AppliedAcoustics 13 (1980) 291 311

CASE STUDIES OF ATTEMPTS TO IMPROVE THE

S O U N D INSULATION BETWEEN DWELLINGS

L. C. FOTHERGILL
Building Research Establishment, Department of the Environment,
Garston, Warlord, Herts (Great Britain)
(Received: 6 September, 1979)

SUMMARY

The BuiMing Research Establishment receives a steady stream of requests for

information from people who are disturbed by noise from their neighbours and who
wish to improve the sound insulation of their homes. Although the basic principles are
well known, the problem is often complicated by thefact that both direct andflanking
paths can make a significant contribution to the transmission of sound between
dwellings. In the present state of knowledge each case needs to be treated individually
and a full investigation is usually necessary before remedial treatment can be
recommended. Methods for conducting the investigation are outlined in this paper and
seven case studies are described in detail.

INTRODUCTION

The Building Research Establishment receives a steady flow of enquiries from

people who wish to know how to improve the sound insulation of their homes.
Enquiries come from people living in all types of attached property, both new and
old. In the main, sound insulation problems arise in three circumstances:
(a) The basic separating element is capable of reaching the appropriate Building
Regulation Standard, 1 but the performance of the actual construction falls
short of this for various reasons.
(b) The construction was not designed with sound insulation in mind. This

Copyright © Controller HMSO, London 1979.

291
Applied Acoustics 0003-682X/80/0013-0291/$02.25 © Applied Science Publishers Ltd, England, 1980
Printed in Great Britain
292 L. C. F O T H E R G I L L

occurs mainly when houses are converted into flats and the existing floors
have not been upgraded.
(c) The householder requires a high standard, i.e. above the Building
Regulations Standards. This is surprisingly c o m m o n and in fact about half
the walls tested between semi-detached houses in response to complaints
were found to attain the performance standard described in the Regulations.
However, none of the floors tested in response to complaints attained the
performance standard.
There is no shortage of advice on remedial treatment 1-4 but there is little
published data on the improvement that can be achieved under domestic conditions.
To help remedy this situation several case studies are described in this paper.

POSSIBLE REASONS FOR P O O R P E R F O R M A N C E

If a separating element performs less well than would be expected then flanking
transmission must be suspected. The main flanking paths are:
(a) Via the inner leaf of the external wall.
(b) Via the internal walls or floors.
(c) Via air paths due to holes or cracks in or around the construction.

T R A C I N G THE MAIN TRANSMISSION P A T H

(i) Inspection
The presence of defects in the construction which result in air paths may show on
the standardised level difference 5 curve as dips or 'flattening off' at high frequencies.
Such defects may occur in many places--for example, as cracks around poorly
fitting windows which are close to the party wall, or as holes through the mortar
behind the skirting board or at joist level.

(ii) Standardised level difference method

The conventional airborne insulation test can sometimes be used to differentiate
between direct and flanking transmission. For example, in a multi-storey block of
flats the direct transmission between rooms on the second and ground floors should
be very much less than between corresponding rooms on the first and ground floors.
If the measured standardised level differences are similar then flanking transmission
via the external, internal or party walls must be suspected. Alternatively, in low-rise
buildings it may be possible to find rooms with different flanking constructions (e.g.
large and small areas of external wall) which can be compared.
If the insulation between upstairs rooms is lower than the insulation between
 ATTEMPTS TO IMPROVE SOUND INSULATION BETWEEN DWELLINGS 293

downstairs rooms, then discontinuity of the extension of the party wall in the loft
space, or the use of lightweight ceilings, may be suspected.

(iii) Accelerometer method

The objective is to determine which of the room surfaces radiates the most power
when excited by an airborne sound source in an adjacent room. Several methods for
doing this have been devised and reviewed. 6 Of the methods available, the
accelerometer method is probably the simplest and quickest to use, although not the
most accurate, particularly below the critical frequency of the radiating surface.
This method is described in Appendix 1.
The sound power radiated by each surface can be estimated from the RMS
velocity of the surface and the rank order of the sound power values gives a rough
idea of the importance of each radiating surface. This is useful because, unless
radiation from one surface dominates, remedial treatment is unlikely to be
practicable.

