Acoustic Floor Insulation

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Noise pollution can be damaging to human health in various ways. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) research, it affects sleep, social productivity and may even lead to hearing loss¹.

Acoustic floor insulation significantly reduces the impact of noise on building occupants, by cutting sound transfer between neighbouring spaces. Installed on the ground, first floor or intermediate floors of separating flats or offices in the same property, it creates a more comfortable living or working environment.

Find out more about the benefits and applications of ROCKWOOL acoustic flooring solutions today.

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Why do we need Acoustic Floor Insulation?

Acoustics are an important consideration in all building designs, whether a new build or renovation. It is vital to limit the impact of outside disturbances, such as traffic, as well as ensuring that occupants’ activities do not affect neighbouring dwellings.

One in five people are exposed to sound levels at night that may seriously damage their health². A good acoustic floor solution both dampens sound transfer leaving the room, and reduces noise entering it.

For example, with a floating screed system, resilient material placed under the dry laid or poured screed can greatly reduce impact and airborne transmission.

Key benefits when installing stone wool products include:

Strong impact and airborne sound insulation
Fire resilience and thermal properties
Quick and easy installation

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Floating floors have a high potential for reducing disturbance caused by impact and airborne noise in dwellings, as effective insulation greatly reduces vibration transmission through structures.

The acoustic performance of an additive layer (floating floor and ceiling) is quantified in terms of:

Reduction of impact sound noise - ΔR expressed in dB.
Improvement of airborne sound insulation – ΔR expressed in dB.

Both values show the benefit of an acoustic solution compared to the bare floor.

The amount of acoustic floor insulation required depends on the size of the floor where it is being installed. Measuring the surface provides the best indicator of how much is needed.

For under screed applications the stone wool resilient insulation layer can vary from 12mm to 80mm depending on the slab, screed and load imposed on the floor. High density products are used for this.

In the case of timber or metal joist floors, panels, rolls or granulates are used to fill the cavity (filling two-thirds or three-quarters of the cavity being common practice). Due to its absorption properties, stone wool reduces the cavity resonance – enhancing airborne sound insulation. Medium and low-density products are used for this application.

The primary aim of this is to reduce noise transfer, which can help improve productivity by making the indoor living or working environment more comfortable.

Due to their material properties, however, all ROCKWOOL products also boast strong thermal properties. These can improve the energy efficiency of a room – saving on cooling costs.

Use our ROCKWOOL RT60 Calculator to determine the acoustic performance of the building’s floors, and estimate the acoustic delay value (echo). For more details on technical specifications, visit our ROCKSPEC Specification Toolkit.

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Why choose ROCKWOOL solutions?

A wide range of ROCKWOOL products are available for both new builds and renovations – ideal for low-rise, single family houses, high-rise properties, office blocks, schools and more.

Acoustic ROCKFLOOR slabs or other products can be used to create acoustic floating screeds that reduce the sound transfer of both air and impact borne noises. Because of their resilience, ROCKWOOL products effectively disconnect the screed from the floor.

The lower the dynamic stiffness of the resilient material, the more effective the floating floor and the better the sound improvement. By increasing the thickness of the ROCKWOOL material used, the dynamic stiffness decreases.

ROCKWOOL products do not decrease in thickness under constant load, guaranteeing strong sound insulation performance over time.

Sound absorbing and noise attenuation capabilities improve both the airborne and impact sound insulating performance of most floor structures when ROCKWOOL products are installed between joists.

Benefits include :
• Acoustic blocking
• Fire resilience
• Robustness
• Circularity

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Using ROCKWOOL products, you can reduce the perceived noise level coming from floor impacts above – like footsteps or furniture movements – up to a factor of eight.

Riccardo Gandolfi

ROCKWOOL Acoustic Knowledge Manager

Applications

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Installation

The process for installing effective acoustic flooring solutions will depend on your chosen ROCKWOOL products – and the specifics of the room.

Acoustic ROCKFLOOR boards offer the flexibility to be placed over or under slabs, as the dual density layers absorb any sub-floor imperfections. In floating screed applications ROCKWOOL slabs can be placed between the structural slab/sub-floor and screed.

Various other sound insulation slabs and rolls can be cut to size, installed and fit around wires and cables.

Key tips³:

Measure the floor – for an accurate amount of insulation material, measure the floor’s surface area and allow for extra material where cutting is required.
Use a professional installer – when using floating screed for an acoustic floor, expert installers will ensure proper installation.
Cut to size – ROCKWOOL boards and slabs can be easily cut with a knife to the required size when fitting acoustic floor insulation between joints.

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This case study bundle includes:

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Acoustic renovation in both public buildings and private
Bringing new life into old buildings with facade panels
Improving fire safety and wellbeing in high-rises and historical buildings
Reducing noise and flooding with innovative stone wool solutions

Sustainability and energy efficiency

All ROCKWOOL products used in acoustic flooring applications are made from stone wool and can be recycled indefinitely⁴.

Through strong noise absorption, our stone wool solutions also promote indoor comfort by reducing the impact of both internal and external noise, while simultaneously providing the secondary benefits of improved energy efficiency and lower heating or cooling costs.

8 facts about the circularity of stone wool

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There may be local tax initiatives and grant schemes available in your country offering financial incentives. Contact your local office for more information.

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