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The system we have developed below is easy to fit with little DIY experience required and is simply laid on top of your existing concrete floor. The system uses one layer of Advanced Acoustics 10kg Soundproofing Mat followed by a layer of R10 Vibration Absorbing Matting and a final layer of Advanced Acoustics SilentBoard. The system has a total thickness of approximately 40mm. The Basic Concreate Floor Soundproofing System is designed to mainly reduce impact noise and is suitable for use with carpet, LVT, a natural wood floor or engineered wood floor. This system will also offer some reduction in airborne noise.
Installation Guide
- Ensure the floor that you are installing this system onto is sound and free from defects. It needs to be clean, dry, and free from dust, grease and any other contaminants. Remove all skirting and door architraves.
- Fill any gaps or holes in the concrete floor with AC95 Acoustic Sealant using a caulking gun for precise application. Smooth the sealant down.
- You are now ready to lay your first layer of soundproofing mat. Starting in a corner unroll the roll of 10kg Soundproofing Mat and lay it loosely in place on the floor ensuring it is tight up to two walls. Fold half of the roll back and apply Advanced Acoustics Contact Adhesive to both the floor and the soundproofing mat, completely covering both surfaces.
- As soon as the adhesive is applied the roll is ready to be laid in place. Roll the Soundproofing Mat back out and use a clean sweeping brush or a roller to brush out any air gaps and ensure the mat is secured down.
- Fold back the loose half of the Soundproofing Mat and repeat the process.
- Roll out another roll of Soundproofing Mat laying the matting end to end from the first roll.
- Trim to approximate length as required using a Utility Knife. Cut the roll slightly longer than required so that you can trim to fit once the roll is laid.
- Place the loose roll up to the two walls, allowing the 10kg Soundproofing Mat to overlap onto the previously installed sheet of Soundproofing Mat. Fold half of the roll back and repeat the process of applying Contact Adhesive to the floor and the Soundproofing Mat. Once glued and brushed down you can now apply adhesive to the loose half of the roll.
- Where the two layers of soundproofing mat overlap you can now trim these with a Utility Knife, cutting through both layers. Remove the waste and re-glue down where the two rolls join. Using this method will ensure there are no gaps in the soundproofing mat.
- You can then continue to glue down the rest of the soundproofing mat ensuring you slightly overlap the mats to allow you to trim them in order to get a clean joint.
- Once the whole floor is covered seal the joints with the PVC Jointing Tape.
- Next seal the joint around the perimeter of the room between the soundproofing mat and the wall using AC95 Acoustic Sealant to ensure there are no gaps. Use a caulking gun precise application and smooth the sealant down.
- The layer of Uproll can now be installed directly on top.
- The layer of Uproll needs to be installed perpendicular to the Soundproofing mat so as to avoid having overlapping joints.
- The Uproll is loose laid and has a self adhesive lip along the edge to join the rolls together.
- Starting in a corner lay the first roll of Uproll out and position it in place tight up to the two corners.
- Trim to length as required using a Utility Knife. Use the off-cut to start the next row to save waste. Where you have two rolls butted up to each other use PVC Jointing tape to seal the joint and hold it in place and save the product curling up.
- When trimming the Uproll to size take care not to cut though to the first layer of soundproofing mat.
- Once the whole floor is covered you are ready to install the 18mm SilentBoard. Run 5mm thick, 25mm wide Advanced Acoustics Resilient Sealing Tape around the perimeter of the room along the bottom of the wall. The SilentBoard will butt up to this tape and create a tight seal decoupled from the walls.
- The 18mm SilentBoard is loose laid on top of the Uproll but the tonque and groves are glued together with the Mega Strength PU adhesive.
- If required cut SilentBoards using a circular saw fixed with a vacuum extractor and a PCD saw blade. This method will cut boards easily and mitigate dust. Boards are laid with board text facing up.
- Starting in a corner lay the first SilentBoard down fitting it tight up against the resilient sealing tape.
- Apply PU adhesive to the end of the board’s tongue
- Apply adhesive to the groove of the board to be fitted and position into place ensuring there is no step in the two boards and the boards remain tight against the resilient sealing tape.
- Repeat the process until a full run has been fitted.
- Use the off-cut to start the next row allowing you to fit in a brickbond fashion.
- For the preceding rows you need to apply the PU adhesive along the length of the board in situ and the board to be fitted. Repeat this process until the floor is completely covered.
