retrofit soundproofing/fireproofing between ground and 1st floor

makeorbrake

Hi. Considering splitting a house up into 2x flats. What is feasible in trying to achieve some form of soundproofing between ground floor and 1st floor - in a retrofit scenario?

In terms of fireproofing, does anyone have any suggestions/advice?

Anyone any recommendations?

dfbemt

If you split a house into 2 x flats you will need a Fire Safety Certificate.

Apply to your local authority Fire Service. Should be straightforward enough.

makeorbrake

dfbemt wrote: »

If you split a house into 2 x flats you will need a Fire Safety Certificate.

Apply to your local authority Fire Service. Should be straightforward enough.

Thanks for that. For right now, I want to stick with the practicalities of what steps I can take to retrofit soundproofing and the nuts and bolts of what measures are likely to be needed before I go for a fire safety certificate.


If anyone has any suggestions in this regard, it would be much appreciated.

makeorbrake

Anyone?

bobhangsit

I worked in the U.S. for about 20 years and here in Greece for about 5 installing drywall and all of the fire and sound protection work I did involved the use of rock wool and fire rated gypsum panels (sheetrock). In a wood frame house you could remove the sheetrock from the ceiling in the lower space and stuff the space between the rafters with rock wool then replace the sheetrock with one or two layers of new fire rated boards. There are also resilient furring strips you could attach to the rafters to attach the boards to for more sound absorption. Or if you didn't want to take down the old ceiling you could build down from the old. But that results in less overhead space that you might not want. I've also used layers of fiber boards like these: http://www.gp.com/build/product.aspx?pid=1071 in conjunction with the gypsum boards for sound proofing. I don't know what regulations or codes you have where you are but I'd bet you have to have a fire rated ceiling in the lower space to begin with.

bobhangsit

btw just for entertainment purposes, here's an example of extreme soundproofing:


Someone wanted to put a nightclub inside a residential building and lined all the walls and ceilings with 2X rock wool, polystyrene panels then gypsum boards. The objects hanging from the ceiling covered in plastic are massive speaker systems.

makeorbrake

Hi Bob. Thanks for taking the time out to post. That certainly gives me a starting point in consideration of how the problem can be tackled.