Thin soundproof walls - possible?

[MikeSharp01]

I am working on a couple of walls in the utility room and have spotted that I could get back a bit of space if I can get the wall thickness down to 50mm, they are currently planned to be 140mmm, (surface to surface) anybody done such a thing and still got reasonable sound proofing. Essentially the walls needed are those around two insets into the utility room space for ovens on one side and cloak cupboard on the other. Shown as Magenta in attached sketch.

 

I want to stop any noise from Washing Machine, or other noisy aspects of the utility room, getting through the magenta walls but get them as thin as possible. Anybody got any experience that might help here?

 

 

Edited February 27, 2022 by MikeSharp01
typo

[ProDave]

I don't think you will get such a thin sound proof wall.  I would be looking to make that out of CLS 68mm or whatever with an independant structure for the inner and outer leaf and staggered frames, and gain the extra space you need by shrinking the cloaks.

[PeterW]

Only way you’ll get that down is use 50mm metal studs in 75mm track and staggered alternately - will be 105mm and will also need 50mm acoustic insulation in the void plus sound block board. All in all you’ll get more sound transfer through the door. 

[SimonD]

It's a tough ask. But I reckon there are a couple of strategies you can use. You can get a 50mm stud wall built up for about 54db reduction using a type of sound board resulting in a total wall thickness of about 95-100mm. Buildup is sound plasterboard/50mm stud with either air or mineral wall insulation/acoustic board (30mm), then you've got either a plaster skim/tape & joint over those. One of the problems is your studs which should ideally be staggered to reduce sound transfer. If you left your wall at 140 and used stagger 38 x 89 studs with zigzag acoustic insulation you'd probalby be fine.

 

Another strategy is slightly more complex, which would be to build your stud wall with sound plasterboard and some acoustic mineral wall insulation and then measure your sound spectrum with the washing machine and other appliance within the new space. Based on your results, put in some measures to attenuate the troublesome frequencies, in particular the fundamental frequency. You can use soft furnishings, cork wall boards and other sound deadening materials for this, even a simple helmholtz resonator in the corner of the room can work very well. Doing this would mean that the spl affecting the walls would be significantly reduced and therefore less problematic. With this approach you can also reduce the sound coming through the doors too.

 

Part of the problem as I see it with acoustic wall design is that in the designs, the acoustic properties of the adjoining rooms is never considered, which is a bit of an oversight if you ask me.

[ruggers]

As per previous two comments the staggered stud wall thats decoupled from each other offers the best gains from my research but unless your washer shakes around a lot on the floor or pressed back against the wall, most of it will be airbourne sound so the doors a weakness. Look at adding something like rockwool rw45 between studs and then soundblock board. You could decouple the board to stud using green glue tape or adhesive sealant. Drop seal on the door if you dont have mvhr. Sound cant travel through a vacuum but we cant live that way so its minimising impact and airbourne 

[saveasteading]

33 minutes ago, PeterW said:

All in all you’ll get more sound transfer through the door. 

And the rumbling noise through the floor.

 

Which of the washing machine noises annoys you most? The high pitched swish swish, the banging or humming of the spinner, or a rumbling through the floor...etc. ?

You need soft absorbent construction as well as density...and this is not all possible in a thin wall.

Plus cut a slice out of the floor under the wall to stop physical transfer under it.

 

Or invest in a quiet  washing machine. 

[MikeSharp01]

Thanks all. Yes interesting views and ideas there. The constraints (overall size) are somewhat fixed so I have to be smart to max out the internals, in most places I can use the standard wall its just those two places, If I can get the extra I can get the washing machine and a 600mm butler sink otherwise I am going for a smaller sink!  I get the mass and vibration thing so I will take what you have all said and see what I can do with proprietary products and go from there. 

[hb1982]

first of all need to understand which noise you would like to reduce, the high pitch or the low humm or the vibration.

 

Then pick a good quiet washing machine; run in night mode; good floor construction.

 

Locally sound proof the surround of the washing machine

 

Lastly good solid wall from top to bottom (ceiling void and floor void well sealed) with high density construction. 

 

 

[7dayworker]

On 27/02/2022 at 10:06, MikeSharp01 said:

I am working on a couple of walls in the utility room and have spotted that I could get back a bit of space if I can get the wall thickness down to 50mm, they are currently planned to be 140mmm, (surface to surface) anybody done such a thing and still got reasonable sound proofing. Essentially the walls needed are those around two insets into the utility room space for ovens on one side and cloak cupboard on the other. Shown as Magenta in attached sketch.

 

I want to stop any noise from Washing Machine, or other noisy aspects of the utility room, getting through the magenta walls but get them as thin as possible. Anybody got any experience that might help here?

 

 

Thanks for posting . My room has a similar need and there are 2 more rooms that need some sound proofing from a big open plan kitchen diner . Please update us a it must be done before the build ..