For projects in Colombia
Home theatre soundproofing and acoustics in Colombia
Serious equipment in a room with no isolation plan. The complaint is almost never the speakers. It is bass leaving the room and an untreated box making the system sound worse than it is. Concrete and block construction with hard floors, in apartment towers that share slabs and walls.
- Containment
- Bass through the wall, floor and door. Mass and decoupling, with the door usually the weakest point.
- Low frequency inside
- Corner absorption with depth, before any surface treatment.
- Reflections
- Side wall and ceiling first reflection points at the seating position.
- Quote
- From a plan and a section, within 48 hours
01 / What it is
The product, described honestly, for a Colombia brief
Serious equipment in a room with no isolation plan. The complaint is almost never the speakers. It is bass leaving the room and an untreated box making the system sound worse than it is.
Concrete and block construction with hard floors, in apartment towers that share slabs and walls.
Work reaching us from Colombia is mostly offices, apartments, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, schools, studios.
- The inland leg is significant The commercial centres are well inland and high up. We quote the port leg and the road leg separately so the programme runs on real dates.
- Concrete and brick construction Walls carry mass. The recurring problem is hard, live interiors and services noise rather than speech through a wall.
- Growing hospitality sector Hotel and restaurant fit-out is a steady share of enquiries, and those rooms are judged when they are completely full.
- Containment Bass through the wall, floor and door. Mass and decoupling, with the door usually the weakest point.
Full specification
Thickness, density, NRC by frequency, fire class, standard sizes and build-up detail for home theatre soundproofing are on the main product page. This page covers what that means for a project in Colombia.
02 / The build-up
How the layers stack, from the structure inwards
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Layer 1
SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl
A limp, high density sheet that adds mass to a partition, floor or duct without adding depth. In Colombia, split units with condensers on facades and in light wells, running through a mild year round climate.
Floor, floating. Membrane under a resilient layer and a floating deck, so impact energy is broken before it reaches the slab.
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Layer 2
Soundproofing materials
The blocking side of the range taken together: mass loaded vinyl, resilient layers, cavity absorption and the build-ups they belong in. In Colombia, church buildings, event halls and auditoria are hard volumes carrying amplified music at high level.
Floating floor. Resilient layer and deck, to break impact energy before it reaches the structure.
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Layer 3
Acoustic carpet and rugs
A tile carpet with a dense polyester face on a felt backing. In Colombia, classrooms are concrete and tile with high ceilings, and covered play areas amplify break time noise.
Over a resilient underlay. Where impact noise to the floor below is the actual complaint, the underlay does that work, not the carpet.
For a Colombia practice, the useful thing is a detail you can put in a drawing set, not a brochure. See how we support architects.
03 / Local conditions
What decides the build-up in Colombia
- The inland leg is significant
The commercial centres are well inland and high up. We quote the port leg and the road leg separately so the programme runs on real dates.
- Concrete and brick construction
Walls carry mass. The recurring problem is hard, live interiors and services noise rather than speech through a wall.
- Growing hospitality sector
Hotel and restaurant fit-out is a steady share of enquiries, and those rooms are judged when they are completely full.
- Two coasts to choose from
Cartagena on the Caribbean or Buenaventura on the Pacific, routed to whichever shortens the run to your site.
- The housing stock
Concrete and block construction with hard floors, in apartment towers that share slabs and walls.
04 / Room by room
Space by space, for Colombia briefs
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Containment
Bass through the wall, floor and door. Mass and decoupling, with the door usually the weakest point. The commercial centres are well inland and high up. We quote the port leg and the road leg separately so the programme runs on real dates.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, 2100 kg per cubic metre
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 20 mm
- Soundproofing materials, Mass, then decoupling, then cavity absorption, then sealing
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Low frequency inside
Corner absorption with depth, before any surface treatment. Walls carry mass. The recurring problem is hard, live interiors and services noise rather than speech through a wall.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, STC 30, 5.25 kg per sq m
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 100 kg per cubic metre
- Soundproofing materials, ASTM E90 for the barrier, ASTM C423 for the absorber
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Reflections
Side wall and ceiling first reflection points at the seating position. Hotel and restaurant fit-out is a steady share of enquiries, and those rooms are judged when they are completely full.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, STC 34, 8.4 kg per sq m
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 100 to 500 Hz
- Soundproofing materials, 2100 kg per cubic metre. 2.5 mm STC 30 at 5.25 kg per sq m, 4 mm STC 34 at 8.4, 6 mm at 12.6
If the visual is fixed and the room still has to perform, that is a solvable problem and a conversation worth having early. See how we work with interior designers.
04 / Durability
The Colombia climate decides the material list
Colombia is warm and humid through most of the year, with a long wet season, and that narrows the material list before acoustics is discussed.
Humidity is the deciding factor. PET felt does not absorb moisture, shed fibre or feed mould, which is why it outlasts fabric-wrapped mineral wool in this climate. Wood wool and timber need a ventilated cavity behind them.
The failure we design against here is mould, sagging fabric finishes and swelling in timber.
If a consultant has set the target, we will quote against their figures rather than ours, and stay out of the scope they own. More on working with acoustic consultants.
06 / Straight talk
The six errors that cost the most
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Foam on the walls as a soundproofing measure
Small on the drawing, expensive on site, and almost always found after handover.
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A standard door on a room built to hold bass
A 6 mm undercut under a door leaves a hole the size of a brick. The wall around it is then decorative.
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Treating before the room is sealed
A gap undoes the partition it sits in. Sealing is the cheapest line on the quote and the first one to get cut.
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Treating it as a generic Colombia job
The commercial centres are well inland and high up. We quote the port leg and the road leg separately so the programme runs on real dates.
05 / Supply
How material reaches a Colombia site
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Cartagena or Buenaventura, then road inland |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea via Cartagena |
| Support | Drawings, build-ups, BOQ and material that arrives complete |
Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. The sea leg from India is long, so plan the full door to door window into the programme. We give real dates, not optimistic ones.
Sea freight into Cartagena or Buenaventura, then road inland. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Colombia projects
What makes home theatre soundproofing and acoustics different in Colombia?
Concrete and block construction with hard floors, in apartment towers that share slabs and walls. The commercial centres are well inland and high up. We quote the port leg and the road leg separately so the programme runs on real dates.
Where should the budget go first on a Colombia project?
Containment. Bass through the wall, floor and door. Mass and decoupling, with the door usually the weakest point. Low frequency inside. Corner absorption with depth, before any surface treatment.
Do you have an office or installation team in Colombia?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Colombia. We give you drawings, build-ups, a BOQ and material that arrives complete, and we will tell you plainly when a job needs a local contractor we cannot be.
How does material get to a Colombia site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Cartagena or Buenaventura, then road inland, dispatch: 4 to 7 working days. Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. The sea leg from India is long, so plan the full door to door window into the programme. We give real dates, not optimistic ones.
What goes wrong most often on this kind of project?
Foam on the walls as a soundproofing measure. A standard door on a room built to hold bass.
What do you need from us to quote?
A plan, a section through the critical partition or ceiling, and what the room is for. From that we can give a build-up and a BOQ rather than a price per square foot.
Next step
Drawings in, BOQ and a delivered date out
We quote from drawings, not from a square foot rate. Send a plan and the section through the critical wall or ceiling and you will get something you can actually build from.