If you live in an apartment in Ireland, noise is probably your biggest problem. Neighbours above, below, and either side. Thin walls, concrete floors, and a structure that carries sound from one end of the building to the other. Soundproofing an apartment in Ireland is not as complicated as it sounds, but you need to treat each surface differently to get a real result.
This guide covers the main noise problems in Irish apartments and the right approach for each one.
Why Apartments Are So Hard to Soundproof
Apartments present a unique challenge. Unlike a house where you own the full structure, in an apartment you share walls, floors, and ceilings with other people. You can only treat your own side of any shared surface. You also tend to have less space to work with, so the products you use need to be effective without adding too much thickness.
The other challenge is that noise comes from every direction. Footsteps from above. TV and voices from next door. Bass from a floor below. Each of these travels differently and needs a different solution.
The World Health Organisation links persistent exposure to indoor noise with sleep disruption and serious long-term health effects. If noise in your apartment is affecting your sleep or daily life it is worth fixing properly.
How to Soundproof an Apartment Floor
Most Irish apartments have concrete floors. Concrete handles airborne noise reasonably well but is poor at stopping impact noise, the thud of footsteps, dropped objects, and furniture being moved.
The right fix for a concrete apartment floor is to decouple the floor finish from the slab below. AM Eco-Lay is a high-density recycled rubber underlay that sits between the concrete slab and your floor finish. It absorbs impact vibration before it travels into the structure below and disturbs the people underneath you.
It comes in 2mm, 3mm, and 4.5mm thicknesses. For apartments where impact noise is a real issue the 4.5mm is the right choice. It is compatible with engineered hardwood, LVT, vinyl, ceramic, and natural stone so it works with whatever floor finish you have planned.
Soundproofing Apartment Walls
Shared walls in apartments are typically where airborne noise is the biggest problem. Voices, TV, music. The thinner the wall the worse it is, and many Irish apartment blocks built in the 2000s and early 2010s used lightweight construction that falls well short of modern acoustic standards.
The most effective approach for an apartment wall is to add mass to your side. AM EcoVinyl Mass Loaded Vinyl is a dense flexible barrier that adds 5kg or 10kg per square metre to a wall without significantly increasing its thickness. It goes on behind a new layer of plasterboard and blocks airborne sound before it can pass through.
For a retrofit situation where you want to keep the build-up as thin as possible, pair the MLV with AM Soundproofing Eco Board. The Eco Board adds further mass and delivers an airborne sound reduction of Rw 31dB on its own. Together the two layers give you a proper mass-based system on your side of the wall without major structural work.
As always, sealing every gap around sockets, skirting boards, and where the wall meets the floor and ceiling is just as important as the products themselves. Even a small gap lets significant noise through.
Soundproofing Apartment Ceilings
Ceiling noise from the apartment above is one of the hardest problems to solve because you are working against gravity. Everything you install on the ceiling has to be properly fixed and supported.
The most practical approach for an apartment ceiling is to add a layer of AM EcoVinyl Mass Loaded Vinyl above a new plasterboard layer. The MLV adds the mass needed to block airborne noise coming through from above, while the new plasterboard layer gives you a clean finished surface.
For maximum performance a resilient bar system between the existing ceiling and the new plasterboard layer decouples the two and stops vibration travelling directly through the fixing points. This is the approach used in professional acoustic builds and makes a significant difference to both impact and airborne noise from above.
What to Expect From Apartment Soundproofing
Be realistic about results. You are working from one side of every shared surface. You will not achieve a completely silent apartment. What you will achieve is a meaningful reduction in the noise that is affecting your daily life, enough to sleep properly, work from home without distraction, and have a conversation without broadcasting it to your neighbours.
The biggest gains come from treating the surface that is causing the most disruption first. For most people in Irish apartments that is either the ceiling or the shared wall with a noisy neighbour. Start there and work outward.
Get Advice on Your Apartment
Every apartment is different. Construction type, age of the building, and what is causing the noise all affect which products and approach will work best.
Contact the Acoustic Materials team on sales@acousticmaterials.ie or call +353 1 201 5746 for advice on your on how to soundproof an apartment.
