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Soundproofing Made
Easy with Phonewell® Acoustic Sound
Insulation
Perfect for soundproofing
walls, soundproofing floors and soundproofing ceilings to achieve outstanding
noise reduction, for both airborne sound and impact sound.
 Effective
soundproofing has been simplified since the introduction of award winning
Phonewell® sound insulation board, which is distributed by Acara Concepts
Ltd throughout the UK and Ireland. Phonewell® acoustic insulation is
ideal for commercial and domestic soundproofing projects due to its outstanding
performance, its simple installation procedures and its very slim 15mm
thickness. In addition Phonewell® is a natural, breathable, sustainable
product which is pollutant free and odourless. Phonewell® can be used for
soundproofing walls, floors and ceilings and the structure can be timber, steel
or masonry. Phonewell® is perfect for soundproofing new build,
refurbishment and remedial projects and it has been assessed to meet and exceed
Building Regulations for Sound – Part E, when used in any of our systems.
Phonewell® also has thermal mass properties, which means it will store
heat and release it into the building as it cools down. This is very important
especially in timber and metal frame buildings. Phonewell® has been
approved by the German Agrément Board (DIBt) and certification from the British
Board of Agrément (BBA) is almost complete.
More about Sound Insulation, Acoustic Insulation and
Soundproofing for Noise and Sound Reduction Systems
Noise is unwanted sound, and its loudness is measured in decibels (dB). The
decibel is measured as a logarithmic unit to compress a very wide scale of
numbers, so a 50% reduction of apparent loudness is indicated by a decrease of
10dB.
Sound insulation or acoustic insulation in buildings must tackle two different
issues:
1. Airborne Sound Insulation – Sound through the Air
Airborne sound insulation is required to dampen sound waves vibrating in the
surrounding air. These are sounds such as television, music or talking which
pass from one room to another. This sound vibrates the structure and then passes
through to the other side. The more this structure vibrates the louder the noise
which can be heard and the higher the level of acoustic insulation which is
required.
One single layer of Phonewell® is certified at 36dB Rw (Ctr = -4dB) for
Airborne Sound Insulation. This acoustic insulation result is for Phonewell®
as a stand alone product, but in practice it is always included as part of the
wall, floor or ceiling structure, so the total sound insulation result will be
much higher.
2. Impact or Structural Sound Insulation – Sound through the Structure
Impact sound insulation is required for sound proofing the actual structure when
it vibrates due to impacts directly on it. These would typically be sounds such
as footstep noise or moving furniture from the floor above, or impact noise
against the wall such as light switches being used and cupboards closing.
One single layer of Phonewell® boards increases Impact Sound Insulation
by 21dB (ΔLw). This is the improvement gained by adding the board to the
standard acoustic test floor, rather than the total acoustic insulation result
which is achieved when Phonewell® is used as part of the complete
structure. When comparing Impact Sound Insulation results of a total structure,
please remember the effectiveness improves as the result decreases.
Why Phonewell® Sound Insulation Works
Phonewell® sound attenuation boards are so effective at reducing noise
because they have mass (18kg/M²) and density (1200kg/M³), but at the same time
are soft due to the boards containing very fine quartz sand held together in a
special corrugated cardboard casing. These are the specific requirements to
achieve successful sound insulation.
Soundproofing Walls with Phonewell®
There are three options for soundproofing walls using Phonewell®,
depending on the result required and the space available. All of these systems
reduce airborne and impact sound considerably.
1) The simplest system involves bonding 15mm Phonewell® straight
to a new masonry wall or to an existing wall with or without plasterboard. If
the wall has exposed studs Phonewell® can be screwed to these – Maximum
depth 30mm.
2) However for an even better performance we recommend that 16mm deep
Resilient Bars are screwed to the new or existing wall first and then 15mm
Phonewell® is screwed into these bars only. This process decouples the ‘new’
wall from the original wall and reduces vibrations considerably, which reduces
the sound heard even further – Maximum depth 46mm.
3) The ultimate system involves the wall being battened first, with high
density mineral wool placed in the cavity, and then resilient bars screwed to
the battens with Phonewell® in turn being screwed to these resilient bars
– Depth 67.5 – 94mm.
Regardless of whichever system is chosen the Phonewell® boards must be
covered with plasterboard as Phonewell® is not a finished surface. We
recommend Sound Resistant Plasterboard 12.5mm - 15mm thick.
Soundproofing Ceilings with Phonewell®
There are three options for soundproofing ceilings using Phonewell®,
depending on the result required and the space available. All of these systems
reduce airborne and impact sound considerably.
1) The simplest system involves screwing 15mm Phonewell® straight
to a new concrete ceiling or to an existing ceiling with or without
plasterboard. If the ceiling has exposed joists Phonewell® can be screwed
to these – Maximum depth of system 30mm.
2) However for an even better performance we recommend that 16mm deep
Resilient Bars are screwed to the new or existing ceiling first and then 15mm
Phonewell® is screwed into these bars only. This process decouples the ‘new’
ceiling from the original ceiling and reduces vibrations considerably, which
reduces the sound heard even further – Maximum depth of system 46mm.
3) The ultimate system involves the ceiling being battened first with high
density mineral wool placed in the cavity and then resilient bars screwed to the
battens with Phonewell® in turn being screwed to these resilient bars –
Depth of system 67.5 – 94mm.
Regardless of whichever system is chosen the Phonewell® boards must be
covered with plasterboard, as Phonewell® is not a finished surface. We
recommend Sound Resistant Plasterboard 12.5mm - 15mm thick.
Soundproofing
Floors with Phonewell®
There are two options for soundproofing floors using Phonewell®,
depending on the result required and accessibility to the ceiling below. Both of
these systems reduce airborne and impact sound considerably.
1) The simplest method is to lay the 15mm thick Phonewell® boards
floating on a sub-deck. They must be butted tightly together, but there is no
need to glue or screw them down. Any floor covering can then be laid straight
over Phonewell® sound insulation boards.
2) For optimum results Phonewell® is laid on the floor as per the
method above, and then the ceiling below is also upgraded by screwing 16mm deep
Resilient Bars into the timber joists or concrete ceiling, through the existing
plasterboard if in place. Then Sound Resistant Plasterboard is screwed to these
resilient bars. This process decouples the ‘new’ ceiling from the original
ceiling and further reduces vibrations, which reduces the sound heard even
further – Maximum depth of system on floor above 15mm and ceiling below 31mm.
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