Whether you’re trying to reduce environmental noise or want to soundproof a music or home entertainment room, soundproofing is well-worth considering.
Installing soundproofing may seem simple in theory, but it’s quite a challenging job in practice.
Luckily, there are tons of excellent soundproofing materials on the market today, and the cost of fitting soundproofing is more reasonable than ever.
This is a guide will review the average costs of soundproofing a room in the UK, factors that affect the cost and other common questions surrounding soundproofing a room.
Average Cost of Soundproofing a Room
By collecting quotes from 5 primary sources and 8 secondary sources, we compiled the following cost averages of soundproofing projects per room for different levels of soundproofing.
To Building Regulations Standards (Renovations and New Builds)
Costs are for standard soundproofing that provides sound resistance just beyond Building Regulation minimums (roughly 45 to 50dB).
Building Regulation compliance covers the minimum soundproofing required for renovations and new builds.
Costs include material supply and labour for a single one-room project, which should take around two days.
| Wall Soundproofing | Ceiling and Floor Soundproofing | Total Project Cost, Including Labour | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Room, e.g. Bedroom (5m²) | £750 - £1,250 | £300 - £600 | £1,850 - £2,200 |
| Medium Room, e.g. Large Bedroom (10m²) | £1,350 - £2,500 | £550 - £1,100 | £3,150 - £4,000 |
| Large Room, e.g. Living Room (20m²) | £2,500 - £5,000 | £1,000 - £2,000 | £6,000 - £8,000 |
To a High-End Standard (Studio-Level Soundproofing)
High-performance soundproofing delivers sound resistance above and beyond Building Regulation minimums.
This will be used for rooms for projects such as studio-level soundproofing, for music rooms, home entertainment rooms and home studios.
| Room Type | Wall Soundproofing | Ceiling and Floor Soundproofing | Total Project Cost, Including Labour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Room, e.g. Bedroom (5m²) | £1,500 - £2,500 | £600 - £1200 | £3,700 - £4,400 |
| Medium Room, e.g. Large Bedroom (10m²) | £2,700 - £5,000 | £1,100 - £2,200 | £6,300 - £8,000 |
| Large Room, e.g. Living Room (20m²) | £5,000 - £10,000 | £2,000 to £4,000 | £12,000 - £16,000 |
Average Costs of Soundproofing Walls Per m²
The following are the average costs of soundproofing walls by the metre squared. Most modern houses have 2.4 or 2.6m tall walls.
Costs cover the supply of goods only, and not installation.
| Type of Soundproofing | Building Regulation Compliance (Basic Soundproofing) | High-End Studio Quality |
|---|---|---|
| Direct-To-Wall Soundproofing | £15 - £35/m² | £50 - £75/m² |
| Clip-On Soundproofing | N/A | £75 - £100/m² |
| Stud Wall Inserts | £15 to £35/m² | £40 to £65/m² |
Average Costs of Soundproofing Floors and Ceilings Per m2
The following are the average costs of soundproofing floors and ceilings by the metre squared.
Costs cover the supply of goods only, and not installation.
| Type of Soundproofing | Building Regulation Compliance (Basic Soundproofing) | High-End Studio Quality |
|---|---|---|
| Soundproof Mat For Flooring | £10 - £15/m² | £15 - £25/m² |
| Soundproofing For Joist Ceilings | £40 - £45/m² | £55 - £65/m² |
Extra Costs Affecting Soundproofing Projects
Soundproofing projects can be quite straightforward in the case of new builds or renovations, or complex in the case of building fully-fledged music or studio rooms.
Firstly, it’s worth considering what you want to get out of soundproofing. Soundproofing to reduce general noise is different to soundproofing to build a music room, studio or home entertainment room.
If you’re looking to build a truly soundproofed room, then you’ll need to budget a lot more than if you’re simply looking for decent general-purpose acoustic performance.
To build a home music room, studio or entertainment room, you’ll need to factor in the cost of high-quality clip-on soundproofing with additional bass traps and a soundproof door:
- A soundproof door costs around £750 to £1,500.
