For projects in Paris
Home theatre soundproofing and acoustics in Paris
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. Haussmannian and later blocks stack flats with masonry walls and timber or concrete floors. Shared circulation and light wells carry sound between homes.
- 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 / Start here
What this is, and what it changes in a Paris room
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.
Haussmannian and later blocks stack flats with masonry walls and timber or concrete floors. Shared circulation and light wells carry sound between homes.
Work reaching us from Paris is mostly haussmann apartments, offices, studios, restaurants, hotels, clinics.
- Parquet over timber joists Footfall and chair scrape travel straight down. A resilient layer under the finish does more than anything applied to the ceiling below.
- Thin partitions in divided apartments Walls built to split one flat into two were never designed to hold speech. Mass and an independent lining are the honest answer.
- Courtyards that amplify A Paris courtyard reflects plant noise and voices between every window on the block. Treat the source or the surface, not the middle.
- 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 Paris.
02 / The build-up
The build-up, layer by layer
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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 Paris, mechanical extract ventilation is near universal, and the extract path carries sound between flats as reliably as the wall.
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
Soundproof curtains
A layered curtain with a mass loaded vinyl core, used where an opening has to stay an opening. In Paris, churches, salles des fetes and civic auditoriums are stone and plaster volumes with very long decay.
Full height with return. Curtain taken floor to soffit with a side return and an overlap, because the gap is what leaks, not the fabric.
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Layer 3
Acoustic carpet and rugs
A tile carpet with a dense polyester face on a felt backing. In Paris, school buildings are hard surfaced with high ceilings, and canteens are consistently the loudest rooms.
Zoned. Carpet in the circulation and meeting zones, hard floor elsewhere, so the treatment sits where the noise is made.
We would rather argue about the build-up at design stage than on site. See how we support architects.
03 / On the ground
What we see driving Paris briefs
- Parquet over timber joists
Footfall and chair scrape travel straight down. A resilient layer under the finish does more than anything applied to the ceiling below.
- Thin partitions in divided apartments
Walls built to split one flat into two were never designed to hold speech. Mass and an independent lining are the honest answer.
- Courtyards that amplify
A Paris courtyard reflects plant noise and voices between every window on the block. Treat the source or the surface, not the middle.
- Small rooms
Depth is expensive when a room is 12 square metres. Slim, dense layers beat thick absorbers you cannot afford to lose space to.
- The housing stock
Haussmannian and later blocks stack flats with masonry walls and timber or concrete floors. Shared circulation and light wells carry sound between homes.
04 / Room by room
Room by room, on a typical Paris job
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Containment
Bass through the wall, floor and door. Mass and decoupling, with the door usually the weakest point. Footfall and chair scrape travel straight down. A resilient layer under the finish does more than anything applied to the ceiling below.
- 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 built to split one flat into two were never designed to hold speech. Mass and an independent lining are the honest answer.
- 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. A Paris courtyard reflects plant noise and voices between every window on the block. Treat the source or the surface, not the middle.
- 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
Interior designers tend to arrive with the look already decided. We will tell you which finish gets there without losing the acoustics. See how we work with interior designers.
04 / Conditions
Why the climate in Paris changes the material, not the target
Paris is cool and damp, with long heating seasons and cold external walls, and that narrows the material list before acoustics is discussed.
Cold wall build-ups and long heating seasons mean interstitial condensation is a real risk behind any lining. PET felt is unaffected by damp air and will not feed mould where a fabric-faced mineral product would.
The failure we design against here is condensation behind linings in older, poorly insulated stock.
Consultants get the raw data, not a sales sheet. That is the whole of our side of the job, and it is set out under working with acoustic consultants.
06 / Straight talk
Six mistakes that turn into a second fit-out
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Foam on the walls as a soundproofing measure
This is the one that comes back as a second fit-out rather than a snag.
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A standard door on a room built to hold bass
Soundproofing fails at the gaps, not the materials. One unsealed service penetration can undo a correctly built wall.
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Treating before the room is sealed
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 it as a generic Paris job
Footfall and chair scrape travel straight down. A resilient layer under the finish does more than anything applied to the ceiling below.
05 / Route to site
Getting it to Paris, with real dates
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Le Havre, Antwerp or Rotterdam |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea via Le Havre |
| Support | Drawings, build-ups, BOQ and material that arrives complete |
Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. Grooved and custom colours take longer, and we say so before the order, not after.
Sea freight into Le Havre, Antwerp or Rotterdam, then road to site. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Paris projects
What makes home theatre soundproofing and acoustics different in Paris?
Haussmannian and later blocks stack flats with masonry walls and timber or concrete floors. Shared circulation and light wells carry sound between homes. Footfall and chair scrape travel straight down. A resilient layer under the finish does more than anything applied to the ceiling below.
Where should the budget go first on a Paris 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 Paris?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Paris. 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 Paris site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Le Havre, Antwerp or Rotterdam, dispatch: 4 to 7 working days. Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. Grooved and custom colours take longer, and we say so before the order, not after.
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
Send a plan and a section, get a real build-up
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.