THE MOST COMMON MISTAKES WHEN PERFORMING AN ACOUSTIC INSULATION
Avoid common mistakes and get the maximum return on your investment
An acoustic system is not just about “adding more material.” The quality of the insulation will depend on the products selected, the way they are installed, and the technical knowledge applied at each stage. Even with top-quality materials, poor execution can ruin the entire solution. Below, we show you the most common mistakes made on-site and how to avoid them.
1. Using a Single Plasterboard (PYL)
A very common mistake is to install a single plasterboard on each side, whether it’s for wall linings, partitions, or ceilings. This leads to a significant loss of insulation.
🔧 The Correct Way:
Always install double plasterboard (a minimum of 2 boards per side) in any acoustic solution: partitions, wall linings, and ceilings.
🎯Additional Advantages:
- Increases mass, which is key for blocking airborne sound.
- Provides greater structural rigidity.
2. Using the wrong absorbent material (or not using one at all)
It’s not enough to just “fill the cavity.” What’s important is to choose an absorbent material with a high sound absorption coefficient, not just a simple thermal insulator.
🔧 The Correct Way:
Use medium-density rock wool or glass wool (30 kg/m³) with a sound absorption coefficient of αw ≥ 0,8.
📌 You can find more information in our guide:
https://senor.es/en/a-practical-guide-to-choosing-a-good-acoustic-absorbing-material/
3. Not using acoustic dampers (or using them outside their load range)
Dampers reduce structural or impact noise. If they aren’t installed, or if they aren’t working within their intended range, the system will not function correctly.
🔧 The Correct Way:
Use dampers that operate within their proper load range. All our models have detailed technical data sheets.
📌 At SENOR, we have specific dampers for ceilings, wall linings, partitions, and floors, each adapted to a different type of construction solution. Our range is designed to meet all market needs, always offering safety, efficiency, and easy installation.
📌 Check out our complete range here:
https://senor.es/en/construction-range/
4. Not using quality acoustic bands
Sealing bands are not acoustic and, therefore, should not be used in acoustic systems. This is a mistake that compromises the system’s airtightness and performance.
🔧 The Correct Way:
Use EPDM acoustic bands, such as SE-BEC de SENOR, which offer:
- Real acoustic insulation, thanks to their elastic and recovery properties.
- It’s a material with memory, which always tends to return to its original shape. This allows it to maintain constant pressure and maximum airtightness at all points where the system connects.
- Durability and resistance to moisture, aging, and compression loads.
- Thermal properties: excellent thermal performance, since it does not conduct temperature.
📌 More information about our bands:
https://senor.es/en/acoustic-bands/
5. Improperly supporting the plasterboards
There are two opposites, but equally problematic, mistakes:
- ❌ Resting them directly on the floor (this transmits vibrations)
- ❌ Leaving a gap (for example, 1 cm) between the boards and the floor, which leads to a loss of airtightness
🔧 The Correct Way:
Rest the boards on the acoustic strip, which is placed directly on the floor. This ensures both elasticity and maximum airtightness for the entire system.
6. Airtightness failures
A system with gaps, holes, or poorly sealed installation passages can lose up to 16 dB of insulation.
🔧 The Correct Way:
Seal all connections, joints, and gaps with joint compound and joint tape, ensuring the system is airtight.
📌 Example with a real comparative test:
https://senor.es/la-importancia-de-la-estanqueidad-en-el-aislamiento-acustico-comparacion-real-con-dos-ensayos-en-laboratorio/
7. Traditional execution errors
Experience is important, but so is staying up to date. Many modern systems require new techniques and products and cannot be installed the same way as they were 20 years ago.
🔧 The Correct Way:
Continuously train yourself, learn about new materials, and understand how the different elements of a complete acoustic system integrate. It’s not about doing what you’ve always done, but about applying current solutions with technical judgment and precision.
8. Incorrectly sized ceiling structures
Using too few hangers or not following the minimum spacing can cause vibrations, a loss of insulation, or even detachment.
🔧 The Correct Way:
Correctly space the acoustic dampers, follow the modulation, and use models with a safety device (DS) to prevent accidents.
