Improving Wall Sound Insulation with Cork

Wall sound insulation is an important feature for any home or commercial site. As the name suggests, it stops noise getting into your property from outside. In this post, we’ll discuss the benefits of sound insulation and how the natural properties of cork can improve sound insulation for your walls.

The benefits of wall sound insulation

There is a long list of distracting, frustrating or just downright annoying noises that can disturb the peace and quiet between your four walls, including:

• The constant flow of traffic
• Noise from aeroplanes passing over your property
• Loud neighbours and their barking dogs
• Passers-by and their conversations
• Maintenance workers on roads or other properties
• Nearby nature like birds or even rustling trees
• Weather, such as heavy rain, wind-driven rain, or hail

If you’ve noticed any of these, it’s understandable that you might blame your windows. But it’s not just glazing that can let sound through. Wall sound insulation plays a big role in keeping your home or commercial property separate from outside noise. In doing so, it provides a range of benefits…

• Peaceful environment – from watching TV and reading a book to enjoying mealtimes and entertaining guests, everything you do inside your home will be much more pleasant if you aren’t being disturbed by traffic, neighbours and other noises.
• Better sleep – we all need a good night’s sleep to function properly in the day. Wall sound insulation can help you achieve that with a peaceful night-time environment for better physical and mental health.
• Improved productivity – whether it’s at your commercial premises or a home office, insulating your walls can improve your concentration, enabling better productivity for yourself or your team.

How to improve wall sound insulation

Given all of the points above, it’s only natural that you’ll want to improve the sound insulation qualities of your walls. Broadly speaking, there are two options – internal wall sound insulation and insulating walls from the outside.

Internal insulation

When it comes to internal wall sound insulation, some products like insulation boards and sheets can eat away significantly at the space available in your room once applied on top of existing plaster. Alternatively, it can be time-consuming and expensive to remove plaster, apply insulation, then plaster on top.

The alternative is to use a thin internal coating like SprayCork. Because it harnesses the natural insulative qualities of cork, it can be applied in two thin layers of just 3mm each, plus a 2mm plaster over-skim. That’s a reduction in noise of up to 12 decibels, with a total coating of just 8mm.

External insulation

If you don’t want to impact the inside of your home, another option is to insulate your walls from the outside. Again, this is an area where acoustic boards and panels are often used. However, similar to boards used internally, they are far from slim and discreet.

To install external insulation boards, you’ll typically need to remove pipework before installation, then adjust it afterwards to account for the additional bulk on your walls. A simpler way is to use an exterior wall coating like SprayCork, which provides the same – if not better – sound insulation, with much less disruption to your walls.

Improve your wall sound insulation

Ready for a more peaceful, productive and enjoyable environment inside your four walls? Get in touch with the Corksol team today, and we’ll put you in touch with a local approved applicator who is fully trained in applying SprayCork to the highest standards.