REMEDIAL TREATMENT

Examples of three different problems are described in the next section. These are:
(A) Direct transmission through party walls.
(B) Direct transmission through party floors.
(C) Flanking transmission by-passing a party wall or floor.
In all cases the solution was to construct a secondary leaf on one side of the
inadequate element with minimal mechanical connection between the new leaf and
the original element. A sound absorbing quilt in the cavity to damp resonances
completes the modifications.
The secondary leaf has to be strong enough to function as a wall or ceiling but its
acoustic design does not appear to be critical provided four conditions are satisfied.
First, the secondary leaf should be able to provide reasonable sound insulation by
itself and so requires a mass in the region of 20 kg/m z. Secondly, for a secondary leaf
of given mass the cavity width must be sufficient to keep the mass-spring-mass
resonance frequency well below 100 Hz. For example, for a primary wall having a
mass of 250 kg/m2 with a secondary leaf of 20 kg/m2 the cavity width must approach
100mm. Thirdly, the construction must be well sealed. Finally, there must be
minimal mechanical coupling between the secondary leaf and the primary element.
The application of these principles to seven practical cases is outlined in the next
section and the sound insulation before and after remedial work is shown. Brief
details of the construction of each building are given. This information was obtained
by inspection or from architects' drawings when available. The cases described are a
selection of those investigated by BRE in response to requests for advice.
294 L. C. FOTHERGILL

CASE STUDIES

PREDOMINANTLY DIRECT TRANSMISSION THROUGH WALLS

Case 1
Party walls between lounges and between bedrooms in a pair of large three-storey
Victorian semi-detached houses.
Building construction: The party and external walls appeared to be of plastered
solid brickwork, 325 mm thick on the ground floor and 225 mm thick on the first
floor. Joists ran perpendicular to the party wall. A sketch of the rooms is shown in
Fig. 1. There were built-in wardrobes in the bedrooms.

45
5.0 l Lounge Lounge
E
/-I

,_1 1
4.1 I Bedroom / Bedroom

.J ~l~wardr°be ~1~ ~Illl I.

Fig. 1. Case 1. Plan of rooms (all rooms are 3m high). Top: Ground floor. Bottom: 1st floor.
 ATTEMPTS TO IMPROVE SOUND INSULATION BETWEEN DWELLINGS 295

80

75
,~ ~ •--B~ ~ ~
70
/
65

60

55

,q,IB
40

35

3O
----- After modification
25
- - Before modification
20

L
I
100 ,'5 '
160 2o0' 250' 315 3~ ~0 6~0 ,~0 1Jo0,2'50 ,~ ~ 2~3,3o
Frequency Hz

Fig. 2. Case 1. Performance of wall between ground floor lounges.

Performance of the wall before modification." The standardised level differences

(D,r) between the two pairs of rooms in their original state are plotted in Figs. 2 and 3
as solid lines. The performance standard for walls, as described in the Building
Regulations, 1 is shown as straight lines on these figures. The performances of the
two parts of the wall are generally similar except that there is a dip around 2000 Hz in
the curve for insulation between bedrooms.
Remedial work." On both ground and first floors, boards adjacent to the party wall
were removed to allow inspection of the standard of mortaring. This appeared to be

80

75

7O

65

6O

55

m50
"o
~45
cl
40

35

30
------ After modification
25
- - Before modification
20

I I I I I
,o0 125 160 2o0 2~0 31, 300 500 6'0 I
800
L
1000
12150
16
~O I
2000
J
2500 3150
Frequer~y Hz

Fig. 3. Case 1. Performance of wall between first floor bedrooms.

