Metropolitan Insulation

Don’t make it easy for thieves to access your roof. Remove ladders, bins, or garden furniture.

Jun

2016

How To Reduce Noise From Upstairs Flats

Living in flats often means putting up with noise from neighbours above if you happen to live on lower floors. There are times however when noise such as footsteps, and the sound of TVs can become unbearable. At this point you may be wondering what can I do about it?

First of all, if you flat or apartment is part of a block, then the first thing to do if your property is leasehold is to check that there is any provision for quiet enjoyment. If it is mentioned in the terms of the lease that flat owners fit carpet and underlay, then this will usually be enough to win any case which goes to court.

Before things get that far, it will need the involvement of either the freeholder or management company in any legal action which may not always be as easy as it sounds.

If there is no provision for noise from people walking above you or having their TV too loud then you can go to the local authority, however this can be particularly slow and time consuming.

If there appears to be no prospect of fighting your case without big legal bills, then acoustic insulation slabs fitted inside your ceiling cavities could be the answer. This option will require professional installation but at least it will reduce those annoying sounds to a minimum.

Jun

2016

How To Combat Noise From Within

When people talk about sound insulation they often refer to noise from the outside like street noise, cars and noisy neighbours but in the modern world there is likely to be just as much if not more noise coming from within the home.

So here are some practical solutions to making your home quieter.

Open plan living and hard flooring are just two aspects of the modern home that have conspired to create noisy environments in the very places we go to get away from noise. Of course noise in the home isn’t avoidable altogether but there are a lot of ways to balance out the extra light and space with good sound insulation techniques.

Flooring is one area to start particularly if you are planning to open up a space by knocking out a wall. Opt for flooring that helps reduce noise such as vinyl. Higher quality brands are particularly effective at helping to reduce noise compared to hard wooden floors or stone tiles.

Introducing a rugs or textured wallpaper can help reduce noise to a small degree in the home and even a painting or two can add to the insulating effect. One of the most effective changes you can make is fitting acoustic panelling which is often included in office designs but can just as readily be used in the home.

May

2016

Soundproofing A 1930′s Property

You will often hear people say that older properties have better insulation due to the superior quality of building materials used but this isn’t necessarily the case.

Older properties from the 1930s can often have areas that allow noise from next door to penetrate and impact on quality of life. Problem areas can include fireplaces cracks and holes in walls, alcoves and crumbling mortar and plaster. All of these can have a serious impact on soundproofing in the home and often people who live in a property have no idea that any cracks and crumbling mortar is hidden away behind thin plaster board.

If you happen to want to sell a house or let it out to tenants then it is vital to soundproof your home to modern standards. Potential solutions that don’t cost the earth include Spray-applied foams which have unique sealing qualities.

These will reduce airborne sound significantly which makes it ideal for soundproofing interior walls and floors and the area around plumbing stacks to reduce noise from water pipes. If your 1930s property happens to be in London you may also benefit from secondary glazing, which will help reduce external noise.

One piece of Laminated glass 6.4mm thick will stop as much sound as a piece of ordinary glass twice as thick.

May

2016

Reasons Not To Ignore Soundproofing In Your Hotel

One of the big priorities for guests staying in hotels is peace and quiet but how many large hotels pay attention to all aspects of their comfort?

Comfy mattresses, supportive pillows and corridor acoustics are one thing but when it comes to true peace and quiet, it is important to make sure outside noise is kept to a bare minimum or removed altogether.

The main areas of a room where noise can be reduced are the walls ceilings and floors. While most hotels pay some attention to soundproofing walls, many don’t consider their floors. If it’s a period hotel the problem of sound coming through creaky floorboards can be even worse.

Staying in this type of hotel can soon result in the charm of that old building wearing off when you are forced to endure the sound of noisy guests arriving late in the night.

Hardwood flooring can be much more attractive and easier to clean than carpet but unfortunately it isn’t great for soundproofing. Carpet with good quality underlay can be an important part of overall soundproofing in hotel rooms because they reduce noise from foot steps and things being moved around.

Customers are only to happy to complain about noisy hotel experiences online today. So make sure you do all you can to at least give them a quiet room.

May

2016

Battersea Project

Latest project we’ve been working on is the insulation for inaccessible areas in Battersea Phase 2 with Skanska. Lagging in conventional sense just cannot get to areas PIR can. Lot faster and cost effective. The development is Central London ‘s biggest retail, leisure and residential project and will restore an iconic landmark to it ‘s former glory.

