.... That is why the selection of material for walls and their sound insulation must be approached especially carefully, especially if you live in a multi-room apartment in a large family.

Most often, partitions in living quarters allow you to effectively zone the space, ensuring the functionality of the house and comfort for all household members. One of the most demanded materials for such structures is the tongue-and-groove slab.

As you know, GWP is made on a gypsum or silicate base. In terms of sound absorption parameters, both options are approximately the same. Plates with a thickness of 100 mm can keep noise up to 41 dB, however, according to reviews, this is not enough for a comfortable stay in the room. Such noise isolation is not able to effectively muffle the background noise from the next room; moreover, it creates a feeling of 100% presence.

This problem can be solved by additional soundproofing of the partitions from the tongue-and-groove.

If you are just planning to erect a wall, then it is better to immediately abandon this material, otherwise you will have to make significant efforts and spend a lot of money and time to achieve the desired silence... If you are determined to use this material, it should be borne in mind that maximum sound absorption can be created only if you soundproof not only one wall, but also other partitions, as well as ceilings and floors. The fact is that even if this partition is not a carrier, then from a rigid fixation it begins to transmit vibration along with structure-borne noise. Therefore, tongue-and-groove partitions can be built after all work on the floor and ceiling has been completed.

There are hollow and solid panels. The latter are often used for the installation of lightweight walls in public buildings and structures and in production. Hollow blocks are lighter - they weigh 25% less. Accordingly, their sound-absorbing properties are lower than that of hollow structures. That is why these slabs are in demand in the case of creating partitions in residential premises.

The sound insulating characteristics of GWP also largely depend on the thickness of the panels. All models are divided into three categories:

• hollow with a slab thickness of 80 mm;
• full-bodied - 80 mm;
• full-bodied - 100 mm.

As practice shows, panels from different manufacturers within the same category are almost the same in their acoustic characteristics, since they are made of the same material using an identical technology.

Usually, manufacturers declare a fairly high level of noise absorption. However, the results of the examinations carried out often cast doubt on their data.In particular, in the laboratory of acoustic measurements at the Research Institute of Building Physics of the RAASN, tests were carried out for compliance with the GSP SNiP 23-03-2003. For reference: it was this institute that became the creator of the standard, so there is no need to doubt the accuracy of the measurements.

For hollow core slabs 80 mm thick:

• SNiP requirements - 41 dB;
• manufacturer's data - 43 dB;
• the actual value is 35 dB.

For solid slabs 80 mm thick:

• SNiP requirements - 41 dB;
• manufacturer's data - 42 dB;
• the actual value is 38 dB.

For solid slabs 100 mm thick:

• SNiP requirements - 41 dB;
• manufacturer's data - 45 dB;
• the actual value is 41 dB.

The results of the study show that the walls of the latter type of slabs have a sound insulation index at the minimum allowable level of 41 dB. For all other partitions, this parameter is much lower. That is why thin partitions installed without any additional insulation are a certain compromise between price and quality.

To increase the sound-insulating parameters of partitions from a tongue-and-groove, installation of a double structure is most often used. In this case, a wall of two slabs with a void between them is formed. This vacuum is filled with a soundproofing material, most often cotton wool. This design not only allows you to provide a decent level of noise absorption, but also hides utilities and all kinds of cables.

Frameless sound insulation of tongue-and-groove slabs is most in demand... It effectively removes sounds and solves the problem of excessive noise. When the audibility in the rooms is not very high and it is only necessary to slightly lower the level of sounds to background sounds, then the optimal solution would be to use the Soundline GWP with a super-thickness of 23 mm. It slightly increases the noise insulation of building partitions (by 6-8 dB), bringing them to the standard values.

With a higher noise level, it is better to give preference to options with sand. There are many such panels on the markets, all of them have approximately the same technical and operational characteristics: thickness from 2 to 15 mm and weight from 20 to 25 kg. Each one contains four layers of quartz sand, effective sound absorption is provided by internal friction and its own mass. These panels are attached to the tongue-and-groove partition by means of a damping substrate, while the heavier the structure in general, the better the noise insulation properties will be at the output.

If desired, you can make frame soundproofing. In this case, the minimum thickness of the frame should be 4 cm - this will provide an increase of 11-12 dB.

The advantages of tongue-and-groove slabs are described in the following video.