Floors
Below you’ll find a compilation of floor soundproofing products. The list is arranged by the cost of the solution, from high to low.
Solution: Acoustiblok
Cost: Expensive
Summary: Acoustiblok is a proprietary formulated viscoelastic polymer, which in layman’s terms is a thick sheet of rubbery material. It is pliable and a typical floor installation is to place it beneath the subfloor or directly under the main flooring material (carpet or hardwood). The claimed sound dampening is significant. One nice thing about Acoustiblok is that it can be used on walls, ceilings, and floors, so you can buy in bulk and use it for many different soundproofing applications in your home.
Solution: Homasote Soundbarrier
Cost: Moderate
Summary: The best application for this product seems to be floors. It can go right under carpet, vinyl, and most hardwoods (including tongue and groove) and provides a very good amount of noise attenuation. The product is available in 1/2 inch, 5/8 inch, and 3/4 inch versions, but under carpet, going from 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch only gets you a 2% improvement in sound transfer, so it is hardly worth the extra cost.
Solution: Dimple Subfloor
Cost: Moderate
Summary: This product uses dimples in the material to deflect and absorb noise. It is available in sheets and requires that seams between sheets be taped. Installation is typically directly underneath most hardwood floors. Tongue and Groove flooring and carpeting will require that you place the dimple subfloor material beneath a plywood subfloor layer.
Solution: Mass Loaded Vinyl
Cost: Moderate
Summary: Priced about double green glue, but half of Acoustiblok, Mass Loaded Vinyl is a moderate cost soundproofing product. The product is often described as a loaded vinyl barrier with a foam backing. It could be confused with Acoustiblok, but the price difference should alert you to the differences. Many manufacturers of this product will make inflated claims as to the amount of soundproofing you’ll get. It certainly offers soundproofing, but not nearly as much as Acoustiblok or QuietRock. If you are on a tight construction budget this product can be a fit for your project. Typical application is to staple this material to Soundboard which is attached directly to the studs.