Guide to Soundproofing Your Hardwood Flooring, Internet Advice, Online Help

Soundproofing Your Hardwood Flooring Guide

28 Dec 2020

Everything You Need To Know About Soundproofing Your Hardwood Flooring

Do you hate it every time your upstairs neighbors make a scraping noise with chairs on the hardwood floor? Well, before you let your annoyance grow any further, you, yourself, can be the source of irritation for your downstairs neighbors? Let’s face it; living in a condominium or an apartment house, you are bound to make noise that can annoy others. Even if you live in a detached house with your family or mates, other housemates can also cause noises that can irritate you. Besides, old or loose floorboards can also emit annoying squeaks every time you step on them.

Soundproofing Your Hardwood Flooring Advice

So how do you tackle this situation? Do you need to change your entire flooring or the material? Or are there some other ways to make your wooden floorboard soundproof? Read on to learn how you can soundproof your wooden floorboard.

What Does Soundproofing Mean?

Soundproofing is intervening sound in its travel to undesired destinations. You can soundproof either at the source or block it from entering listeners’ ears. Soundproofing is done by setting up absorbing material or reducing it. Sounds travel through vibration; to stop them in their tracks, you have to put the material in front of it to absorb or break the vibration.

The denser the medium is, the faster it will be for sound to travel through. Hardwood as a flooring material, is very thick, making it the perfect medium for sound.

How Can You Soundproof Your Hardwood Floorboard?

Soundproofing wooden flooring doesn’t necessarily involve getting rid of the material. So relax if you thought you would have to say goodbye to your lovely wooden textured flooring. Soundproof Living is very much possible if you take some measures for it.

You can either go for over the flooring soundproof or under the floor soundproofing techniques. Here are some ways that you can make your hardwood flooring soundproof.

Use Floor Mats for Covering

Using floor mat as covering might be the easiest solution to soundproofing. Although doing this will cover up your hardwood floor’s nice textured look, there is no alternative to it if you want a quick and inexpensive solution. You can use interlocking floor mats that you can set up like padded tiles. Setting them up and keeping them clean is very easy.

Use Thick Carpet Padding

Carpet padding is another effective and inexpensive way to achieve soundproofing. The thickness of your carpet will determine the level of soundproof you achieve. The thicker the rug, the easier it would be for it to absorb or cushion the sound. Make sure you use a closed-cell foam carpet to achieve durability and maximum soundproof.

Covering the flooring with a carpet padded with cork can significantly decrease the impact or direct noise in your home. However, carpeting won’t save you from airborne noise or the noise that comes blaring through the wall.

Layer Your Floor with Resilient Underlayment

Layering your floor with sound-absorbing material will require you to uproot the existing wooden layer. You can roll out the underlayment over a plyboard or OSB sheet subfloor and layer it with acoustic mats. Once you have finished this, you can install the flooring. You can get underlayment made out of cork, rubber, fiber, or foam material. Whatever material you choose, make sure you layer them up in proper sequence not to mess up their soundproofing quality.

Use Damping Compound for More Effective Result

Underlayment works best when you couple it with a sticky compound. Dampen compounds such as the green glue compound stays between the subfloor and underlayment, dissipating the vibration before it gets through the material. However, you need at least seven to ten days of drying time for the damping compound to work best. At its peak, green glue noise proofing compounds can reduce 90% of noise.

Use SBX Boards

SBX board has a sand-filled core with cardboard or hardboard exterior. The use of sand as the dividing material helps add mass to the flooring, making it more soundproof. SBX boards are very effective in blocking impact and airborne noise while also being an affordable soundproofing material. Besides, they don’t need you to lift your existing flooring to get them installed.

What Type Of Sound You Can Control By Soundproofing?

There are two types of sound that your floorboard can transmit- impact noise and airborne noise. Impact noises are created through the impact or hitting of an object to a surface. A bouncing ball or scraping of a chair can emit such noise. They can travel through air and flooring material downwards or travel to the neighboring room.

Airborne noise is transmitted through air, and it generally travels upward. Talking, loud music, or dogs barking can produce airborne noise. By adopting soundproofing, you can prevent impact sound from traveling downward and airborne sound from traveling upward; or even save yourself from noisy neighbors.

How Much Would It Cost To Get Your Flooring Soundproof?

If you opt for easy soundproofing options like carpeting or rubber mat, or SBX flooring, you might have to spend around €689 per room of 16 square meters. However, if you consider a more technical solution like layering your floor with absorbent material, you also have to pay extra for professional help. The installation cost might be around €410 per room of 16 square meters.

Soundproofing Hardwood Flooring Help

On a final note, we know you love that wooden texture of your flooring and don’t want to cover it up with carpets. However, covering the area that creates more traffic with an area rug might just do the trick. If you want something more permanent, you should go for under the floor soundproofing. It would be worth the investment. And if you are oversensitive to environmental stimulation, every little noise irks your sensors; you need to take immediate action. Otherwise, it will grate on your nerves, and you will lose concentration in your work.

Comments on this guide to Soundproofing Your Hardwood Flooring article are welcome.