296 L. C. FOTHERGILL

satisfactory but mineral wool was packed against the party wall between the joists as
a precaution against air leaks. The secondary leaves were constructed on one side
only of the lounge wall and of the bedroom wall. The construction was the same in
both rooms except that the cavity width was 150 m m in the lounge but only 50 m m in
the bedroom. This narrow cavity was dictated by the need to clear the door of the
built-in wardrobe. The partition was extended into the wardrobe. The secondary
leaf chosen was a sandwich type. It was 6 3 m m thick and comprised two
plasterboard panels bonded to a cellular core. It was supported by studwork and
timber battens screwed to the flanking walls, the floor and the ceiling. The surface
mass was 27 kg/m 2. A 75-mm mineral wool quilt was hung against the wall in each
cavity.
Results: The insulations of the two rooms after the modifications are shown by the
dashed lines on Figs. 2 and 3. The performances of the two parts of the wall after
modification are very similar and it can be seen that an improvement of about 10 dB
has been achieved over most of the frequency range. The dip at 2000 Hz in the
insulation between the bedrooms before modifications has disappeared. This
suggests that it was caused by some defect in the wall, rather than in the flanking
construction. The difference in cavity width seems to have little effect above 100 Hz.

Case 2
Party walls between several five-year-old semi-detached houses.
Building construction." Four house types having the same basic construction were
involved. At ground floor level the external walls were of brick/cavity/block
construction. Similar blocks were used in the party wall, which had a 50 m m cavity
and which was bridged by strip ties. At first floor level the party wall and inner leaf
construction were the same as on the ground floor, but some of the house types had
tile hanging instead of a brick outer leaf. The party wails had a mass of about
240 kg/m 2. All the walls were plastered. Load-bearing internal walls which separated
the kitchen and living-room were built from blocks similar to those used in the party
wall and the inner leaf and were 100 mm thick. Non load-bearing walls were of a 65 mm
laminated plasterboard type. A sketch of the room layout in type A houses is shown
in Fig. 4.
PerJbrmance oJ' the walls beJore modification: Before modification the five walls
tested had AAD's of 78dB, 63dB, 61 dB, 70dB and 19dB. An A A D (Aggregate
Adverse Deviation) is calculated by summing the unfavourable deviations between a
measured curve and the appropriate grade curve. ~ Standardised level difference
curves for two of these walls (78 dB A A D and 63 dB AAD) are shown in Figs. 5 and 6
as solid lines. Both of these measurements were between lounges in type A houses.
Remedial treatment." The recommendations made by BRE were not followed
closely. A 75 mm glass fibre quilt was hung against the party wall. Timber battens
(50mm x 50mm) were then nailed to the wall around the perimeter and an
additional 50 m m × 50 mm batten was nailed across the wall mid-way between the
 ATTEMPTS TO IMPROVE SOUND INSULATION BETWEEN DWELLINGS 297

! i

-- t Lounge
3.I1_
- Lounge
I I [ I----I
LI

3.5I~ 3.3
Bedroom Bedroom

i i
I
I

Case 2. Plan of rooms (all rooms are 2-3m high). Top: Ground floor. Bottom: 1st floor.
i I

Fig. 4.

80
75

70

65

60

55

=50
~-45
~4o I r~ .~
35~

30
------ After modifications
25
2oi - - Before modifications

10 I r ] I I i I I I I 0/ 12150 ] [ l
100 125 160 200 250 315 300 500 630 800 1 O0 1600 2000 2 5 0 0 3150
Frequel'x::y Hz

Fig. 5. Case 2. Performance of wall between lounges.

298 L.C. FOTHERGILL

80

75

70

65

60

55

m 50

~45
a
4O

35

30
------ After modifications
25
- - Before m o d i f i c a t i o n s
20

10
100 125 160 200 250 315 300 500 630 800 1(300 1 50 1 0 2000 3150
Frequency Hz

Fig. 6. Case 2. Performance of wall between lounges.

floor and ceiling. The frame was then covered by three layers of plasterboard
(12ram + 19mm + 12mm) which were glued together and nailed to the frame.
Results: The performance of two of the modified walls is shown in Figs. 5 and 6 as
dashed lines. The AAD's for the other walls tested were: 61 dB reduced to 24dB,
70 dB reduced to 12 dB and 19 dB reduced to 12 dB. Generally, the insulation of the
modified walls varied with frequency in a similar way to that of the unmodified walls.
The improvements were not as large as those found for the first example. This is
probably because of the greater mechanical coupling between the primary and
secondary leaves. There are insufficient data to show whether the different types of
internal partition lead to any difference in insulation between the bedrooms and
lounges.

