Soundproofing walls and ceilings with drylining: what really works

Updated 6 November 2026 · By the Drylining team

Short answer: Drylining reduces noise by adding mass with dense acoustic plasterboard, decoupling the new lining from the existing wall using an independent frame or resilient bars, filling the cavity with mineral wool and sealing every gap. An independent stud wall with two layers of acoustic board is usually the most effective option for a noisy party wall, typically costing £60 to £110 per square metre.

Soundproofing walls and ceilings with drylining: what really works

How sound gets through walls

Airborne sound such as voices, TV and music makes the wall vibrate, and that vibration is passed into the next room. Impact sound such as footsteps and doors travels through the structure itself. Sound also leaks through gaps around sockets, skirting, pipes and ceiling edges, and around the sides of a wall through floors, ceilings and chimney breasts, which is called flanking. Any soundproofing plan needs to deal with all three: mass, separation and air tightness.

Different sounds behave differently. Speech and TV are mid-frequency sounds that respond well to mass and sealing. Bass from music systems and home cinemas is low-frequency and much harder to stop, needing heavier, wider and more fully separated constructions. That is why a lining that makes a neighbour's conversation inaudible may still let a subwoofer through. It helps to describe the noise you are dealing with, when you hear it and where in the room it seems loudest, so the right system is chosen.

The four principles

Mass: heavier, denser layers such as acoustic plasterboard resist vibration better
Decoupling: separating the new lining from the existing wall so vibration cannot pass straight through
Absorption: mineral wool in the cavity soaks up sound inside the gap
Sealing: acoustic sealant at every edge and around every opening, because small gaps let a lot of sound through

Common acoustic drylining options

System	Typical space taken	Typical effect	Typical UK cost (per m²)
Acoustic board dot-and-dabbed to the wall	About 25 mm	Small improvement	£35 to £55
Resilient bars with acoustic board	About 30 to 40 mm	Moderate improvement	£45 to £75
Independent stud frame, mineral wool, two layers of acoustic board	About 75 to 100 mm	Large improvement	£60 to £110
New twin-frame partition between rooms	150 mm or more	Very large improvement	£80 to £130

These are typical guide figures. Actual performance depends on the existing wall, flanking paths and the quality of installation.

Party walls in terraced and semi-detached homes

Most complaints are about a shared wall with a neighbour. The most reliable upgrade is an independent lining: a metal stud frame set 10 to 20 mm off the party wall so the studs do not touch it, fixed only at floor and ceiling with isolating strip, filled with mineral wool and lined with two layers of acoustic plasterboard with staggered joints. Sockets on the party wall should be moved or fitted in acoustic boxes. Chimney breasts and alcoves need to be included, otherwise sound passes around the new lining.

Dot-and-dabbing acoustic board directly to the party wall gives a much smaller improvement because the board is still rigidly connected to the masonry, and air gaps behind poorly sealed dot-and-dab can actually make things worse.

Ceilings and floors

Noise from the flat or room above is harder. A new ceiling on resilient bars or an independent MF grid, with mineral wool in the void and two layers of acoustic board, helps with airborne noise. Footsteps and impact noise are best treated from above with an acoustic floor or underlay, because a ceiling alone can only do so much. In flats, check the lease before altering ceilings or floors.

Between rooms in your own home, such as a bedroom under a teenager's room or a lounge below a home office, the same principles apply. Filling the joist void with mineral wool and adding a resilient-bar ceiling with acoustic board is a common, cost-effective upgrade. Downlights cut into an acoustic ceiling create holes for sound, so fire-rated acoustic hoods or surface-mounted lights are used where performance matters.

Building regulations and sound

In England and Wales, Approved Document E sets sound insulation standards for walls and floors between new dwellings and for conversions creating flats, with pre-completion sound testing usually required. For new homes the separating wall target is at least 45 dB airborne, and 43 dB for conversions. It also requires internal walls next to bedrooms and rooms with a WC in new dwellings to meet a laboratory standard. Upgrading an existing party wall in your own home is not normally controlled, but conversions and new flats are, so check with building control.

Getting the best result

Identify where the noise is actually coming through before choosing a system
Treat the whole wall, including alcoves and chimney breasts
Seal every perimeter and service penetration with acoustic sealant
Avoid back-to-back sockets
Be realistic: big improvements are possible but complete silence is not

The quality of installation matters as much as the products. Acoustic board fixed with gaps at the edges, mineral wool left with voids, or a frame accidentally touching the party wall can lose much of the expected improvement. Skirting should be fixed to the new lining only and sealed underneath, and the lining should stop just short of the floor with the gap sealed rather than packed tight. Ask your installer how they deal with these details, and plan the work for a time when furniture can be moved well away from the wall.