Soundproofing is trying to stop sound from getting into, or out of a room. E.g. blocking the sound from noisy neighbours.  Please see our blog on noisy neighbour soundproofing for more information

No, you shouldn't need to add any soundproofing materials to the chimney breast. We normally only soundproof the alcoves of the dividing solid wall either side of your chimney breast. 

Chimney breasts are generally made from a double layer of very dense fire brick. This makes the chimney breast area very high in mass and therefore perform better for soundproofing than the single standard bricks in the alcoves. Please see our dedicated chimney breast soundproofing blog

A regular question we are asked is 'can you use soundproofing foam (thin egg box foam panels) for soundproofing against noisy neighbours, or when building your own home studio?' Unfortunately, the short answer is no. Please see our foam soundproofing blog for more information

Customers frequently ask whether they can just add one or two layers of Acoustic Plasterboard to the wall between them and their neighbours for a good cheap wall soundproofing solution.

Unfortunately, we probably receive 2 to 5 calls a week from customers whereby their builders have done exactly this and the reason they are contacting us is because it hasn't worked.

Please see our plasterboard blog on why this isn't effective

There are two main options for installing our DIY soundproofing solutions and we're here every step of the way.

DIY Instalation

• All of our systems are DIYable - saving you any unnecessary installation expense
•  80% of customers install the systems themselves - we've made DIY installation an easy option
• We supply simple and comprehensive step-by-step installation guides and videos - for fuss free installation
• Our technical team are on hand to answer any questions and provide installation support - we're here every step of the way

Use a local tradsman

• You're well on your way to noise free living. If installing the system yourself isn't an option, then simply use a local tradesperson
• We take away the stress of installation by speaking directly to your tradesperson throughout the process

See our installation page for more information

Sound is broken down between airborne and impact noise.

Airborne noise is transmitted through the air and atmosphere and experienced through the likes of people talking, TV noise, dogs barking etc. When sound waves travel through the air and reach a building they hit it and cause it to vibrate. These vibrations travel through the structure or building and are radiated out the other side (albeit at a reduced volume).

Impact noise is the physical impact on buildings or solid materials. Examples being footfall, doors banging, walking and furniture moving. Impact sound occurs because the impact causes both sides of the building element to vibrate, generating sound waves. This can often be the hardest to isolate as impact vibrations are stronger and travel further through dense materials.

Read our blog on the difference for more information

What is a decibel (dB) and how is sound measured?

Decibels are measured logarithmically (it is not a percentage). This is a way of counting or measuring something that increases rapidly, or exponentially. For example, every increase of 10dB on the decibel scale is equal to a 10-fold increase in sound pressure level (SPL). Near silence is expressed as 0dB but a sound measured at 10dB is actually 10 times louder. If a sound is 20dB, that's 100 times louder than near silence.

Please read more here