📌 At SENOR, we have the SE-F-RAPID 47 DS2 and SE-F-RAPID 60 DS2, which are unique in the market with an integrated safety device (DS) for the connection between the primary and secondary profiles, thus ensuring continuous safety throughout the entire ceiling structure.
9. Incorrect order of execution
If the floor is done first, the partitions or wall linings can come into contact with it, nullifying the decoupling.
🔧 The Correct Way:
First, install the wall linings and partitions, and then the floor last. This ensures that the vertical elements are completely decoupled from the floor.
📌 More information in our complete article on the order of execution:
https://senor.es/en/order-of-execution-in-acoustic-systems-ceiling-wall-lining-partition-wall-and-flooring/
10. Installing wall linings on unplastered walls
Many wall linings are installed on exposed brick without being plastered. This reduces the mass, rigidity, and airtightness of the system.
🔧 The Correct Way:
First, apply a layer of plaster or mortar about 1 cm thick to improve the overall acoustic performance of the system.
11. Not knowing the products you’re installing
A very common mistake is not checking the product’s technical data sheet before installation. This can lead to misunderstanding its function or installing it outside its usage limits.
🔧 The Correct Way:
Always consult the official manufacturer’s technical data sheet. It contains key information, such as:
- Load range
- Type of application
- Compatibility with other components
- Installation method
12. Placing dampers on only part of the structure (acoustic bridges)
One of the most serious mistakes when installing a wall lining or partition is not placing acoustic dampers around the entire structural perimeter. Often, they are only installed on the studs, while rigid connections (screws or impact anchors) are used on the channels, which creates acoustic bridges.
🔧The Correct Way:
Install dampers at all points of structural contact.
📌 More information:
https://senor.es/evita-los-puentes-acusticos-la-importancia-de-los-amortiguadores-senor/
📌 Recommended products:
13. Believing That Elastic Connections Worsen Insulation (Stiffness YES – Rigid Fixings NO)
One of the most common mistakes is confusing the concept of stiffness with the use of rigid fixings. Some people think that if connections are installed (even elastic ones), the system loses insulation. However, this is a misconception that compromises both the acoustic insulation and the overall safety of the system.
🔧 The correct way:
Connections are necessary and essential in any effective acoustic system. But they must be elastic, such as SENOR dampers, specifically designed for each type of fixing (ceilings, Wall linings, partitions, or floors). The use of shock absorbers or acoustic plugs together with SENOR SE-BEC acoustic bands:
- Ensures structural safety
- Provides the necessary stiffness without creating acoustic bridges
- Absorbs vibrations
- Prevents direct contact between rigid elements
📌Reminder:
Stiffness is not the same as rigid fixing. Systems must be robust and stable, but without compromising acoustic decoupling. Using specific dampers makes it possible to maintain that stiffness without transmitting vibrations.
⚠️ Common mistakes: rigid connections that should NOT be used in acoustic insulation:
- Props made with on-site metal profiles
- Direct screws
- Impact anchors
- Nail guns
- Rigid brackets without elastic elements
All these solutions, although widely used in traditional construction, transmit structural vibrations and cancel out the effectiveness of the system
14. Thinking that mineral wool is a damper
A common mistake when installing an acoustic floor is to place the screed or raised floor directly on rock wool or agglomerated polyurethane foam.
🔧 The correct way:
Absorbent materials do not provide elasticity. You must always use specific dampers for acoustic floors; otherwise, vibrations will be transmitted.
15. Using Agglomerated Polyurethane Foam Systems Glued Directly to Walls or Ceilings
These are systems that involve gluing foam to a wall or ceiling and then gluing plasterboards directly onto the foam.
🔧 The Correct Way:
Avoid these types of solutions. They do not provide rigidity or safety, and they fail to properly insulate against vibrations.
16. Not correctly identifying the type of noise
Confusing airborne noise with impact noise, or not knowing where the problem is coming from, leads to applying the wrong solution.
🔧 The correct way:
Accurately diagnose the problem and determine if the noise is:
- Airborne: voices, music, television
- Impact: vibrations, footsteps, bumps
📌 Note: In most cases, both types of noise are present, so the solution must address both.
17. Receiving poor advice
One of the biggest mistakes starts even before the system is installed: receiving incorrect advice from a manufacturer, installer, or salesperson.
