Soundproofing an upstairs floor using Impactless

 

Let’s talk about soundproofing an upper floor when you are on a budget. Soundproofing any hard surface floor can be time consuming and sometimes expensive, but if you use your head when purchasing floor soundproofing agents you can save a lot of money and time.

 The floor underlayment we will be talking about is called Impactless. Impactless is a lighter weight recycled rubber product that can be sued effectively under carpet and padded floors as well as hardwood and tiles floors. To get the same results as the more costly underlay’s there are some rules that need to be adhered to carefully. For a carpet and pad installation you would simply place the Impactless floor underlay directly atop of a thoroughly cleaned wood or concrete sub floor. It is a good idea to glue this material to the floor using a common sub floor adhesive that can be found at any Home Depot or Lowe’s.

 It is not essential to glue this material to the sub floor but gluing it does help with the soundproofing characteristics of this material. Now there are 2 sides of the Impactless underlayment product, 1 side is a rubber faced side and that other is a white scrim faced side. When installing carpet and pad, you want the white scrims facing to face upwards. The scrim face gives you a smooth surface in which to glue the carpet pad directly to the Impactless material.

 After you have rolled out the Impactless floor underlay, you would then caulk all of the seams as well as the perimeter of the rubber membrane with an acoustical caulk that you will purchase with your Impactless package. The acoustical caulk seals the membrane at the seams as well as sealing the outer perimeter of the membrane.  After the Impactless is sealed you will spot glue the carper padding directly to the white scrim facing if the Impactless.

 We’re almost done now! The last step is to nail down the new carpet tack strips (nail board that the carpet stretches too) right through the padding and the Impactless and directly into the sub floor. Once the tack stripe and nailed into place simply install the new carpet, stretching it tightly to the tack strips. That’s it, you have just installed an economically and very effective soundproof flooring assembly. For more tips on how to soundproof a floor, call the professional at Soundproofing America, they’re here to help. This is Dr. Bob, Adios.