PREDOMINANTLY DIRECT TRANSMISSION THROUGH FLOORS

Party floors are required to provide insulation against both impact and airborne
sounds. An independent ceiling 7 can improve the insulation against both types of
sound but rooms in modern dwellings do not usually have sufficient height to
accommodate one. The simplest cases investigated have been in large, old houses
which have been converted into flats but which retain the original floors. Two
examples will be described in this section. It is often impracticable to make
measurements of impact sound insulation because many dwellings have fitted
carpets.
 ATTEMPTS TO IMPROVE SOUND INSULATION BETWEEN DWELLINGS 299

Case 3
Party floor between ground and first floor flats in a converted Victorian house.
BuiMing construction: The external walls on the ground floor appeared to be
275 mm thick, brick/cavity/brick type, plastered on the inside. The first floor
external wall appeared to be a 225 mm solid brick wall, again plastered on the inside.
The internal walls were 150 mm thick and built from lath and plaster. The party floor
comprised plane edged boards on joists with a lath and plaster ceiling. It was covered
by a fitted carpet. A sketch of the room layout is shown in Fig. 7.

' I flre place 5

21 Bedroom

Fig. 7. Case 3. Plan of rooms (all rooms are 3 m high). Top: Ground floor. Bottom: 1st floor.

Performance of the floor before modification: The airborne insulation

performance curve for the unmodified floor is shown as a solid line on Fig. 8. The
straight line on this figure represents the airborne performance standard for floors
described in the Building Regulations. 1 The results of accelerometer measurements
(see Appendix 1) are shown in Fig. 9. These indicated that treating the ceiling should
produce considerable improvements in bands up to 630 Hz because radiation from
the ceiling was predominant at lower frequencies. Less improvement would be
expected at higher frequencies because of radiation from the gable end wall; for
reasons which are not clear the gable end wall was found to radiate strongly at
800 Hz and above although, at lower frequencies, its radiation was similar to that
 300 L. C. FOTHERGILL

80
75
/ I
701
11
65
60
55
m50
"o
~45 !
4O
35
3O
- - - - - - After modification
25
- - Before modification
20

10 I I [ I 1 I I I I l I I I I I
100 125 160 200 250 315 300 500 630 800 1000 1250 1600 2000 2 5 0 0 3 ~ 0
Frequency Hz
Fig. 8. Case 3. Performance of floor between ground floor and first floor flats.

85
80 1 ~ ~ 1 Ceiling
k
75
~ ;~rr tri tdi°rn~l' '
70
65
60 ,.. 5w ndo w.,,

55
-o 50
cL
"J 45
40
35
30
25
20
10 I [ [ I I [ I I I I I 2I 1 I [
100 125 160 200 250 315 300 500 630 800 1000 1 50 1600 2000 2500:1150
Frequency Hz
Fig. 9. Case 3. Sound pressure levels in g r o u n d floor flat due to r a d i a t i o n f r o m r o o m surfaces.
 ATTEMPTSTOIMPROVESOUNDINSULATIONBETWEENDWELLINGS 301

