Metropolitan Insulation Blog

Soundproofing A 1930′s Property

You will often hear people say that older properties have better insulation due to the superior quality of building materials used but this isn’t necessarily the case.

Older properties from the 1930s can often have areas that allow noise from next door to penetrate and impact on quality of life. Problem areas can include fireplaces cracks and holes in walls, alcoves and crumbling mortar and plaster. All of these can have a serious impact on soundproofing in the home and often people who live in a property have no idea that any cracks and crumbling mortar is hidden away behind thin plaster board.

If you happen to want to sell a house or let it out to tenants then it is vital to soundproof your home to modern standards. Potential solutions that don’t cost the earth include Spray-applied foams which have unique sealing qualities.

These will reduce airborne sound significantly which makes it ideal for soundproofing interior walls and floors and the area around plumbing stacks to reduce noise from water pipes. If your 1930s property happens to be in London you may also benefit from secondary glazing, which will help reduce external noise.

One piece of Laminated glass 6.4mm thick will stop as much sound as a piece of ordinary glass twice as thick.

Posted by admin in Metropolitan Insulation

Reasons Not To Ignore Soundproofing In Your Hotel

One of the big priorities for guests staying in hotels is peace and quiet but how many large hotels pay attention to all aspects of their comfort?

Comfy mattresses, supportive pillows and corridor acoustics are one thing but when it comes to true peace and quiet, it is important to make sure outside noise is kept to a bare minimum or removed altogether.

The main areas of a room where noise can be reduced are the walls ceilings and floors. While most hotels pay some attention to soundproofing walls, many don’t consider their floors. If it’s a period hotel the problem of sound coming through creaky floorboards can be even worse.

Staying in this type of hotel can soon result in the charm of that old building wearing off when you are forced to endure the sound of noisy guests arriving late in the night.

Hardwood flooring can be much more attractive and easier to clean than carpet but unfortunately it isn’t great for soundproofing. Carpet with good quality underlay can be an important part of overall soundproofing in hotel rooms because they reduce noise from foot steps and things being moved around.

Customers are only to happy to complain about noisy hotel experiences online today. So make sure you do all you can to at least give them a quiet room.

Posted by admin in Construction, Metropolitan Insulation, Soundproofing

Battersea Project

Latest project we’ve been working on is the insulation for inaccessible areas in Battersea Phase 2 with Skanska. Lagging in conventional sense just cannot get to areas PIR can. Lot faster and cost effective. The development is Central London ‘s biggest retail, leisure and residential project and will restore an iconic landmark to it ‘s former glory.

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Posted by admin in Building Trade, Construction, Metropolitan Insulation, Soundproofing, Thermal Insulation

Soundproofing For Musicians – Advice From A Rock Legend

A teenage heavy metal band from Cornwall had a letter of support from rock legend and former member of Nirvana Dave Grohl who supported their pleas to be allowed to practice their music in their garage.

The involvement of such a high profile figure in the music industry should make the local council think again about allowing the band to continue to make music. If it doesn’t, the issue does at least highlight how difficult it can be to insulate your home in a way that prevents noise from escaping and bothering your neighbours.

Aspiring musicians can often be the cause of noise complaints and lack of any space to practice can put people off if they are unable to get in some regular practice. Finding that space is increasingly difficult these days, as houses are built closer together but there is plenty you can do to minimise noise as advice on the Foo Fighters website suggests.

However some of the advice sounds like it could make matters worse for the people trying to play music inside. Fulling walls with sand and stacking mattresses against the door may not be the best solutions.

Why not ask about our affordable sound insulation solutions? At least you can be confident that we will fit soundproofing of the highest standard to help clear your path towards music stardom.

Posted by admin in Home Insulation, Metropolitan Insulation, Noisy Neighbours, Soundproofing, Soundproofing for musicians

Installation at a property in Finchley

Meticulous preparation prior to sound insulation install at property in Finchley. The airborne noise being the issue in this instance.

The job was carried out in one day with no mess whatsoever and the client was happy.

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Posted by admin in Construction, Home Insulation, Metropolitan Insulation, Noisy Neighbours, Soundproofing

Practical Advice To Combat Noisy Neighbours

It’s no fun living next door or underneath noisy neighbours but there is a lot you can do to reduce noise from people walking around above you or walking up and down stairs.

If you want your home to be a calm oasis, then you have got to seize the initiative and tackle noise before it spoils your quality of life.

To combat noise, first you need to understand it. The sounds you hear coming from next door are vibrations that are able to pass through walls and ceilings into your home. So the first thing to do is add materials that will help reduce vibrations such as carpet.

This alone won’t eliminate noise of course, you will also need to soundproof your walls and this is where it gets more complicated. Fortunately there are plenty of products available that can be added to your walls to help with insulation and lead to a reduction in the transfer of noise.