Too often, the priority is simply to make a sale or to complete the job quickly without considering the final acoustic performance. This leads to choosing cheaper but ineffective products, or systems that have not been tested.
🔧 The correct way:
Seek professional, objective and unbiased advice from specialized technicians.
Most importantly: ask if the systems have been acoustically tested. At SENOR, all our systems have been tested in a laboratory to guarantee their real-world performance.
18. Trusting “miracle products” or magical solutions
More and more advertising campaigns are promising quick, cheap, and miraculous acoustic solutions.
These systems claim to provide insulation with just a single layer of foam, paint, or a simple sheet… but the reality is different.
🔧 The correct way:
Acoustic insulation is a complete solution made up of the following:
- Mass
- Rigidity
- Elasticity
- Absorbent material
- Airtightness
- Proper execution
There are no magical products that can replace a complete, well-designed solution.
19. A Bad investment
Spending money on a system that doesn’t work isn’t just frustrating—it’s a bad investment.
It’s not about spending more, it’s about spending wisely.
🔧 The correct way:
Choose a well-designed system with quality products that are installed correctly and backed by tests.
If it’s done wrong, the money is poorly invested.
20. Not prioritizing system safety
This is a critical point. We see some truly terrible things on job sites: ceilings that have fallen, systems without proper anchors, or structures without safety features.
A reminder that it is forbidden to hang anything with pieces made on-site by yourself.
🔧 The correct way:
At SENOR, we design products that not only work acoustically but are also safe and easy to install.
- We use high-quality steel with greater thickness.
- Most of our vibration dampers have a DS (safety device).
- TAll of our systems undergo breaking tests to guarantee they are the safest on the market.
📌 Safety is not an option. It’s an obligation.
21. Confusing acoustic isolation with acoustic conditioning
❌ One of the most common mistakes is thinking that putting up acoustic panels, foam, or decorative elements will stop noise from your neighbour. Nothing could be further from the truth. These materials don’t isolate; they only improve how the inside of a space sounds.
🔧 The correct way:
Clearly differentiate between acoustic isolation and acoustic conditioning. They are two different concepts, even though both are part of a space’s acoustics.
What’s the difference between acoustic isolation and acoustic conditioning?
- Acoustic Isolation: This prevents sound from entering or leaving a room.
✔️ It requires mass, decoupling, airtightness, and specific materials like drywall, mineral wool, or acoustic hangers. - Acoustic Conditioning: This improves the internal acoustics by eliminating echoes or reverberations.
❌ It does not block the passage of sound. It uses absorbent panels, bass traps, or diffusers.
📌 Real-World Example:
Lining a wall with absorbent panels might improve the acoustics for recording a video, but it won’t stop you from hearing your neighbour if the wall isn’t properly isolated.
📘 You can read more in our full article:
👉 https://senor.es/diferencias-entre-aislamiento-y-acondicionamiento-acustico/
22. Not meeting fire resistance requirements
Many applications require a system with EI fire resistance, such as in boiler rooms, restaurants, hotels, hospitals, and schools.
Sometimes, products are installed that don’t comply with these regulations, with only acoustic isolation in mind.
🔧 The correct way:
Use systems that have been tested for both acoustics and fire.
📌 At SENOR, we offer:
- An acoustic ceiling with EI120
- An acoustic wall lining system with EI120
- An acoustic partition wall with EI180
You can consult our three types of solutions here:
👉 https://senor.es/trasdosado-autoportante-de-altas-prestaciones-con-amortiguadores/
CONCLUSION: Summary and final recommendations
Acoustic isolation isn’t a matter of luck, intuition, or using random materials. It’s the result of implementing a complete, well-designed system that is installed correctly. As we’ve seen, the most common mistakes directly affect performance, financial investment, and, most importantly, the comfort of those who live or work in the space.
Key recommendations:
- Get informed before you buy or install a system.
- Check the technical data sheets for all products you plan to install.
- Ask for real acoustic and fire test results, not just marketing promises.
- Be wary of “miracle products” or improvised solutions.
- Trust specialized manufacturers who offer genuine technical advice, just like we do at SENOR.
🔎Have questions about your project? Wondering if your system is the right one?
📞 Our technical team is here to help:
📧 international@senor.es | 📱 +34 621 05 74 54