from the other external wall. In preparing Fig. 9 it was assumed that the radiation
coefficient of all surfaces was unity. This will lead to overestimates of the radiated
noise level at frequencies below the critical frequency for each surface.
Remedial treatment: An independent ceiling was constructed on the lines
described in reference 7. A 75 mm glass fibre quilt was draped over the new joists
which were positioned 25 mm below the original ceiling and were 150 mm deep. The
new joists ran from the window wall (No. 5 on Fig. 7) to the lath and plaster partition
(No. 2 on Fig. 7). A new timber stud wall was built beside the original partition to
carry the increased load and the new joists were notched over battens attached to this
wall and wall No. 5. The new ceiling comprised two layers of 9.5 mm plasterboard
nailed to the joists.
Results: The insulation of the modified floor is shown as a dashed line in Fig. 8. A
useful increase in insulation has been achieved at low frequencies but the
improvement is only marginal above 400 Hz. While accelerometer measurements
indicated that the greatest improvement would be at low frequencies, the
improvement at high frequencies is smaller than might be expected. This is an
illustration of the need to treat accelerometer measurements with caution, especially
if any of the surfaces involved have high critical frequencies.

Case 4
A floor between flats in a three-storey block that had been converted from a hotel.
BuiMing construction: The external walls were 400ram thick and probably
contained a cavity. Most internal walls were constructed from unidentified 100 mm
blocks. All walls were plastered on the inside. The second floor comprised 19 mm
chipboard floor panels on joists with a 9.5 mm plasterboard ceiling covered by a
9.5 mm coat of plaster. The first floor appeared to be similar except for the ceiling
which had an additional layer of plasterboard. A sketch of the rooms is shown in
Fig. 10.

room 2
Lounge

--I ~ ~ ~j ] i Bedroomt }.5

Fig.10. Case4. Planofrooms(allrooms3mhigh).

302 L.C. FOTHERGILL

Performance of thefloors bejbre modification: The airborne insulation between

No. 1 bedrooms on the first and second floors is shown in Fig. 11 and the insulation
between No. 2 bedrooms on the ground and first floors in Fig. 12.
Remedial treatment: Independent ceilings, as described previously, were
recommended for both the ground floor and first floor flats. This solution was
adopted in the first floor flat but was unacceptable to the owner of the ground floor
fiat. No other specific recommendations were made for treating this floor but the
owner decided to increase the mass of the floor to see if the improvement was worth
while. Suggestions from BRE were not followed closely and the actual modifications
to the first floor comprised a 75 m m glass fibre quilt over the original ceiling (between
the joists) and on this a single thickness of plasterboard sandwich partition was laid
and secured to the joists. The sandwich partition comprised two layers of 9 . 5 m m
wallboard separated by a cellular core and having an overall thickness of 50 mm and
a mass of 23 kg/m 2.
Results: The insulation of the modified ceiling between No. 1 bedrooms on the
first and second floors is shown by the dashed line on Fig. 11. The lounge ceiling was
also modified and the results were very similar to those shown for the bedrooms. The
insulation of the modified floor between No. 1 bedrooms on the ground and first
floor is shown in Fig. 12 by a dashed line. The insulation of the unmodified floor in
the adjacent bedroom No. 2 is shown by a solid line on Fig. 12.

C O M P L E X TRANSMISSION P A T H S

In many of the cases investigated both direct and flanking paths have made a
significant contribution to the airborne sound transmission. This is most common
with vertical transmission between purpose-built flats. Usually the rooms are built to
the minimum allowed height of 2.3m and there is insufficient height for an
independent ceiling. However, when floor area is not of prime importance a
worthwhile improvement in insulation can sometimes be achieved by constructing a
secondary leaf beside one or more of the flanking walls.

Case 5
Vertical transmission between bedrooms of one bedroom flats.
Building construction. These one bedroom flats were built as two-storey terraced
blocks with timber frame structural components and a brick outer skin. The party
floors were a lightweight timber raft type and the party walls comprised two skins of
brick with mortar infill. The inner leaves of the gable end walls were built from
lightweight blocks and were drylined with plasterboard on dabs. A sketch of the
room layout is shown in Fig. 13.
PerJormance of the unmodified construction." The airborne insulation of the floors
between the bedrooms and between the lounges was measured and the results are
 A T T E M P T S T O I M P R O V E S O U N D I N S U L A T I O N BETWEEN D W E L L I N G S 303

80
75

70 1/~Llt/

65 -,--,I.'-- . .-4-- - - - I Y

60
Y
55

,~ 50
-o
~45
°40
35

30
y -- A f t e r m o d i f i c a t i o n
25

2O
, , ,"i reTc ,°° ,
10
100 125 160 200 250 315 300 500 630 800 1000 1250 1600 2 0 0 0 2 5 0 0 3150

Frequency Hz
Fig. 1 ]. Case 4. Performance of floor between No. 1 bedroom on first and second floors.