- Bass traps cost around £40 to £120 per piece, and you’ll typically need at least eight for a high-end soundproofed space.
- Additional soundproofing applied to the walls and ceiling can cost £50/m2 or so.
- Wall plugs need to be soundproofed too, costing around £20 to £30 per plug socket.
Cost to Soundproof Windows
Many high-end double and triple-glazed windows are designed to be soundproofed.
Soundproofed windows greatly assist in lowering ambient noise, which is especially useful when soundproofing a house from exterior noise like cars, trains and planes.
A soundproofed double-glazed double window measuring 1700 x 1200mm will cost within the region of £1,000.
Specialist double-glazed windows for noise-sensitive installations (e.g. recording studios) will cost more.
How Does Soundproofing Work?
Sound is a wave that propagates through a medium. In soundproofing terms, there are two consequences of noise:
Airborne noise: Airborne noise travels through the air. Any noise occurring from within a room will propagate as airborne noise. Examples include music from a speaker or a conversation. Airborne noise is mostly absorbed by the walls or other vertical surfaces.
Impact noise: Impact noise is noises that travel through solid surfaces via direct contact and impact. Examples include chairs and furniture scraping on the floor, and footsteps. Impact noise is mostly absorbed by the floor and ceiling.
To comprehensively soundproof a room, it’s necessary to target both airborne and impact noise. In addition to panels and mats, it may be necessary to install bass traps to
Types of Soundproofing For Walls
There are three main types of soundproofing for walls:
- Direct-to-wall insulation, which can be applied to practically any wall.
- Independent or clip soundproofing systems.
- Inserts for stud walls.
Direct To Wall Soundproofing
Direct-to-wall systems essentially apply the soundproofing material directly to the wall, without altering the wall’s structure. Material is attached to the inside of the wall to absorb sound. This works pretty well in most situations and doesn’t take up much room.
This type of soundproofing can insulate airborne noise by 45dB to 55dB, which is sufficient for meeting Building Regulations for newbuilds. High-performance direct-to-wall soundproofing can provide 60dB of sound insulation.
- Can be applied to most pre-existing walls.
- Cheap and relatively easy to apply.
- Doesn’t take up much room.
- Decent soundproofing performance for standard residential uses, e.g. blocking TV noise, conversations and standard music playing.
- Not sufficient for home recording studios or louder musical instruments.
Clip-On Soundproofing
Clip-on soundproofing ‘clips on’ to an existing wall, creating a new wall with an acoustic interior and gap between the new ‘wall’ and the existing wall.
This provides studio-level sound insulation, as many vibrations cannot physically transmit through the medium into the existing wall. These types of systems can comfortably provide 65dB of sound resistance.
If you’re considering erecting new walls (e.g. for a new build or extension), then you can also fit soundproofing inside the new wall (if it’s a stud wall).
Alternatively, new solid walls can be built with a second thinner plasterboard wall on the inside or outside, and the gap filled with acoustic material.
- Can be applied to most pre-existing walls.
- Provides enhanced soundproofing vs direct-to-wall.
- Good choice for home studios, musical instruments, loud TV and music, etc.
- Takes up a few inches of space in the room.
- More expensive option.
Stud Wall Soundproofing
If you have a stud wall, you can insert soundproofing inside the wall cavity. It’s then possible to bolster the soundproofing with a clip-on or direct soundproofing system for maximum studio-level acoustic performance.
Soundproof material is typically inserted into the stud wall for new builds to adhere to Building Regulations for acoustic insulation.
- Go-to choice for new builds and renovations.
- Works both ways; keeps interior and exterior noise out.
- Easy to fit in new walls.
- Can be combined with other soundproofing.
- Cost-effective
Types of Soundproofing for Ceilings and Floors
Of course, it isn’t just the wall where sound can escape. It’s also necessary to soundproof both the floor and ceiling to obtain a truly soundproofed room.
Soundproofing For Floors
There’s only really one option for soundproofing the floor: laying soundproof mats. Soundproof mats are extremely popular for soundproofing loud or echoey floorboards.
