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Concrete soundproofing for housing


Throughout the history of wood-frame residential building construction in Quebec, attention to sound insulation remains relatively recent. Indeed, at the beginning of the last century, the buildings were built with more massive materials (square walls of planks, dividing brick wall, floors whose joists were covered with wooden planks and whose spacing was filled with a few inches sawdust) which provided some insulation against noise from neighbours. The advent of the light wood frame structure (2 x 4 or 2 x 6 walls, openwork or “I” beam floors) has improved the thermal performance of buildings, but not their acoustic performance. Gradually, the requirements as to the quality of construction and soundproofing of housing have increased, in particular with the growing popularity of apartments held in co-ownership, the famous "condos", according to the evolution of households and lifestyles. life. Over the years, manufacturers have developed a number of soundproofing products and materials for housing. However, their performance can vary enormously depending on their combination and assembly in floors and ceilings. Ideally, the partitions separating the dwellings will be made of hollow concrete blocks, or poured concrete. The mass of the concrete is sufficient to muffle most airborne noise. From one floor to another, concrete floors are desirable, even if the concrete will transmit certain impact noises, such as that of a saucepan falling on the ceramic in the kitchen. In order to ensure the acoustic efficiency of the concrete, a resilient material must be installed under the screed. The latter must be separated from the perimeter of the walls and a floating floor or a carpet must be used as a floor covering to absorb shocks. That being said, the concrete screed option remains a good choice when the recommendations mentioned above are duly applied and the moisture it contains is evacuated before starting to lay the other materials.

Source: apchq-guide-acoustique-batiment.pdf

Source of picture:www.ecohabitation.com


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