80

75

70

65

60

55

,,~ 50

~45
4O

35

30
Bedroom 1 floor after modification
25
- - Bedroom 2 floor before modification
2O

10 ] I [ I J I t I I I l I I { I
100 125 160 200 250 315 300 500 630 800 1000 1250 1600 2 0 0 0 2 5 0 0 3150

Frequency Hz

Fig. 12. Case 4. Performance of floor between bedrooms on first and ground floors.
304 L. C. FOTHERGILL

2.9m
= Lounge

Bedroom 4rT Bedroom Lounge

tO m

"O
t-- S
(l)

t~
¢.9 (3

II I

I
I
Fig. 13. Case 5. Plan of rooms (all rooms 2.3m high). Left: Ist floor. Right: ground floor.

shown on Fig. 14. The airborne insulation between the bedrooms was a little below
that between the lounges but the impact performance of the two floors was very
similar. This suggested that the rather low insulation was partly due to flanking
transmission down the gable end wall.
Remedial treatment: A secondary leaf was constructed beside the gable end wall of
the ground floor bedroom. This secondary leaf was a 50 mm wide sandwich panel
comprising two plasterboard sheets bonded to a cellular core and having a surface
mass of 23 kg/m 2. The cavity between the wall and the secondary leaf was 25 m m
wide and contained a glass fibre quilt. The secondary leaf was supported by
studwork attached to floor and ceiling.
Results." The insulation between the bedrooms after the modifications is shown as
a dashed line in Fig. 14. There has been some improvement at all frequencies and the
average improvement was about 5 dB. At middle frequencies the insulation is better
than between the lounges. This tends to confirm the hypothesis that flanking
transmission was a significant factor.

Case 6
Horizontal transmission between a pair of ground floor rooms and a pair of first
floor rooms in a four-storey block of fiats about 50 years old. The measurements
were made while the block was being refurbished.
Building construction: The external walls appeared to be of 225 m m solid brick
construction, plastered on the inside. The internal partitions and party walls
 ATTEMPTS TO IMPROVE SOUND INSULATION BETWEEN DWELLINGS 305

80
75

70
65

60

55
m5o
~4s
a
4O
35
3O
# Bedroom floor after modifications
25
- - Lounge floor
20
.~ "-Bedroom floor before modifications

10 I I L I I I J I I I i I I I I
100 125 160 200 250 315 300 500 630 800 1000 1250 1600 2000 2500 3150

Frequency Hz
Fig. 14. Case 5. Performance o f lounge and bedroom floors.

appeared to be of 112 mm brick construction and were plastered on both sides. The
ground floor was solid concrete and the other floors appeared to be made from
concrete beams. A sketch of the rooms is shown in Fig. 15.
Performance of the unmodified construction: The airborne sound insulation
between the two pairs of rooms before modification is shown in Figs. 16 and 17 as
solid lines.
Remedial treatment: BRS did not become involved with this case until a late stage
and, because of other activities on the site, there was insufficient time to make a full
investigation. The only technical advice given was in the form of a standard technical
information leaflet. 4
The remedial treatment chosen for the ground floor comprised a secondary leaf
built from 75 mm thick aerated concrete blocks with a 125 mm cavity between the
original wall and the new leaf. The cavity contained a 50 mm glass fibre quilt and the
new leaf was plastered on the outside. The remedial treatment chosen for the first
floor comprised a secondary leaf fixed to the flanking structure and made from two
sheets of 13mm plasterboard on studwork with a 200mm cavity between the
plasterboard and the original wall. The cavity contained a 50 mm glass fibre quilt.
Results." The airborne sound insulation between the two pairs of rooms after the
modifications is shown by dashed lines in Figs. 16 and 17.
The original performance of the wall on the ground floor was unusually good for
 306 L . C . FOTHERGILL

