quiet house

Soundproofing measures for doors should include draughtproofing to exterior doors as standard and if it’s a porch

UK ‘must insulate millions of homes’

UK ‘must insulate millions of homes’

More than one home every minute will need to be refurbished in the UK between now and 2050, experts say.

The authors of a report to Parliament say 25 million existing homes will not meet the insulation standards required by mid-century.

The UK needs to cut carbon emissions by 80% by then – and a third of those emissions come from heating draughty buildings.

The government said it would devise policies as soon as possible.

But critics say ministers have been far too slow to impose a national programme of home renovation which would save on bills and improve people’s health, comfort and happiness. It would also create thousands of jobs.

Successive governments have been criticised for failing to tackle the UK’s poor housing stock – some of the worst in Europe.

Local authorities have limited cash to insulate council homes, and landlords and owner-occupiers have proved reluctant to invest large sums in disruptive improvements that will save on bills, but take many years to pay off.

The report from a group of leading construction firms – the Green Building Council – says four out of five homes that will be occupied in 2050 have already been built.

That means 25 million homes need refurbishing to the highest standards by 2050 – at a rate of 1.4 homes every minute.

Who pays?
The authors say this huge challenge also offers an unmissable opportunity under the government’s infrastructure agenda. The fiddly business of insulating roofs, walls and floors creates more jobs and has more benefits than any existing infrastructure priority, they maintain.

The question is how to pay. The government’s Green Deal scheme for owner-occupiers collapsed amid a welter of criticism that interest rates for insulation were too high, and that the insulation itself was too much hassle.

It says the construction industry needs certainty about what it is expected to deliver, and measurement to discover what is already being built. This should stimulate innovation, it says.

Julie Hirigoyen, head of the GBC, told BBC News there was a great prize to be grasped in upgrading building stock: “People will have warmer homes and lower bills; they will live longer, happier lives; we will be able to address climate change and carbon emissions.

“We will also be creating many thousands of jobs and exporting our best skills in innovation.

“Driving up demand for retro-fitting homes is essential for any policy to be a success – the Green Deal told us just offering financial incentives isn’t necessarily the only solution. We need to make it all easy, attractive and affordable.

“The good thing is that the business community is really starting to recognise the opportunity.”

VISIT THE BBC FOR MORE INFORMATION

Posted by admin in Commercial Property, Construction, Environmentally Friendly Materials, Home Insulation, Insulate Your Home, Metropolitan Insulation, Sound Insulation for Old Houses, Soundproofing, Soundproofing Apartments, Soundproofing Commercial Property, Suspended Ceiling Soundproofing, Thermal Insulation

How To Soundproof Doors

You may have a well-insulated home or office, but sometimes noise from outside is the problem and this can often be due to doors not having adequate sound insulation. Here’s how to fix the problem.

Soundproofing doors will have the additional benefit of improving insulation against draughts and it will also provide extra security besides providing sound insulation, so it is definitely worth investing in.

Soundproofing measures for doors should include draughtproofing to exterior doors as standard and if it’s a porch, install secondary double glazing. You can even install toughened glass which will contribute towards both sound insulation and security. When sound proofing doors, don’t forget to fill joints around the doors with acoustic sealant.

Sometimes noise can come from internal doors. In offices and apartment blocks noise will often be heard coming from corridors and so on so in these cases you will find similar benefits from draughtproofing.

Replacing old or lightweight hollow core doors with heavyweight solid core doors is also an option. These will help disrupt the transmission of noise between neighbouring flats for example.

If you are looking for advice and or help on soundproofing your home of office our experts are always happy to help.

Posted by admin in Home Insulation, How To Soundproof Doors, Soundproofing, Thermal Insulation

A Quick Guide To Suspended Ceiling Soundproofing

If for one reason or another you don’t have access to a floor above to install sound proofing, then you could consider installing a suspended ceiling.

This can provide good sound insulation in flats, particularly those with high ceilings where the reduction in height is not an issue. IT has to be said howver that a suspended ceiling may only reduce the height of the room by less than 50mm.

