Metropolitan Insulation

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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.

Feb

2016

4 Out Of 5 Spanish Homes Don’t Have Enough Sound Proofing

Here in the UK you will find that most new houses will be built with a decent level of sound proofing. In Spain, however, many people will probably be sitting with their fingers in their ears as they endure noise levels up to 65 decibels according to a new global study by Danosa on sound proofing in homes.

The lack of sound proofing is a problem in four out of five Spanish homes according to the survey, which suggests that while the country may have the benefit of a warm climate and sizzling summers, people who live in the country are more likely to be disturbed or be exposed to the effects of noise.

Spain, despite being the worst in Europe finds itself in second place to Japan, which has an even worse record for sound proofing. The problems for Spain go back several years due to a lack of any regulations on soundproofing prior to 2009. Since then the country has been required to meet European regulations on sound proofing when building new homes.

The recommended noise level in homes according to WHO is 55 decibels during the day and 45 decibels during the night. The effects of noise on health are far from trivial with excess noise being blamed for a number of health problems as well as lack of sleep if noise levels are excessive during the night.

Feb

2014

Maxiboard

Maxiboard is the perfect material for soundproofing your walls and ceilings. It is great for spaces where loss of room space is not an option. It can be applied to most lightweight brickwork or double skinned brick walls. It can also be used to form an independent structure, and is moisture resistant and extremely durable. Maxiboard is only 17mm thick offering maximum performance for minimum thickness.

Jan

2014

Soundproof Studios launched in Manchester

The Uk’s first fully soundproof studio suite has been launched in Greater Manchester. The suite of 4 soundproof studios was funded by Manchester council.

The green screen studios mean that they can be used for virtually any filming, voice overs, photography, adverts etc. Project Director Sue Woodward said;

“There is increasing demand for dedicated green screen studios complete with cycloramas and sound proofing, triggered by the growth of digital content production and the need for bite-sized snippets of digital media in many formats for use across all business sectors in the modern world.”

Jan

2014

DIY Homes answer to Housing Crisis?

A new co-housing development has just been completed outside of Lancaster. Residents who formed the Lancaster CoHousing Group three years ago have reduced their environmental impact and costs by combining resources. They share a laundry, tools, kitchen facilities and a playroom.

The houses have all been designed to the Passivhaus standard. This aims to reduce energy consumption through the use of sprayed insulation, triple glazing, biomass boilers and solar panels.

Another self-build housing cooperative has been developed on the outskirts of Leeds. Packed with straw bales and sprayed with lime render, the straw keeps the heat in and the sound out.

Dec

2013

Soundproofing Your Business

All the noises that come within the normal office environment can combine to make quite a racket. Keeping your workers and clients happy by keeping the noise pollution to a minimum can be a challenge. But there are some things that you can do to help sound proof your business.

There are many sound proofing techniques that can be used these days to keep noise both in and out. With the noise made by computers, walking on floors, traffic noise etc, latest soundproofing techniques can help enrormously.

You can also upgrade your current soundproofing solution if it is no longer up to the job. Metropolitan Insulation can help you to decide what option is the best for your specific business. Whether you are a commercial office building, a music studio or a doctors surgery, we have a solution that will fit your situation and budget.

Dec

2013

Soundproof Music Centre and Coffee Shop in London

A new soundproof coffee shop and music room has opened in the London borough of Camden this week. Tower 47 is a New York style cafe on Chalk Farm Road, London.

The back of the shop will sell musical instruments, whilst the front of the shop serves coffee, but it will also host music gigs overlooking thr cafe, on the mezzanine level.

They are also in the process of building seven soundproof rooms which will be used for lessons and rehearsals.

Nov

2013

Raising funds for charity with help from Sprayed Insulation!

A surveyor from Edinburgh is to spend two month on the remote island of Rockall to raise money for Help the Heroes. He will spend his time in an eight foot water tank, sprayed with foam insulation to protect himself from the cold.

Only four people in total have ever slept on Rockall, but Nick Hancock, 30, says he is confidant that he can do it;

“The RockPod survival shelter I have constructed is almost complete. It was recently insulated with sprayed insulation, and I am now finishing it internally.”

Oct

2013

World’s First Quiet House

The Ideal Home Show in London has been proudly showing visitors what is being billed as the ‘world’s first quiet house’. Featuring the quietest appliances available such as silent fans, shower pumps, hair dryers, soft close toilet seats and lots more innovative noise pollution decreasing ideas.

The house was created by a not-for-profit company Quiet Mark, to highlight the awareness of noise pollution in the UK. The project is a spin-off of the Noise Abatement Society, launched by Poppy Elliott.

“The Quiet House is like building the ultimate peace pad,” Elliott says. “When we come home, it’s supposed to be our sanctuary, our place to recharge. What’s happened is, we’ve gone on this amazing technological revolution where everything around us is technology but often the compromise in the design is that the sound hasn’t been considered, so you’ve got this massive orchestra at home.”

Major world cities have seen a significant increase in noise companies over the last five years. The soundproofing industry is therefore in a constant state of growth to keep up with demand for sound-reducing appliances and houses. An Ipsos poll in 2007 stated that the third most important factor when purchasing household appliances was noise reduction. It is therefore becoming a priority for property developers to consider acoustic design in new builds, as well as considering the aesthetics.

Oct

2013

Dark side of Silence?? Don’t be daft!

A recent new article on the BBC News website disused a so called ‘Dark Side of Silence. The article goes on to explain about the history of noise through the ages, and various archaic forms of soundproofing. Taking ancient Rome and it’s hustle and bustle of everyday life, where people would simply escape to the relative calm of the hills to get away from it.

Nowadays, thankfully there are more solutions to drown out the noise of city living. In Victorian London, many street musicians and the iron wheels of carriages were most to blame for the constant din of London life. Many authors of the time such as Charles Dickens have written of their madness at such.

The article says that one writer in particular Thomas Carlyle, was ‘nearly driven out of his mind, spent a fortune building a state-of-the-art “soundproof study” in his Chelsea attic’. Unfortunately it didn’t turn out to be a great success.

These days it is possible to live in London and enjoy the peace at the same time. Modern soundproofing techniques can achieve pretty much anything. Just ask us! to prove it!

To read the full BBC News article please click here.

Metropolitan Insulation Blog