I
Test
room Test
2.8 room

Test
room

Fig. 15. Case 6. Plan of rooms (all rooms 2.6m high). Left: Ground floor. Right: 1st floor.

that type of construction, leaving little scope for improvement, and in fact the
improvement after treatment proved to be very slight. The unmodified wall on the
first floor performed more typically but again the improvement after treatment was
slight. In both cases it seems likely that the party walls were flanked by transmission
paths along the ceiling or along the corridor walls. Details of the junctions were not
available and time did not allow further investigation.
This example is included to illustrate the importance of full investigation prior to
undertaking remedial treatment.

Case 7
Vertical transmission between lounges in a modern block of purpose-built flats.
Building construction." This three-storey block contained eleven units, only two of
which were occupied. The external walls were of brick/cavity/lightweight block
construction. The separating floors were of concrete beam and pot construction with
a floatingconcrete screed. The separatingwalls were 230 mm solid brick and internal
walls were of either lightweight block or plasterboard construction. All internal
walls were plastered. A sketch of the rooms is shown in Fig. 18.
Performance of the unmodified construction." The standardised level differences
for five lounge floors are shown in Table 1. The insulation ranged from 77 to 23 dB
 ATTEMPTS TO IMPROVE SOUND INSULATION BETWEEN DWELLINGS 307

80

75

70

65

60

55

50
"o
~-45

35
------ After modification
30
Before modification
25

20

10 [ I I l I l I I I I I I i I I
100 125 160 200 250 315 300 500 630 800 1000 1250 1600 2000 2500 3150

Frequency Hz
Fig. 16. Case 6. Performance of the wall on the ground floor.

80

75

70

65

60

55

,,~ 50
"o
~45
a
40

35
------ After modification
30
Before m o d i f i c a t i o n
25

20

10 I I I I I i I [ ~ I I I ] I I
100 125 160 200 250 315 300 500 630 800 1000 1250 1600 2000 2500 3150

Frequency Hz
Fig. 17. Case 6. Performance of the wall on the first floor.
308 L . C . FOTHERGILL

Garage area

~230mm brick I
2 0 0 r a m block
nos. 5,3 & 1

I 230 mm brick
' i q

200mm block
~--Flat nos. 10,8 & 6

230m~mbrick

200mm block
-~Flat nos. 11,9&7

K~ ~] L

All external walls" brick/block

Fig. 18. Case 7. Plan of rooms.
 ATTEMPTS TO IMPROVE SOUND INSULATION BETWEEN DWELLINGS 309

TABLE !
CASE7: AIRBORNESOUNDINSULATIONOF LOUNGEFLOORS
Frequency Standardisedlevel difference (DRr)dB
(Hz) L o u n g e Lounge Lounge Lounge Lounge
7-9 1-3 3-5 8-10 6-8
100 34 35 35 34 31
123 34 35 35 40 37
160 36 34 36 38 39
200 35 39 37 39 41
250 38 35 39 37 39
315 38 38 38 39 40
400 34 41 40 43 45
500 41 43 43 44 47
630 42 44 45 47 48
800 44 46 47 49 49
1000 48 49 52 52 53
1250 52 52 53 55 53
1600 52 53 56 56 54
2000 52 52 58 58 55
2500 54 55 62 62 57
3150 58 60 66 65 61

AADdB 77 59 41 28 23

AAD. The floor between flats 9 and 7 had the poorest performance, the floors
between fiats 1 and 3 and 3 and 5 were better and the floors between flats 6 and 8 and
8 and 10 were the best. Flats 9 and 7 had the largest area of external wall, fiats I and 3
and 3 and 5 both had a smaller area and fiats 6 and 8 and 8 and 10 had the smallest
area of external wall. Therefore it seemed likely that the problem was due to flanking
transmission via the inner leaf of the external wall, and this conclusion was
supported by accelerometer measurements. It is probable that a secondary leaf built
beside the external wall would have ameliorated the problem. Unfortunately, the
owner of the flat was reluctant to undertake this work, which would make the room
even narrower, without a guarantee that the results would be satisfactory. This
guarantee could not be given and so no remedial work was attempted.

