Additional guidance about soundproofing your home

If access to the ceiling is not possible, another solution is to construct a floating platform floor in the room above which isolates the walking surface from the basic floor structure below. The following steps are often used:

• remove original floor and skirting boards and insert glass fibre or rock wool quilt between the joists.
• refit the floor boarding and lay 25mm of glass fibre or rock wool (for this layer a density between 60 and 80 kg/m3 is required) and cover with 19mm plasterboard, laid loose with a gap at the perimeter walls.
• glue, (not nail), a top surface of tongue and grooved chipboard of not less than 18mm thick, leaving perimeter gap of 10mm.
• seal the perimeter and all other sound paths with flexible sealant
• it is important that the floating layer is not bridged by nailing into the boards below or re-fitting skirting boards too tightly to the surface (a flexible foam strip is often inserted around the edge gap of the floor to prevent this).

This method will raise the floor by about 65mm so adjustments to doors, stairs and other fittings may need to be taken into account. It is essential to check that the joists can carry the increased floor loads satisfactorily.