Installing a suspended ceiling to insulate your room against sound will require acoustic mineral wool, which is highly effective against airborne sound and you will also need to separate the plaster ceiling from the joists above. This will provide protection against impact noise such as footsteps from above.

If you are experiencing noise from above, then you may also find that there is very little gap between the ceiling and the floor above. To increase the gap you can install resilient bars which can be screwed in right angles against the joists.

Before attempting to install a suspended ceiling, it is advisable to hire a specialist sound insulation company. The work can be messy, particularly when you are having to remove plasterboard and then install mineral wool between joists. If work isn’t done correctly you may even lose the natural soundproofing provided by the existing plasterboard.

Posted by admin in Home Insulation, Metropolitan Insulation, Soundproofing, Soundproofing Apartments, Soundproofing Commercial Property, Suspended Ceiling Soundproofing

Lesser Known Ways To Insulate Your Home

Whether it’s noise from a partially deaf neighbour who always has the TV on too loud at night or next door’s children learning to play the violin, noise can really impact on your quality of life over time. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to insulate your house for sound. Here are some you may not have heard of.

Paint
If I was to tell you that a coat of paint would help supress noise you might think I was mad. To be exact though a good quality rendered external wall coating can be a good first step towards peace and quiet.

Wallpaper
You might think that wallpaper is just for decoration or feature walls but if it has the right properties, it can also contribute towards sound insulation. Thermal wallpaper not only helps insulate the home by keeping heat in, those same insulating properties can also insulate against sound coming from the other side of the wall.

Curtains
Thick curtains are making a comeback and that’s a good thing for anyone wanting to insulate their homes against noise.

Large pictures
Artwork can be something more than just something to admire. A large painting placed on the wall can provide a basis for an excellent buffer against sound coming from next door.

None of the above will eliminate noise problems, but at least they are a start. If you need further advice, please contact one of our experts.

Posted by admin in Home Insulation, Insulate Your Home, Metropolitan Insulation, Noisy Neighbours, Soundproofing, Soundproofing Apartments

Tips For A More Peaceful 2017

Christmas is coming, which means lots of time for celebration and the noise that comes with it. While noise is unlikely to be a problem when we’re all celebrating, when the new year comes, the emphasis usually turns to enjoying a bit of peace and quiet, but what if this peace is interrupted by noisy neighbours or family members? Here are some solutions to consider.

Before moving into the solutions to noise problems let’s explain what causes it.

Sound comes from vibration and this vibration then travels through your home or place of work to varying degrees, depending on how well a building is insulated. So sound has to make its way not only through floors but also subfloors, joists, walls and so on to finally reach your ears as noise.

This why when people jump up and down upstairs, noise levels can become acute and very annoying if it’s coming from people you have no control over like the neighbours.

If it’s coming from your own home you can either stop people jumping up and down upstairs, lay carpet and add cork tiles to walls which should at least help to muffle sound.

If you want to go a step further in reducing noise from say the neighbours then the key is to create a gap within walls and ceilings using additional panels for walls special glues which create the separation in ceilings. If you would like to find out more about how we can help insulate your home better against noise please get in touch.

Posted by admin in Building Trade, Commercial Property, Home Insulation, Metropolitan Insulation, Noisy Neighbours, Soundproofing, Soundproofing Apartments, Soundproofing Commercial Property, Thermal Insulation

Noise Reduction Becomes A Trendy New Design Focus In 2016

While the design world has largely ignored noise reduction, this year has brought new attention on incorporating noise reduction features, particularly amongst Scandinavian designers who are really starting to embrace it in their interior designs.

Acoustics was certainly a hot topic in Stockholm at this year’s furniture fair and efforts to make modern space quieter with better acoustics has certainly become a trend since. Various products have been launched to make rooms more peaceful including wall panels that absorb sound better and even spongy wall-mounted booths which can be used for phone calls.

One of the reasons why noise reduction has been a preoccupation amongst Scandinavian designers is the use of wood. Wooden floors and work surfaces don’t lend themselves particularly well to noise reduction. Wood in its raw state may be an effective building material but it needs the introduction of sound absorbing materials to reduce noise levels in buildings.

