Soundproofing a private house: floors, walls, windows, services
Soundproofing a private house starts with the question of what exactly is disturbing: footsteps upstairs, the street, the surf, pumps or air conditioners. Impact noise is dealt with by a floating screed, airborne noise by framed walls, sealed doors and windows, and equipment noise by anti-vibration mounts and flexible connectors. In guest houses we design in soundproofing between rooms. Floor soundproofing from 120 ₾ per m².
from 120 ₾/m²floor soundproofing with a mat and floating screed, per m². The final price is confirmed once agreed.
- Timeline: soundproofing a house usually takes 2–5 weeks, one room 1–2 weeks
- Warranty: Soundproofing works carry a 2-year warranty
Who it’s for
Every footstep upstairs can be heard on the ground floor
A bedroom faces a noisy street or building site
A pool pump or an air conditioner outdoor unit is disturbing
A guest house where guests complain about noise from the next rooms
You are building a house and want quiet bedrooms from the start
What’s included
- site visit and identifying noise sources
- a floating screed on an acoustic mat
- walls and partitions on a separate frame
- ceilings on resilient hangers
- doors with a threshold and seals
- windows with acoustic glazing
- vibration isolation of pumps and air conditioners
- insulating soil stacks and ducts
Soundproofing a private house: where the noise comes from
Soundproofing a private house is different from soundproofing an apartment. There are no neighbours renovating behind the wall, but the house makes its own noise: footsteps upstairs, water in the soil stacks, pool and well pumps, air conditioner outdoor units, ventilation. From outside comes noise from the street, building sites next door and surf in a storm. In a guest house or a house to let there are voices from the next rooms too. Each source is dealt with in its own way, so first we find out what exactly is disturbing and at what times. Sometimes it is enough to move an outdoor unit or put a pump on mounts, and expensive wall soundproofing is no longer needed.
Airborne and impact noise
| Noise | Source | How we reduce it |
|---|---|---|
| Airborne | Voices, music, TV, the street | Mass and airtightness: framed walls with mineral wool, sealed doors, windows |
| Impact | Footsteps, dropped objects, furniture being moved | A floating screed on a mat, isolated from the walls |
| Structure-borne | Pumps, air conditioners, ventilation, pipes | Anti-vibration mounts, flexible connectors, insulated stacks |
Impact noise travels through concrete, and an ordinary framed wall does nothing against it. It can only be dealt with on the floor: a floating screed lies on an acoustic mat and touches neither the walls nor the pipes. If the floor slab is still being designed, we allow for a screed of the right depth from the start; more on slabs on the floor slabs page.
Walls, doors and windows
- walls between bedrooms on a separate frame with mineral wool and two layers of plasterboard;
- sockets on a shared wall are not placed back to back;
- doors with a threshold and perimeter seals;
- windows with acoustic glazing on the street side;
- gaps around pipes and ducts sealed with acoustic sealant, not foam.
The best wall loses most of its performance if next to it there is an ordinary door with a gap underneath. So in bedrooms, the study and guest rooms we fit doors with seals; more on choosing doors on the interior doors page.
Services: pumps, air conditioners, pipes
Pumps go on anti-vibration mounts and are connected through flexible connectors, and air conditioner outdoor units hang on damped brackets away from bedroom windows. Soil stacks are low-noise pipes with acoustic insulation, and ducts have silencers. All this is easier to do during construction than afterwards; more about air conditioning on the air conditioning page.
In a house to let
In a guest house or apartments to let, noise between rooms is one of the most common reasons for bad reviews. Here we build in wall soundproofing between rooms, floating screeds, sealed doors and stack insulation from the start, at the design stage; more on such buildings on the guest houses page.
How much soundproofing costs
Floor soundproofing with a mat and floating screed costs from 120 ₾ per m², a framed wall with mineral wool and two layers of plasterboard from 160 ₾, a ceiling on resilient hangers from 205 ₾, a frameless wall of acoustic panels from 240 ₾ per m². Soundproofing a vent duct or soil stack from 45 ₾ per linear metre, vibration isolation of pumps and outdoor units from 480 ₾. A soundproof door with installation from 2 520 ₾, windows with acoustic glazing from 840 ₾ per m². The final cost is set after an inspection and an agreed estimate.