A more radical solutions will involve removing the connection between the wall or ceiling on your neighbour’s side and your wall. This will help create a barrier that will further reduce the transfer of sound.

There is even the possibility of adding your own white noise, which will help drown out more annoying noise coming from next door.

If you are keen to reduce noise from neighbours why not give us a call to see how we can help?

Posted by admin in Home Insulation, Metropolitan Insulation, Noisy Neighbours, Soundproofing

How To Reduce Noise In Your Apartment

Homes are often made with thin walls these days so noise can be a problem if your home is attached to someone else’s. This noise can be even worse, if you have people living above and below as well as to the left and right as is the case in most apartments.

If you are suffering from noisy apartment neighbours, then don’t despair, there are lots of things you can do to reduce noise to a tolerable level. One of the first and least costly ways to reduce noise is to apply acoustic dampening paint on shared walls.

This may not get rid of your noise problem but it’s a start. The next thing to do is to carpet the stairs if you have them. This will not only help with sound insulation in your apartment but also reduce the level of noise people will be experiencing from below.

The less noise you make the less noise the people below are likely to make and at the very least you can feel more confident about knocking on their door and asking them to keep the noise down.

If you still find noise levels intolerable then you can always opt to soundproof your walls or add acoustic panelling. If you want to find out more about those, just give us a call.

Posted by admin in Home Insulation, Metropolitan Insulation, Soundproofing

How To Avoid Buying A Noisy Home

One of the best ways to reduce the cost of insulating against noise is not to buy a noisy home in the first place. This might sound obvious but many of the signs of a noisy house or flat can be missed, particularly if you are distracted by how nice it looks.

If it’s an apartment you are looking for, try and go for the top floor in a development because living at the top means you don’t have any noisy neighbours above you. The problem is the top floor is usually a penthouse and this will probably be double the price of those apartments on lower floors.

If it’s a house you are looking for, avoid living next to schools, universities and colleges. Not only will you have noisy children on the playground to contend with in the case of the former, but also the twice daily rush of parents in 4x4s desperately trying to park as close to the school gates as possible. You should also avoid buying a house on a flight path, next to a bus depot or a busy railway line.

It might also be a good idea to visit the area of the home you intend to buy at different times of the day and on weekends. The noise levels could be very different depending on when you see the most activity in a given area.

Posted by admin in Construction, Home Insulation, Soundproofing

Hotels Working Towards Solving The Problem Of Room Noise

Staying in a noisy hotel isn’t fun and most of us will have experienced how unpleasant it is at some point in our lives. Now it looks like some of the biggest hotel operators are striving to make noise from corridors a thing of the past with a new solution they hope will radically reduce cut down noise levels.

While this new ‘solution’ to the noise problem in some hotel corridors hasn’t been introduced into the UK, Holiday Inn have launched a special sliding internal door which it hopes will make life a little more peaceful for its guests in the US.

Unfortunately it didn’t include this extra piece of soundproofing in the first four of its UK hotels with new look rooms in January of this year. The door has been unsurprisingly named ‘the acoustic door’ and is placed at room entrances which separate bedroom and living areas from the corridors.

Disappointingly for people who like peace and quiet in the UK and Europe, IHG, the company that owns Holiday have said they have no plans to install their acoustic doors in any new or renovated rooms in Europe according to reports.

Instead they hope that guests will be content with ‘padded noise reducing headboards’ although it is difficult to see how a padded headboard will do anything to reduce noise from noisy corridors.

Other chains currently looking into innovative ways to tackle the effects of noise include Hyatt, Marriott, and Ritz Carlton.

Posted by admin in Metropolitan Insulation, Soundproofing

4 Out Of 5 Spanish Homes Don’t Have Enough Sound Proofing

Here in the UK you will find that most new houses will be built with a decent level of sound proofing. In Spain, however, many people will probably be sitting with their fingers in their ears as they endure noise levels up to 65 decibels according to a new global study by Danosa on sound proofing in homes.

The lack of sound proofing is a problem in four out of five Spanish homes according to the survey, which suggests that while the country may have the benefit of a warm climate and sizzling summers, people who live in the country are more likely to be disturbed or be exposed to the effects of noise.

Spain, despite being the worst in Europe finds itself in second place to Japan, which has an even worse record for sound proofing. The problems for Spain go back several years due to a lack of any regulations on soundproofing prior to 2009. Since then the country has been required to meet European regulations on sound proofing when building new homes.

The recommended noise level in homes according to WHO is 55 decibels during the day and 45 decibels during the night. The effects of noise on health are far from trivial with excess noise being blamed for a number of health problems as well as lack of sleep if noise levels are excessive during the night.

Posted by admin in Metropolitan Insulation, Soundproofing