www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Hi,

We've just bought a house and noticed how bad the noise insulation between the ground and first floor is.
As we plan to put down a wooden floor upstairs anyway our plan of action is to put down General Purpose insulation from Wickes between the ground floor and the 1st floor. The insulation will sit above the ceiling between the joists. To do this we need to remove the floorboards. We plan to replace the large old chipboard floorboards with smaller boards.

We plan to use loft panels as our new floorboard. As these are easier to lay than the large floorboards used by the builders.

So my question is whether this is a good plan of action?

Also we not sure whether using loft panels is strong enough for a floor? The panels we intend to buy are P4 grade panels which we understand to be pretty solid?

Thanks,
Paula

what thickness are the proposed boards?

also, are the upstairs walls stud work? this could mean the chipboard runs under them.

It may be worth checking on the insulation you plan to fit, to see if it would actually block much sound, or just heat insulation!

dont forget a lot of the sound travels through the structure especialy the bass so filling the voids is only part off the solution

p4 is a grade of chipborad that is not moisture resistant

if you think you need moisture resistance use P5, that may restrict you to full size sheets.

the sheds sell P4 becasuse it is cheaper, but they do have smaller sizes which is what you want

altough the sizes of the small boards that the sheds sell are similar DONT buy from different sheds because they all have different edge profiles

Hi Paula,

My advice would be to NOT replace with loft boards use either 18mm or 22mm green chipboard and screw it down (more durable) full lengths and also you could lay insulation between the joists but this really will only give heat insulation and you may find that this will cause problems with any downlights or spotlights you may have sunk into the ceiling downstairs you really need to lay accoustic quilt over the floor joists before you lay the new chipboard as this will create a break between the board and the joists and reducing the transmission of sound.

hope this helps