Despite the emergence of products aimed at better sound insulation in the design world, there remains a greater focus on the visual elements of design such as light, space colour and texture.

But when it comes to public spaces, people are just as likely to notice a room that has poor acoustics as they are to appreciate how nicely designed that space is.

Posted by admin in Commercial Property, Environmentally Friendly Materials, Home Insulation, Metropolitan Insulation, Noisy Neighbours, Soundproofing, Soundproofing Apartments, Soundproofing Commercial Property
Are You Struggling With Noise?

Are You Struggling With Noise?

If your struggling with noisy neighbours, needing to comply with Part E regulations as a landlord or
business owner, at soundproofinginstallerslondon, we design, build and supply solutions to help you.

We can offer you services from sound testing to just plain, simple advice.

Living in Clapham area? Living in flats or apartments
can prove especially challenging as lots of developers do not take into consideration acoustics and the implication of living in close proximity.

Unfortunately in far too many cases, developers concentrate on pleasing aesthetics without making provisions for adequate soundproofing. This can cause severe upset and disturbance for owners and tenants alike.

We have a reputation for providing the complete service from survey to implementation. References can be supplied. Don’t live with the stress and strain of intrusive noise.

Get the experts in and start having a quieter habitat.

Posted by admin in Building Trade, Construction, Home Insulation, Metropolitan Insulation, Noisy Neighbours, Soundproofing, Soundproofing Apartments, Soundproofing Commercial Property, Thermal Insulation

Ideas On Isolating Your Room For Sound

While you might not want your room completely shutting out external noise unless you are building a recording studio, it is useful to have a room in the house where you can make plenty of noise without disturbing other people – who hasn’t been told to ‘turn it down’ at one point or another in their lives? Here are some ways you could isolate your room for sound.

One way to begin the process of isolating your room for sound is to use acoustic sealant. Gaps often form around skirting boards as well as ceilings so sealing these areas up first is a good place to begin.

Next you can use acoustic wedged panels to add insulation to walls. These panels are easy to install and require just a bit of glue to stick them on. Glue is often supplied with the packs. You can install as many or as few of these as you want depending on how much sound isolation you need.

If you want to be more radical then you could use a soundproof construction made up of wooden frames. Then attach your stud wall. The thicker and more dense the material you use, the more sound it will absorb.

You could even fill walls with a damping compound which makes it ideal if you are using a room as a home theatre or if you regularly play loud bass music.

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

Soundproofing Jobs London

Acoustic doors being successfully installed at Katzenjammers Bier Keller in Southwark. We have all the skills and knowledge for entertainment venues like this. Metropolitan cover all acoustic and insulation requirements.

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Installation of acoustic walls in stairwell in a domestic home in Stoke Newington. This system combines traditional and technological advances in acoustic solutions. The result on this was 80% reduction in airborne and impact noise.

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Posted by admin in Commercial Property, Construction, Environmentally Friendly Materials, Home Insulation, Metropolitan Insulation, Noisy Neighbours, Soundproofing, Soundproofing Commercial Property

ROI on ‘invisible’ Home Improvements

What’s the ROI on ‘invisible’ Home Improvements Like Sound Insulation

When you fit an extension on your house or perhaps a loft conversion, the return on investment is easy to quantify, but what about invisible renovations such as sound proofing and insulation?

The answer to this depends a lot on your local environment, the amount of noise likely to affect your property and how old the property is.

Of course installing sound insulation isn’t going to add value in the same way as renovations you can see but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t install it. Often in older houses it can sometimes be essential to install soundproofing to make sure a house appeals to buyers or tenants in the first place.

Sometimes you can highlight the work that has been done as part of the sales documentation so that potential purchasers will see what kind of benefits they are getting from your soundproofing upgrades. You may even want to keep photographs of the work being done too.

If you intend to stay in your home, then having a quitter environment in which to spend time away from work can improve your health and sense of wellbeing – and who can put a price on that!

Posted by admin in Commercial Property, Construction, Environmentally Friendly Materials, Home Insulation, Metropolitan Insulation, Noisy Neighbours, Soundproofing, Soundproofing Commercial Property, Soundproofing for musicians