Noise insulation of the ceiling in the apartment is the most common phenomenon in the arrangement of modern apartments. It does not matter what material the large residential complex is built of - brick, panel blocks or concrete, something else, in any case, all the sounds, especially the steps that are heard in the upper apartments, will reach you.
The essence of the problem of extraneous noise in houses
A large number of complaints of extraneous noise are constantly being received by the relevant services. As it turns out, the problem is not that the neighbors have parties and other events. People hear every word, every movement of those who live next to them, due to the fact that our residential buildings have thin walls and ceilings. Of course, the buildings of the past century are more “open” in terms of the availability of various kinds of sounds. This Khrushchev, Stalin, Brezhnevka. However, even in those residential complexes that are being built today, interfloor ceilings also have a not very pleasant ability to pass extra sound waves. About how to protect your home from a similar phenomenon, read below in the article.
Why does noise enter the lower apartment from the upper?
Most often, it is the neighbors who live from below who hear the undesirable sound effects , therefore, the soundproofing of the ceiling in an apartment is a procedure that is becoming increasingly popular. Why is this happening? Everything is simple: interfloor ceilings, in fact, these are panels inside which nothing is contained. It doesn’t matter if this structure is made of wood, concrete mix, or a factory monolith was used to separate apartments. In any case, an air gap appears inside the ceiling, which not only perfectly transfers all sounds from top to bottom, but also increases their volume and frequency. When a multi-storey building is being built, as a rule, builders do not install protective coatings between its levels, as a result, the soundproofing of the ceiling in an apartment is only the concern of the owners of a particular living space.
Types of noise and methods of dealing with them
All sound effects that reach our apartments from above are divided into two categories: air and percussion. The first group includes the sound of the TV, conversations, the buzzing of a vacuum cleaner, loud music. That is, these are all the sounds that are transmitted to us through the air, and they can be heard not only from the upper apartment, but also from the neighbors on the floor. Impact noise is ordinary walking, furniture moving, jumping, dancing. In this case, the resulting sound effects evenly extend not only to the ceiling that separates the two specific apartments, but also to the bearing walls, and often they reach farther neighbors. In order to get rid of all the above sound effects, three main methods have been developed. The first is that it is not the sound insulation of the ceiling in the apartment, but the installation of protective materials directly on the floor of the upper apartments. In the second case, the ceiling of the apartment being protected, or its individual parts, is isolated. Well, in the third method - this is the installation of a suspension structure that absorbs sound coming from above.
Elimination of the “noise source" in the upper apartment
Nowadays, the best sound insulation of the ceiling is the installation of the so-called "Floating Floor" in the apartment of neighbors from above. The essence of this procedure is that, first of all, a thick layer of mineral sound-absorbing cotton wool is placed on the ceiling, after which a screed is already made on its basis. In turn, the mixture with which the floor is poured consists not only of concrete, but also of sand, gypsum, a cement-sand mixture and other components that are capable of absorbing sounds. As a result, a similar building layer will take from 5 to 8 centimeters of room height. It is also important to remember that it is necessary to exclude all rigid ties of such a screed with the supporting structure of the building. As a rule, special very dense gaskets are mounted between the walls and this structure, which allow avoiding the effect of the “acoustic bridge”, that is, they do not let out sounds on all adjacent surfaces of the building.
Local ceiling insulation in the apartment
Reviews from most people confirm that this method, although not ideal, is still great for our homes. But its name speaks for itself, that is, the protective layer is mounted exclusively on your ceiling, while you limit yourself only to those noises (air and shock) that come from above, but not from the conversations of neighbors on the floor. The installation of such a structure, which consists of protective blocks, depends on the type of building in which you live. For example, in panel houses, more often than not, ceiling protection does not save from a similar problem. This is due to the fact that all the ceilings and walls here are very thin, so even those sounds that originate in the apartment above you will still indirectly enter your home. In this case, the protective materials must be mounted on the ceiling, walls and floor, as a result of which you will achieve deathly silence at home. But for brick buildings, such a local soundproofing of the ceiling would be ideal. Responses of residents of such houses suggest that this design gives a good effect, since the walls themselves are quite dense, and the cut-out of the builders is precisely in the thin interfloor ceilings.
Absorb unnecessary sounds with building materials
It often happens that you have already made repairs in the apartment, and now a new problem is announced - noises come from the neighbors that annoy you. You don’t want to remodel everything in your house, but still I would like to get rid of such a factor. In this case, stretch ceilings with sound insulation will come to the rescue, which are mounted in a few hours and after that serve you for more than a dozen years. However, before you install this design in your home, measure the height of the walls. A stretch ceiling in total “steals” from 120 to 170 mm of free space, but at the same time it is not recommended to install it in homes where the height of the walls is more than 3 meters, since its effect will be reduced to “no”. The very construction of this plan is extremely simple: first, a layer of mineral wool is attached to the ceiling, which perfectly absorbs all sound waves. Then a frame made of drywall and profiles is formed, and a decorative film is stretched over it, which also has acoustic properties. As a result, all the noises that arise from above and pass through the ceiling are “eaten up” by cotton and film, and your home is always quiet and calm.
How to make a sound insulation of the ceiling with your own hands?
If you have construction skills and experience in this area, then you can certainly protect yourself from extraneous sounds in your apartment without any problems. As a rule, “home” repairmen prefer the last of all the above methods, and there are several reasons for this. Firstly, it is effective, especially if the only source of noise in the apartment is precisely the neighbors from above. Secondly, such work can be done in one day, after which the stretch film will only have to “grab” and harden. Thirdly, the materials with which you can make such isolation in the house are very accessible to the average citizen of Russia. In addition, you can buy them both in hypermarkets and through the Internet, and countless options, believe me, countless.
Prices for materials and work to eliminate unnecessary sounds
We figured out what exactly is needed in order for the sound insulation of the ceiling in the apartment to take place. Prices for materials used in this process primarily depend on their quality. The canvas itself, which is stretched as a decorative layer, will cost about 400 rubles per square meter. If the installation will be carried out by workers, then a meter of the finished ceiling will already cost 600-700 rubles. Mineral wool is released in packages that contain a certain amount of cubic meters. For example, in the volume of 300 meters, a suitable version of the material will cost from 3,000 to 6,000 rubles.
Summarizing
As a result, we can say that the best way to avoid noise from above is to install a "floating floor" in the upper apartment. It is both safe, reliable and durable. But it is worth remembering that few of the neighbors agree to carry out such work in their home, even at your expense. That is why most often people mount various panels, mineral wool, and then sheathe these materials with drywall or hang with a stretch film.