Timber floating floors use an interlocking system of tongue and groove edges, battens and isolators. This configuration isolates sound and vibration from the floor below, but it doesn’t provide soundproofing as standard.
To soundproof floating floors, a soundproof layer is bonded to the underside of the floor, creating an impenetrable sound barrier.
Vibration and noise won’t pass through the floor, providing it has a sufficiently thick sound-absorbing layer and can deal with shock.
Soundproofing a floating floor is most common on upper floor levels so that activities above do not impact people below.
When discussing soundproofed floating floors, we mostly refer to timber floating floors because concrete floating floors are naturally soundproof and installed at ground level.
Floating floors are modular and highly configurable, built on top of sound subfloors with no requirement for structural building work. Installation is quick, and floating floors cost far less than dedicated acoustic flooring in most cases.
Is a floating floor right for you?
Floating floors replace an existing floor with installation over the existing system, saving you the time and effort of making a new subfloor.
For example, the TVS Raised Adjustable Acoustic Floor System uses an acoustic dampener and can be installed over any subfloor.
Because the new floor is floating, it is isolated from the old subfloor, so vibration and noise cannot transmit to the building structure. This will significantly improve the room’s acoustics and reduce the impact of footfall on others.
However, to be soundproof, the floating floor requires acoustic insulation. In the case of underlay, this is usually made from an acoustic rubber sandwiching foam. Packing the space between the joists can also reduce noise transmission.
Acoustic isolation with floating floors
If you want to isolate acoustics to one room, a floating floor is ideal for dealing with foot traffic, moving furniture, trolleys and other floor contacts.
Most floating floors in hotels, apartment blocks and studios have acoustic insulation to improve user experience. A secondary benefit to acoustic insulation is it improves thermal efficiency, reducing heat loss between the floor and subfloor.
We can install a timber or concrete floating floor with minimal disruption. For example, our jack-up floating floor is fast to install with no bottom formwork.
We recommend floating floors for soundproofing in most applications and can recommend the right system for your use case. Feel free to contact us for advice about your soundproofing requirements, and we’ll be happy to help.