CONCLUSIONS

This work has shown that there are people who are sufficiently concerned about the
sound insulation of their homes to spend comparatively large sums of money to
improve it. The cost of remedial work can vary widely, but may be in the region of
£20/m 2 for an independent ceiling and in the region of£15/m 2 for a secondary wall.
Both of these figures include materials and labour at 1979 prices.
While, in the present state of knowledge, worthwhile improvements cannot be
guaranteed, it is clear that an acoustic investigation using methods similar to those
outlined in this paper can be very useful in reducing the chances of a disappointing
result.
 310 L. C. FOTHERGILL

The most difficult case is that of an inadequate floor which has been built to
provide the minimum allowable room height of 2-3 m. No satisfactory solution has
been found for this case. It is arguable that the occupants' need for adequate sound
insulation outweighs the importance of minimum room height, at least in bedrooms.
Much more information on the transmission of sound between dwellings is
required before detailed guidance on remedial treatment can be given and work on
this topic is continuing at BRS.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author is indebted to the householders and local authorities concerned for their
co-operation and to Messrs R. S. Alphey and J. E. Savage for assistance with the
measurements.
The work described has been carried out as part of the research programme of the
Building Research Establishment of the Department of the Environment and is
published by permission of the Director.

REFERENCES

1. ANON. The Building Regulations, 1976. Statutory Instrument 1976, No. 1676, HMSO, London.
2. ANON., Home improvements and conversions. Sound insulation, Timber Research and Development
Association, High Wycombe, 1975.
3. ANON., Sound insulation in your home, British Gypsum Ltd. Ferguson House, 15/17 Marylebone
Road, London NWl 5JE.
4. ANON., Improving sound insulation of existing party walls, Building Research Advisory Service, TIL
42, Building Research Station, Watford WD2 7JR, 1973.
5. ANON.,ISO 140 Acoustics--Measurement of sound insulation in buildings and of building elements,
Part IV, 1978.
6. J.A. MACADAM,The measurement of sound powers radiated by individual room surfaces in lightweight
buiMings, Building Research Establishment, CP 33/74, 1974.
7. W.A. UTLEY,Methods for improving the sound insulation of existing simple woodjoist floors, Building
Research Establishment, CP 27/77, 1977.

APPENDIX 1

The power radiated by a vibrating surface is given by:

W = pCv2Sa

or, in logarithmic form:

L w = 2 0 1 o g ( a / f ) + 10logS + loga + 130

where: W = power radiated, p C = 415; v = RMS velocity of the vibrating surface,

 ATTEMPTS TO IMPROVE SOUND INSULATION BETWEEN DWELLINGS 311

S = area of vibrating surface, a = radiation coefficient of vibrating surface, Lw

= sound power level re. 10-12W, a = RMS acceleration of surface and f
= frequency of vibration or centre frequency of one-third octave band.
The radiation coefficient, a, approximates to unity above the critical frequency
(fc) of the panel but may be much smaller at lower frequencies. Its actual value
depends on the material, its dimensions and the edge conditions of the panel and it is
therefore hard to predict. For a 225 m m brick wallfc is in the region of 100 Hz, for
100 m m thick lightweight block it may be in the region of 400 Hz, while for windows
and plasterboard panels it is likely to exceed 2000 Hz.
The sound pressure level, Le, in a room corresponding to radiation from a surface
may be estimated from:
Lp = 20log(a/f) + lOlog(STa/V) + 144
where T = the reverberation time of the r o o m and V = the r o o m volume.
If the Levalues for each surface are summed the result may be compared with the
measured SPL to give an idea of the accuracy of prediction.