Apartment Soundproofing

Apartment Soundproofing in Singapore must be the number one noise complaint for people living in this mega city country. For almost all of us we live in either HDB, Condominium or Private Apartments; and the thing is that all of these types of residential property are multi-story meaning lots of noise problems for anyone living there.

Our customers often ask us, Why is my home so, so, Noisy?

Well through our own surveys over the many years we have been providing soundproofing in Singapore we have found that with the innovation of modern building technologies has allowed for thinner and more streamlined construction of property using lessor materials and being more greener for our environment however the downside to more streamlined building shells to compartmentalize each property is Sound Attenuation and Sound Containment.

In a nutshell the thinner we make the property shells the less mass that we have as a barrier to prevent sound from being constrained and from preventing sound from transmitting to other properties and so on. Thus Soundproofing has become an integral part of every renovation and build once you have the keys; as written in the strait time newspaper article of 2021 to the same conclusion.

So where do we start and what materials should we use and what should we avoid?

The first steps are to look at the floors and the ceilings in the apartment to see what the current status is. It’s likely you will need to install decorative ceilings in the entire flat so whilst you are going to do this, its best to install either a sound resistant ceiling or soundproofing ceiling. Why we say sound resistant is because a normal false ceiling depending on how it is done could actually add to your sound pollution problem and work against you by creating more noise.

Flooring wise there are two reasons to do treatment, firstly remember that everyone in a multi-story is in the same shoes in terms of noise. So if you soundproof your floor your neighbour can’t hear you and if your neighbour above you does the same you will also benefit together. The other reason for doing so is that if you want to be able to listen to music, watch TV, watch a movie have tower speakers on the floor or various other activities you will need some form of noise isolation in your floor else your neighbour will end up very unhappy with you because of the noise you are creating.

Soundproofing in the first stages before you renovate and move in is the best solution and the cheapest much more so then trying to fix things later on.

The Next step is to change all your windows to soundproof windows and install soundproof doors. For those of you who are confused or believe some of the sale marketing going around on the internet double glazing isn’t soundproofing. Lets say that again, double glazing isn’t soundproofing.

These rogue traders are simply selling you a standard double glazed window that might be better than what you have installed now but they are far from what we would consider as a soundproof window. Soundproof Doors are even more ridiculous in how they are marketed. A hollow timber door with rockwool installed into the cavity and a drop seal is in no way a soundproof door. If the soundproof door looks like a normal door then its not a soundproof door. Its really that simple.

Moving forward there are plenty of option to consider when you carry out soundproofing to your apartment and we can explore all of the options with you to make sure you understand every aspect, the science behind them and what works best for your budget and to create the peaceful home you deserve.