Stages and timelines
-
Inspection
1 day
Noise sources, structure, times.
-
Solution
2–4 days
Methods, materials, estimate.
-
Floors and ceilings
1–2 weeks
Screed on a mat, resilient hangers.
-
Walls and doors
1–2 weeks
Frame, mineral wool, plasterboard, doors.
-
Services
2–5 days
Mounts, connectors, stacks.
Local specifics in Batumi
Many houses in Batumi are built with a concrete frame: concrete slabs block airborne noise well but transmit impacts and vibration very well. Footsteps, a chair being moved or a pump fixed to the slab can be heard throughout the house. So in concrete-frame houses the key is a floating screed and vibration isolation of equipment, not wall thickness.
The city is densely built, with a lot of construction and night traffic along the seafront and in the centre. A house by the sea hears the surf in a storm, and people who came to relax like it at first but after a few nights it keeps them awake. Windows with acoustic glazing on the sea or street side solve this, but only together with supply ventilation, so the windows can stay shut at night.
Materials and brands
Acoustic mats under the screed, perimeter isolation strip, acoustic-density mineral wool, two layers of plasterboard, resilient hangers and isolating profiles. Acoustic panels for frameless walls. Doors with seals and automatic drop seals. Glazing units with laminated glass of different thicknesses. Anti-vibration mounts, flexible connectors, low-noise soil pipes, duct silencers, acoustic sealants.
What makes up the cost
Timeline: soundproofing a house usually takes 2–5 weeks, one room 1–2 weeks
- area and noise sources
What raises the cost
- impact noise in a finished house with a screed
- work in lived-in rooms with finishes
- windows with acoustic glazing
- a lot of equipment near the bedrooms
What lowers the cost
- soundproofing at the construction stage
- one noise source and one room
We prepare the exact estimate from measurements and photos. It’s free and comes with no obligation.
Get an estimateGuarantees
Soundproofing works carry a 2-year warranty. Materials, doors and windows carry the manufacturer's warranty. Detail drawings and photos of the screed before the finished floor go into the building file.
Questions and answers
How much does soundproofing a private house cost?
Floor soundproofing with a floating screed costs from 120 ₾ per m², a framed wall from 160 ₾, a ceiling on resilient hangers from 205 ₾ per m². A soundproof door from 2 520 ₾, vibration isolation of pumps from 480 ₾. The final cost is set after an inspection and an agreed estimate.
How do you stop the sound of footsteps from upstairs?
Only on the upstairs floor: a floating screed on an acoustic mat that does not touch the walls or pipes. A ceiling on resilient hangers below helps, but less. If there is already a screed, it is taken up and laid again, so it is best to soundproof floors during construction.
Why can the pump be heard all over the house?
The pump is fixed to the concrete without anti-vibration mounts and connected with rigid pipes, so vibration travels through the structure. We put it on mounts, connect it through flexible connectors and fix the pipes with rubber-lined clips. Usually this is enough for the noise to stay in the plant room.
Will windows help against sea and street noise?
Yes, if the glazing is acoustic, with panes of different thicknesses, and the installation joint is tight. But at night the windows will have to stay shut, so supply ventilation or a vent with a silencer is needed. Without it guests will open the window and the soundproofing loses its point.
What should be done between rooms in a guest house?
Walls between rooms on a separate frame with mineral wool and two layers of plasterboard or in heavy blocks, floating screeds, sealed doors, sockets not back to back, and insulated stacks. It is best to build this into the design: in a finished house every measure costs more.
Further reading
Tell us what disturbs you and where, and send a plan: we will propose a solution within 24 hours
We reply within an hour during business hours. Message us or leave a request: we’ll call you back, go over the details and suggest the next step.
Mon–Fri 10:00–19:00, Sat 11:00–16:00