- You can reinstate the skirting and the door architraves remembering the floor height is now different and will require adjustment. Leave a 2mm gap between the skirting and the SilentBoard. A 2mm gap will also be required between the bottom of the architrave and the SilentBoard.
- Once the skirting has been fitted seal the gap with AC95 Acoustic Sealant using a caulking gun for precise application. Smooth the sealant for a clean finish.
- If carpet is to be fitted complete the following steps. Otherwise jump to step 40.
- Install the carpet gripper around the perimeter of the room.
- Once the gripper is in place you now need to install the Silent Floor Ultra Underlay. This needs to be installed perpendicular to the SilentBoard.
- Apply Advanced Acoustics Contact Adhesive to the Soundproofing Mat side of Silent Floor Ultra. The foam is to be faced upwards. Apply adhesive to the SilentBoard, covering an area slightly larger than the size of the Silent Floor Ultra Sheet.
- Position the Silent Floor Ultra in place butting it up tightly to the gripper rod. The room isn’t square you may need to trim the Silent Floor Ultra to shape before apply adhesive.
- Repeat the process butting the Mats up tightly to each other, ensuring there are no gaps.
- When you have completed the first row use the off-cut to start the second row. This will create a brick bond layout to minimise waste and stagger joints.
- Repeat the process until the whole floor is covered.
- Seal the joints of the Silent Floor Ultra with PVC Jointing Tape.
- The floor is now ready for carpet.
- If LVT or laminate is to be fitted complete the following steps. Otherwise jump to step 52.
- If it is a loose laid LVT or Laminate use SilentMat18. The product should be allowed to de-stress and adopt a flat position. The product can then be fitted loose in line with the floor finish manufacturer’s instructions.
- If a bond LVT is to be fitted use SilentMat16. SilentMat16 must be bonded to the subfloor.
- Wherever possible the product should be installed so that the joints run with the direction of the main light in the installation area rather than against it. Ideally this will also be at 90 degrees to the finished floor so that the chance of coinciding joints is minimised.
- The product should be dry laid into workable areas and cut at least 50mm over the length required and allowed to relax for the acclimatisation period. After acclimatisation the underlay should then be cut using a utility knife and straight edge and a gap of around 3mm should be left around the perimeter to allow for any expansion.
- The SilentMat16 should not be in direct contact with any wall, column or skirting board that has not been isolated using a perimeter isolation strip. The product should be adhered to the subfloor using a recommended adhesive strictly in accordance with the installation instructions of the adhesive manufacturer. It is particularly important to refer to the adhesive manufacturer’s advice in respect of trowel sizes, application rates/coverage’s and open times.
- Only spread enough adhesive to cover a workable area, and after the required open time lay the product into the adhesive and smooth out from the centre using a carpet glider or hand roller to ensure that the product is fully into the adhesive and all air bubbles are released.
- The SilentMat16 should then be fully rolled into the adhesive using a 68kg articulated flooring roller to ensure full adhesion along the entire length and width of the product.
- All edges should be butt jointed ensuring that all seams and joints are smooth without any voids but not too tight. Open seams with any gaps will “telegraph” through most LVTs, so it is very important that the underlayment work is as smooth and well seamed as possible.
- Once the SilentMat16 is fully bonded to the subfloor, this time will depend on the adhesive used but usually after 24 hours, the LVT can be installed. SilentMat16 should be used with glued down LVT products of a minimum thickness of 2mm so that issues of “telegraphing” through are minimised. To provide noise improvement the product has to have a level of resilience to absorb impact energy and as such adds a degree of softness to the overall floor. This must be born in mind for areas where critical lateral lighting may be present, also please seek advice for installation areas where there may be equipment with extreme point loading.
- The LVT should be installed following the instructions of the LVT manufacturer using a suitable approved adhesive with correct notched trowel size. SilentMat16 has limited porosity so some wet set adhesives may take longer to go off. Ideally the LVT should be installed at 90° to the SilentMat16 so that the chance of coinciding joints is minimised. It is important to leave a small gap so that the finished floor does not come into contact with any part of the perimeter to avoid flanking problems.
- The gap should be filled with AC95 Acoustic Sealant.
- Due to the slightly increased floor height any doors may need to be trimmed to suit. If you are uncertain about completing this a joiner or handy man will have no problem carrying this out for you.
System Thickness - Approx 45mm.