Are you getting complaints about noise from your pub?

Noise control for pubs and clubs

It is very important to distinguish between sound absorption and soundproofing.

It is often thought that sticking egg boxes or foam to the wall will reduce the level of sound escaping  a room. It doesn’t.

Sound absorbing materials like acoustic foams reduce the noise within a space. They reduce the amount of echo and  general clatter, making conversations  easier to hear.

These materials work by allowing sound to pass through them  relatively easily which turns the sound to heat so reducing the energy.

Conversely, a material or system that  provides good soundproofing is usually  non-porous and a good reflector of  sound.

Noise will always travel through the smallest gap or crack and will always find the weakest part of a structure. 

Generally noise will escape through cracks around windows and doors. Through any holes in walls, through ventilation ductwork or extractor outlets, etc. 

Doors

To reduce sound leaking through and around doors, install acoustic seals to the sides and top of the frame and a threshold seal for the bottom of the door.

There are many types available but generally a good quality surface mounted seal is sufficient. Doors need to be solid-core fire doors not lightweight hollow-core doors for this to be effective.

If sound is escaping through front or back doors a lobby type arrangement is a good idea where there are effectively two doors in/out of the premises separated by a small lobby.

Generally when one door is opened the other door will be shut so the sound is less likely to escape.

Windows

Windows are another cause for concern. Thin single glazing does not stop much sound passing through so secondary glazing is the best option.

This simply involves installing a second window spaced away from the existing window (as far as possible).

If this is not possible then it may be worth looking at replacing the windows with double glazed units however, this won’t be as good as secondary glazing.

Holes

Ventilation holes must have some kind of box around them or sound will spill straight out.

The box needs to be lined with acoustic foam and well sealed against the wall to be effective. Ideally another box should be constructed on the outside as well for best performance.

Ductwork

Ducting can carry sound from inside a club to the outside which may annoy local residents. Cover the ducting with some form of acoustic lagging to contain the noise within the pipes.

Don’t have the end of any duct work pointing directly towards a residential property. Use silencers if possible.

Noise does have directional qualities so pointing the outlet duct upwards is a better option.

Speakers

If speakers are mounted directly onto walls or floors then vibrations will transfer from the speaker into the structure of the building very easily and this can also cause problems.

The vibrations will re-radiate on the outside of the building possibly causing a noise nuisance. The solution is to mount the speakers via something soft to reduce this interaction. Potential solutions may be these products speaker isolations pads or speaker suspension springs

Stages

Stages that are hollow can resonate. This can cause problems so insulate underneath the stage in the empty space and add some heavy damping sheets on top of the stage to reduce vibrations.

Walls

Lightweight plasterboard stud walls don’t generally stop much sound passing through them unless they are constructed with high performance acoustic materials.

Blockwork or brick walls are far heavier and so much better at stopping sound especially if they are rendered rather than just dot and dabbed with plasterboard sheets.

It’s also worth noting that lightweight insulation such as fibreglass is great for heat insulation but useless for sound insulation.

Sound absorption

When lots of people start talking and they have to shout to be heard when a club gets busy, it is because the sound is bouncing off reflective hard wall, floor and ceiling surfaces.

The answer here is to install acoustic panels or acoustic absorbent material on the walls and ceiling to absorb the excessive noise.

Hard wooden floors cause far more problems than soft carpeted floors.

Reducing the noise levels inside a pub will reduce the amount of noise trying to escape through the walls and windows etc. so is in a way beneficial to soundproofing.

We have a wide range of sound absorbing panels for pubs