"Soundproof" internal partition wall and door?

andre_xs

Hi Everyone!
We're planning to split a room by setting up a partition wall (including a door), and we would like to sound proof this as much as possible. This should be for a reasonable price, no high-end professional solutions...

Regarding the door (standard ~80cm wide):
- I think the standard cheap (hollow) internal doors are not the best solution for this
- I was thinking about getting a solid internal door, they're roughly £100-£150
- Or maybe a fire door? They should be solid as well, also around £100-£150
- In addition, I thought adding a 'sill' on the floor where the door can 'rest' against (like the small ledge/protrusion which is usually around the frame anyway). Then I could add rubber seal / insulation foam all around, and when the door closes it pushes fully against this.

Regarding the partition wall itself:
- Should be a normal stud wall construction (approx 2.70m wide and 2.40m high)
- I still have standard Knauf plasterboard from another project (12.5mm thick) - would that be sufficient or better something thicker?
- Is it worth getting the 'Knauf Sound Panel'? It's denser (25% heavier) but also more than twice the price... (£17.20 instead of £7.90 per large sheet)
- I thought to stuff the empty/hollow space in the studwork (between the plasterboards) with rockwool. Probably much cheaper but similarly effective than proper soundproofing foamboards?
- does the thickness of the partition wall make a difference? We're not fully decided whether we take rather slim studs or wider ones.

I think a perfect solution would be a double wall with two non-touching studwork constructions, but that seems to be overkill because there will still be a lot of noise coming through the door...

Any tips, experiences, etc greatly appreciated!

FaceHead

I'd suggest you construct the wall with high density acoustic plasterboard, and (ideally) chose a solid door. Agree that rockwool is a good filler - there are lots of inexpensive fillers available with good acoustic properties. This would be typically when you're, say, sectioning a WC off another room and want to reduce the noise of the person using the WC. 

You could consider additional noise reduction once you see how that goes for you. There a plenty of extra options like a curtain over the door or rubber seals. 

Why are you so concerned about sound proofing this wall? Sound will still be coming around the wall (through ceilings, joists, flooring etc).

andre_xs

Thanks for the reply.
We want to sound proof it as much as possible because sometimes someone might sleep in that room while others are still talking in the next room (like a bedroom - living room wall/door). We just want to avoid the obvious, and sometimes just a little extra can make a big difference. Not a professional solutions for hundreds or thousands of pounds, just what you might get for an extra £100 or £150...

Do you think the Rockwool sound insulation slabs are worth the extra as compared to standard mineral wool on a roll? (both 10cm thick). It's £66 vs £20...

For some reasons I haven't found any solid doors at Wickes and co, only fire doors. But fire doors are *very* heavy...

fenwick458

I'd consider building it with concrete blocks if thats possible
regarding the door, you can get oak veneer doors for about £80 each, they are solid and weigh about 30-35kg. 
you could even get a fire door intumescent seal routered into it but I don't know how much that would do, I don't think the step at the bottom sounds practical it sounds like a trip hazard

grumbler

andre_xs said:

- does the thickness of the partition wall make a difference?

Of course, it does - if there is filling inside.

And there are special, more dense, sorts of rockwool for this, e.g.

Once I built a small stud wall to separate a toilet from a living room. To improve soundproofing I added a layer of rubber foam underlay to the rockwool. It will possibly work better if placed between the plasterboard and the studs.

andre_xs

What's the typical 'internal' width? I found the insulation slabs, which seem to come in 5cm and 10cm thickness, but when looking at wickes, they have studwork wood which is like 12cm or 8.9cm width?

FreeBear

Have a box room that I refurbished last year. Two of the walls are stud constructed from 3x2 clad with lath & plaster. After removing all the plaster, laths, and nails internally, the space was filled with 100mm fibreglass insulation. Standard 12mm plasterboard screwed to the studs finished the job off - Floor had already been filled with fibreglass after the ceiling below had been replaced.

In the absence of any measuring tools, I can't say whether it has made any difference to noise levels. Perhaps reduced it slightly... But noise reduction is a complex subject with some highly technical (and expensive) solutions.

theonlywayisup

If you are building a stud wall then you may prefer to use a 140mm CLS rather than 89mm.  You can ram more insulation in then.  Of importance, is not just the material but the 'fitting'.  A neighbour recently had her holiday cottage refurbed and the builder used acoustic plasterboard but the gaps he left between the boards lost more than the board gained. 

Another_Level

Soundproof may not be 100% possible but sound reduction is possible, have constructed partition walls and used the 'decouple' approach using resilient products also the  acoustic products already mentioned above. Around the door used batwing acoustic seals on the doorframe. Worked very well 

Does your new partition require building control involvement ?

andre_xs

Another_Level said:

Does your new partition require building control involvement ?

thanks for the info. I wouldn't think so - how could I find out? We're splitting the ground floor (rather large) living room. Both rooms will be connected by a door. One room has a patio door into the garden, and the other to the front entrance hall (in other words, both rooms have two 'doors')