Working from home is here to stay in some shape or form with many people opting for more flexible working…so what is your working from home set-up like?
Do you have a space to concentrate?
Dedicated for work?
Are you considering converting your attic into an office?
Common requirements/questions we get when a homeowner is thinking about converting their attic include:
- I don’t want to hear my neighbours or the rest of my house
- I don’t want to be disturbed by the road or aircraft noise
- I want private phone and zoom calls
- I want to be heard clearly on the calls
- I want home office with fast internet, good lighting, a place to concentrate
What needs to be done when soundproofing your attic?
First of all, do not use the materials that will amplify the noise from neighbours, road and aircraft. Ban these materials from your loft conversion renovation: aerated blocks, rigid insulation and dot and dab plasterboard technique. Find more information here.
Now what should I use instead? Insulated battens, resilient bars, sand and cement render or wet plaster or the right soundproofing panels. For insulation use ROCKWOOL. For blocks use 7.3Newton blocks.
I don’t want to hear my neighbours or the rest of my house.
How do I stop noise from the rest of the house or neighbours and room to room transfer of noise getting into my attic conversion?
Consider a separating floor system, here is a useful video.
It consists of a floating floor and a resilient ceiling.
The floating floor is most effective at reducing your noise from being heard in the rest of the house.
The resilient bar ceiling system is most effective at reducing the rest of the house’s noise disturbing your phone calls.
With most concrete constructions, 50% of the noise is flanking noise. This means the walls in your attic room are just as important as the floor. If you just do the floor you are unlikely to feel satisfied with your investment. Worse if you apply plasterboard to the walls or use dot and dab or have hollow uninsulated stud walls in the loft conversion; you will also still hear the noise from the rest of the house and potentially environmental noise too.
I don’t want to be disturbed by the road or aircraft noise
A new loft conversion or attic conversion will normally require you to meet building regulations and therefore a roofing system will be required to keep you nice and warm in the winter and nice and cool in the summer months.
Here is our roofing system to meet document L of the building regulations. Video Click here.
This roofing system is very thermal efficient…but also reduces the noise from outside too. It allows our clients to look out the window, see the cars go passed and not hear them.
I want private phone and zoom calls
One key element to a good soundproofed room is the door. To manage your expectations a double door is normally required to stop large amounts of noise such as musical instruments, heavy bass music and shouting.
However a double door system where you either have one door opening towards you and another opening into the attic conversion is not normally practical. A heavy duty soundproofed door at the bottom of the stairs and a door at the top of the stairs, both with acoustic seals in the frame is the best solution. See our video of our double door system.
I want to be heard clearly on the calls
Once you have soundproofed the floor, soundproofed the ceiling, and all the walls and soundproofed the door. You now need to consider the acoustics within the room….don’t skip this section, if you want clear zoom calls this must be considered in the budget look at this before and after video with and without sound absorption.
I want a home office with fast internet, good lighting, a place to concentrate
Another thought…with the installation of the soundproofing:
Who will do the plastering?
Who will do the electrical?Â
Who will do the data cables?
Who will do the carpentry of re-fitting the skirting, the finish floor, re-fitting that door, cupboard, picture rail, putting that shelf up?
With a Quietco installation we take care of all this for you. Giving you the peace of mind that your soundproofing has not been compromised.
The first step is to fill out the form and book a free noise diagnosis call,
On the call we will understand your noise problem, discuss your requirements and give you an idea of costs and the work involved. If you are within our installation catchment area we will offer you a soundproofing consultation visit or if out of our area a virtual consultation.Â
