How to "Soundproof" Your Facility Floors
Noise is one of the most pressing pain points for employees. Everyone who has worked in a facility with various vehicles and machinery knows how tiresome and distracting dealing with constant activity can be.
It's important to note that a noisy facility brings more than just a distraction. Research has found that worker productivity plummets 66% even if they're just exposed to a nearby conversation. Noise also has a negative impact on workers who are reading or writing.
How to Soundproof Concrete Floors Effectively
The best option for soundproofing concrete floors is adding layers since, unlike hardwood floors, they are essentially fixed for the remainder of their lifetimes.
This step involves covering your concrete floor with other materials. The best materials you may use to increase the soundproof qualities of your concrete floor include the following:
Rubber Mat
Rubber is an excellent soundproofing material since it dampens noise and absorbs footfalls. Since mats can be quite thin, they can readily replace or add to the conventional underlay. However, installing a rubber mat can be a little awkward since you must raise the carpet to place the matting.
After the carpet is installed, laying it is quite simple. Ensure that they are appropriately trimmed to fit. Your floor may expand or become a lump if you cram a mat in too small a space.
Carpets and Rugs
Laying down a few rugs is the easiest and most affordable approach to soundproof against impact noises, which is the main issue with concrete floors.
To fix this problem, set up a barrier between whatever would be making the impact noises and the floor by purchasing a carpet and spreading it over your concrete floor.
Mass Loaded Vinyl
Mass-loaded vinyl is an excellent option as an addition to your underlay if you're willing to elevate your carpet. It is flexible, thin, and both absorbs and suppresses sound.
This handy addition should nearly eliminate impact noise when used with carpet. If you have a limited budget, mass-loaded vinyl is something to consider.
Install a Floating Floor
Surfaces touching each other is where impact noise is transmitted most easily. Membranes are attached to the rear of the interlocking panels that make up floating floors.
The membrane acts as a barrier between the floor and the subfloor made of concrete. As a result of preventing the two floors from touching, impact noise will be reduced.
Epoxy Coatings
Epoxy coatings provide outstanding noise, harshness, and vibration dampening characteristics. Cork underlayment often performs worse than epoxy flooring, delivering a quality sound reduction barrier over the substrate.
Epoxy flooring's soundproofing properties may make workplaces and educational institutions less distracting, healthier for staff, and more pleasant for individuals to work, rest, and concentrate.
Polyurethane Coating
Epoxy flooring can be substituted with polyurethane (PU) floors. Polyurethane flooring is highly elastic and flexible. It provides benefits in abrasion resistance and other physical damage because of these properties.
PU flooring is frequently used in situations where epoxy may not be appropriate. Multi-story parking garages are arguably where polyurethanes are used the most frequently. Because the coating is elastic, it may serve as a waterproofing layer for each floor.
Novolac Coating
Novolac flooring is perfect for various industrial uses due to its advanced chemical and acid-resistant properties. It is particularly suited for acid troughs, battery charging stations, wastewater treatment facilities, power plants, paper mills, storage spaces, and chemical processing facilities.
Urethane Mortar
Concrete coatings called urethane mortars were created with a labor-intensive environment in mind. They are an excellent choice for manufacturing and food service facilities since they are sanitary and antimicrobial. Floors made of urethane mortar are incredibly resilient to impact, thermal shock, and severe temperatures.
These concrete surface coatings are not only long-lasting but also allow for mild concrete repair, giving you safer and more aesthetically pleasing floors. Regarding aesthetics, urethane mortar systems come in a wide range of colors with several options for finishes.
How We Can Help
When minimizing noise, relying on resilient flooring materials to block airborne and impact noise is a great idea. Following a DIY approach is a surefire way to arrive at subpar results, mainly because it takes a certain amount of skill and knowledge to adopt a resilient flooring strategy.
At Concrete Coatings of the Carolinas, we strive for100% client satisfaction. We have over 60 different flooring types to meet your soundproofing needs.
Contact us today for a free consultation.
