r/Glasgow Tools

Title
Author	cubemackie
Comment	Haven't done it in a flat but it's not much different in any building. I have installed insulation in my own home. You'd have to take up the floorboards and insulate in between the joists. Different insulation has different sound insulation properties, you can either go for mineral wool or insulation boards, the boards are more expensive but do a better job at sound and heat insulation. You can get special tools that make removing floorboards very easy. Then once done you can either put the original floorboards back on or buy chipboard and screw that onto the joists. Chipboard isn't that hard to install, it's just a case of cutting it to size (I did mine with a jigsaw) and gluing the joints with wood glue, and of course screwing them down onto the joists (you'd need a decent combi drill or impact driver). Reusing your floorboards is a lot cheaper obviously but chipboard isn't going to squeak if you fit it properly, I spent hours fixing all the squeaks on the floorboards of my 1930s house, but if you're not bothered by squeaking then no need to do this. You don't need huge amount of skills to do this and it's something that anyone can learn on the job. If you're wanting to insulate your ceiling also you'd either have to remove your ceiling and insulate above it and get it replastered or you could build a false ceiling underneath, that might be easier and less hassle if you have a high ceiling, which is likely in a tenement. Doing something like that sounds daunting but it's really not that complicated, but this is definitely a 2 man job if you intend to do it yourself. In terms of price, it's not really knowable because it depends on the size of your rooms and flat. If you do go down the cheaper road, you can get rolls of 200m mineral wool insulation in B&Q for £17 right now if you buy a minimum of three of them.
Reddit Link	https://www.reddit.com/r/glasgow/comments/kacy57/soundproofing_floors_in_a_tenement_flat/gf9msvh/
Created	Thu 10th Dec 2020 11:10am
Status	normal ()

Haven't done it in a flat but it's not much different in any building. I have installed insulation in my own home. You'd have to take up the floorboards and insulate in between the joists. Different insulation has different sound insulation properties, you can either go for mineral wool or insulation boards, the boards are more expensive but do a better job at sound and heat insulation. You can get special tools that make removing floorboards very easy. Then once done you can either put the original floorboards back on or buy chipboard and screw that onto the joists. Chipboard isn't that hard to install, it's just a case of cutting it to size (I did mine with a jigsaw) and gluing the joints with wood glue, and of course screwing them down onto the joists (you'd need a decent combi drill or impact driver).

Reusing your floorboards is a lot cheaper obviously but chipboard isn't going to squeak if you fit it properly, I spent hours fixing all the squeaks on the floorboards of my 1930s house, but if you're not bothered by squeaking then no need to do this. You don't need huge amount of skills to do this and it's something that anyone can learn on the job.

If you're wanting to insulate your ceiling also you'd either have to remove your ceiling and insulate above it and get it replastered or you could build a false ceiling underneath, that might be easier and less hassle if you have a high ceiling, which is likely in a tenement. Doing something like that sounds daunting but it's really not that complicated, but this is definitely a 2 man job if you intend to do it yourself.

In terms of price, it's not really knowable because it depends on the size of your rooms and flat. If you do go down the cheaper road, you can get rolls of 200m mineral wool insulation in B&Q for £17 right now if you buy a minimum of three of them.