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Does Soundproofing Really Work?
It is the question every homeowner asks before spending a penny, so we decided to answer it properly. Does soundproofing work, or does it just take the edge off and leave you still listening out for the neighbours? To find out, we took an ordinary room in an ordinary house and put it to the test on camera.
Our clients here were living the same story as millions of people across the UK. They could hear the neighbour’s TV, conversation, music, dogs barking and doors banging through the shared wall. We soundproofed the room using our four step soundproofing method, then set out to prove, on film, exactly what difference it made.
A Genuine Test, Not a Sales Pitch
Anyone can claim their soundproofing works, so we built the test to remove all doubt. Six cameras rolled at once on the same clock: one on the soundproofed room, one in the neighbour’s property, two outside, and more capturing the whole process as it happened.
The plan was simple. Go next door, play music loud enough that nobody could comfortably stand in the room, then walk straight back into the treated room and see what could actually be heard. A decibel meter measured the sound on both sides of the party wall, so the difference was a real number, not a feeling.
Just How Loud Was It?
To put the readings in context, a normal quiet room sits at around 30 decibels. As this decibel comparison chart from Yale shows, anything over 70 decibels is genuinely loud, roughly the level of a vacuum cleaner running beside you.
The music we played next door pushed well past that. In the neighbour’s room it was uncomfortable to stand in, the kind of volume that would have any household reaching for the wall to bang on it. That was the noise our soundproofed room now had to deal with.
The Result
Back in the soundproofed room, with the music still blasting next door and every camera still rolling, the change was dramatic. The decibel meter dropped to a fraction of the reading from the other side, and the loud music next door faded to something you could easily sleep, work or relax through.
We do this for a living and we were still genuinely surprised by how complete the result was. That is what soundproofing looks like when it is done properly: not a slightly quieter room, but your home handed back to you.
Fill out the contact form to book your FREE noise diagnosis call and we will tell you honestly what is achievable in your own home. Get in touch here.
Why Our Method Gets These Results
The reason a test like this works is that we never treat the shared wall in isolation. Noise finds every possible route into a room, travelling around the party wall through floors, ceilings and the walls running off it, so treating one surface alone always disappoints.
Our approach treats every one of those paths as part of a single job, which is why the finished room falls quiet rather than simply improving a little. You can see this in the results across our wall soundproofing projects, and the best place to start is a proper assessment of your own noise through a free consultation.
Fill out the contact form to book your FREE noise diagnosis call and find out what real quiet would sound like in your home. Contact us here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does soundproofing work for noisy neighbours?
Yes, when it is done properly. As our on camera test showed, treating a room the right way can take loud music next door down to a level you can comfortably relax or sleep through.
How much noise can soundproofing actually remove?
It depends on the noise and the room, but a full treatment can reduce even loud airborne noise like music and TV to a fraction of what you hear now. A free noise diagnosis call is the honest way to find out what is realistic for you.
Do you have to soundproof the whole room?
For a complete result, yes. Noise travels around a single wall through the floor, ceiling and side walls, so treating every path is what turns a small improvement into genuine quiet.
Is soundproofing better than moving house?
For most people, yes. Soundproofing the room that matters most is usually far cheaper and less disruptive than selling up and starting again elsewhere.
How long does soundproofing a room take?
Most rooms are completed in a week or two, depending on the size of the room and how many noise paths need treating. Your free noise diagnosis call will give you a realistic timescale for your specific room.