They’re immediately effective in homes where sound transmits easily between floors. Soundproof mats are easy to lay and are applied under carpet, floorboards, laminate and other floorings.
Soundproofing For Ceilings
Soundproofing for ceilings can be applied between the ceiling joists.
This is the go-to choice for new builds or renovations. Mineral wool and acoustic plasterboard is a popular combination for soundproofing ceilings.
Soundproofing For Home Recording Studios
In addition to soundproofing walls, ceilings and floors, home recording studios typically require bass traps and additional on-wall soundproofing. Heavy, soundproof doors are also required. Ideally, recording studios should be windowless.
Bass traps are especially important and are fitted to the corners of walls. There are two main types:
- Panel bass traps: These are fitted to a wall as a panel and leave an additional gap between the panel and the wall.
- Corner bass traps: The go-to option for soundproofing the corner of home studios.
Why Consider Soundproofing?
There are three main reasons why people want to soundproof their rooms/homes:
- To keep external noise out, e.g. noise from traffic, planes, trains, etc.
- To quieten a noisy house, e.g. an echoey house with loud floors and reverberating walls.
- To create a dedicated quiet space, e.g. a music room or home studio.
Environmental noise in the UK is a major issue. Noise complaints climbed by 67% in 2021, and train and flight-path noise can greatly affect the value of houses.
Soundproofing rooms as part of a home renovation or new-build projects are very popular and rates an excellent investment and improves the quality of living.
Homes built near noise sources such as train tracks, motorways and airports become much more attractive when marketed with soundproofing. This can vastly boost their market value.
Soundproofing also vastly increases quality of living in older, period properties with loud floorboards and reverberating walls. Quieting thin walls and floors with acoustic mats and panels is relatively straightforward.
Here are the benefits of soundproofing:
-
- Block unwanted environmental noise from neighbours, planes, trains and cars, etc.
- Improve room-to-room soundproofing, decreasing noise from TVs, music, floorboards, etc.
- Avoid causing a nuisance to neighbours when playing music, musical instruments, late-night tv, and so on.
- Make noisy houses more marketable; boosts the value of homes built near train tracks, motorways and flight paths.
- Soundproofing also improves thermal performance, and can be fitted alongside improved insulation.
- Improved sleep quality.
Soundproofing and Building Regulations
Building Regulations in the UK set minimum criteria for sound resistance for both new builds and renovations. Any wall built or modified as part of an extension or other project will need to comply.
Specifications are found in Building Regulations Approved Document E.
- The current minimum level of airborne sound resistance for dividing walls or floors between properties is 45dB in new builds and 43dB in conversion projects. 45dB is about the volume of a fairly loud conversation or the TV on medium volume.
- Internal sound resistance (between walls, floors and ceilings in the property) must be a lesser 40dB.
- More relaxed rules apply to detached properties.
How Long Does it Take to Soundproof a Room?
Soundproofing a room is similar to decorating. The entire room will likely need to be emptied, the carpet removed, wallpaper stripped, plaster removed, etc. Adding soundproofing to ceiling joists requires the plaster to be stripped.
This can be a fairly complex job that takes a few days in the case of larger spaces. Adding basic soundproofing to the floor and wall might only take a couple of days.
Each project is different, and it’s vital to discuss your soundproofing needs with the installer. Soundproofing rooms to meet minimum Building Regulations is different to creating a recording studio.
Get Prices on Soundproofing a Room Near You
We’ve done our best to give you a good idea of what you can expect to pay for soundproofing.
However, our guides are not a substitute for a fixed quote specifically for you.
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To Sum Up
Soundproofing projects vary widely from simple jobs for quieting a home and reducing interior noise to complex projects aimed at sealing a room or rooms off from the outside world.
If you’re looking to build a music room, home studio or entertainment room, you’re looking at a more complex job than basic soundproofing.
Consider the various types of soundproofing material: direct-to-wall options and flooring mats provide excellent performance for those looking to reduce environmental and interior noise.
For larger projects, it’s worth looking into clip-on walls. You’ll also need bass traps if you want to build an entertainment or music room.