Apr

2016

Soundproofing For Musicians – Advice From A Rock Legend

A teenage heavy metal band from Cornwall had a letter of support from rock legend and former member of Nirvana Dave Grohl who supported their pleas to be allowed to practice their music in their garage.

The involvement of such a high profile figure in the music industry should make the local council think again about allowing the band to continue to make music. If it doesn’t, the issue does at least highlight how difficult it can be to insulate your home in a way that prevents noise from escaping and bothering your neighbours.

Aspiring musicians can often be the cause of noise complaints and lack of any space to practice can put people off if they are unable to get in some regular practice. Finding that space is increasingly difficult these days, as houses are built closer together but there is plenty you can do to minimise noise as advice on the Foo Fighters website suggests.

However some of the advice sounds like it could make matters worse for the people trying to play music inside. Fulling walls with sand and stacking mattresses against the door may not be the best solutions.

Why not ask about our affordable sound insulation solutions? At least you can be confident that we will fit soundproofing of the highest standard to help clear your path towards music stardom.

Apr

2016

Installation at a property in Finchley

Meticulous preparation prior to sound insulation install at property in Finchley. The airborne noise being the issue in this instance.

The job was carried out in one day with no mess whatsoever and the client was happy.

Apr

2016

Practical Advice To Combat Noisy Neighbours

It’s no fun living next door or underneath noisy neighbours but there is a lot you can do to reduce noise from people walking around above you or walking up and down stairs.

If you want your home to be a calm oasis, then you have got to seize the initiative and tackle noise before it spoils your quality of life.

To combat noise, first you need to understand it. The sounds you hear coming from next door are vibrations that are able to pass through walls and ceilings into your home. So the first thing to do is add materials that will help reduce vibrations such as carpet.

This alone won’t eliminate noise of course, you will also need to soundproof your walls and this is where it gets more complicated. Fortunately there are plenty of products available that can be added to your walls to help with insulation and lead to a reduction in the transfer of noise.

A more radical solutions will involve removing the connection between the wall or ceiling on your neighbour’s side and your wall. This will help create a barrier that will further reduce the transfer of sound.

There is even the possibility of adding your own white noise, which will help drown out more annoying noise coming from next door.

If you are keen to reduce noise from neighbours why not give us a call to see how we can help?

Mar

2016

How To Reduce Noise In Your Apartment

Homes are often made with thin walls these days so noise can be a problem if your home is attached to someone else’s. This noise can be even worse, if you have people living above and below as well as to the left and right as is the case in most apartments.

If you are suffering from noisy apartment neighbours, then don’t despair, there are lots of things you can do to reduce noise to a tolerable level. One of the first and least costly ways to reduce noise is to apply acoustic dampening paint on shared walls.

This may not get rid of your noise problem but it’s a start. The next thing to do is to carpet the stairs if you have them. This will not only help with sound insulation in your apartment but also reduce the level of noise people will be experiencing from below.

The less noise you make the less noise the people below are likely to make and at the very least you can feel more confident about knocking on their door and asking them to keep the noise down.

If you still find noise levels intolerable then you can always opt to soundproof your walls or add acoustic panelling. If you want to find out more about those, just give us a call.

Feb

2016

Hotels Working Towards Solving The Problem Of Room Noise

Staying in a noisy hotel isn’t fun and most of us will have experienced how unpleasant it is at some point in our lives. Now it looks like some of the biggest hotel operators are striving to make noise from corridors a thing of the past with a new solution they hope will radically reduce cut down noise levels.

While this new ‘solution’ to the noise problem in some hotel corridors hasn’t been introduced into the UK, Holiday Inn have launched a special sliding internal door which it hopes will make life a little more peaceful for its guests in the US.

Unfortunately it didn’t include this extra piece of soundproofing in the first four of its UK hotels with new look rooms in January of this year. The door has been unsurprisingly named ‘the acoustic door’ and is placed at room entrances which separate bedroom and living areas from the corridors.

Disappointingly for people who like peace and quiet in the UK and Europe, IHG, the company that owns Holiday have said they have no plans to install their acoustic doors in any new or renovated rooms in Europe according to reports.

Instead they hope that guests will be content with ‘padded noise reducing headboards’ although it is difficult to see how a padded headboard will do anything to reduce noise from noisy corridors.

Other chains currently looking into innovative ways to tackle the effects of noise include Hyatt, Marriott, and Ritz Carlton.

Metropolitan Insulation Blog