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I’m
indifferent
Soundblocker Membrane installation - Did I order the wrong thing?!!
I purchased a roll of soundblocker membrane on 21/06, and it was put up on a wall (and small flanking wall) on the 23/06 using 2.5 of the 5 cans of special spray adhesive, all as directed purchased with it, total cost £261.44 and about £45 in sealing primer paint and uvbond to seal the rubber smell which was so strong and took weeks to subside even with a air filter fan. The sound blocker membrane did nothing against the noise, which was general creaking, door bangings, light switches, and other assorted things. If anything it made the noise more "solid "sounding. On the 18/07 two thirds of the wall coverage collapsed, and a few days later the rest of the wall coverage collapsed. All the glue is stuck still all over the wall, so it was not a case of it not sticking to the wall , it is the membrane that the adhesive has not stuck to which came down. The wall is in rather a disastrous looking state in need of redecorating again(after all glue removed), and the sound blocker is out on the patio. All in all it has not worked in anyway that it was meant to, and collapsed after three and a half weeks of putting it up, (and it did start to pucker and buckle slowly right from the beginning.
Official
Response
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EMPLOYEE
I’m
thankful
This is a response from our Office Manager
After reading your comments we agree there is room for improvement and perhaps more clarity and have taken steps today to address that. Only when we have feedback such as yours are we able to improve our site and make adjustements as necessary so we thank you for that. From what you have told us it would appear that you found the product on our Commercial site and the main page promotes the product for use on ceilings. Only in the installation instructions linked from the product page does it refer to using it on walls and there it states should have plasterboard screwed on top. Since your comments we have also re-written these instructions and will be adjusting them on all of our web sites including the on-line shopping cart.
With regard to the sound insulation value of the product, the 22dB is the reslt of a lab test for the product in its own right but it will not improve a structure by 22dB when the product is correctly applied to it. This is another area that will need more clarification because it often causes confusion and we will be working on that in the near future as well.
As you now know, the product is not suitable for application onto walls on its own but should be sandwiched between either an existing wall and another layer of Acoustic Plasterboard or two layers of Acoustic Plasterboard. Fibreboard is not recommended by us as being suitable because it is not dense enough to be effective.
We agree that the product sometimes has an odour but when correctly installed, it is completely encapsulated and sealed so odour is not a problem.
We regret you have not benefitted from the gainful results this product could have given you which is why it is so important that the installation instructions for all of our products are read and followed before installing them.
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EMPLOYEE
I’m
unsure
We are very sorry that you have had this isolated issue with our product. We are sad that you have not come to us directly to discuss this but will look into it further.
This is an isolated case with this product. Please can you contact Stephen Young on 0845 363 7131 to discuss how we can help you? -
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EMPLOYEE
I’m
confident
It would appear the SoundBlocker Membrane was used incorrectly. It is supposed to be sandwiched between two layers of plasterboard on ceilings and stud walls. The membrane when used on its own is not advised or suggested by us. The adhesive that is supplied is not designed to fix the membrane on its own. Check out the product description on the web site www.keepitquiet.com and/or www.soundservice.co.uk
As we said the product is part of a system and is not sold on it's own or to be used on walls which is why it would appear to have failed. The level of noise you are experiencing is far too great for this product on its own and our wesbite makes this clear.
If your noise problem had been made clear to our advisers PRIOR to an order being placed we would not have sold you this item.
In an effort to resolve the matter may I suggest you contact our office? -
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Dear Site Monitor,
In response to your last weeks reply, with all due respect, and a given that I have obviously ordered the wrong product,
a) why was it sold to me on its own,
b) it states on a print out which I made at the time of ordering Ideal for use on ceilings and walls (I have it here in front of me). It also mentions can easily be flipped round corners which would not be necessary if attaching to plasterboard, giving the impression it could be used on its own also. Also why would the presence of plasterboard sandwich make the difference of a 22 decibel reduction as stated.
The noise I mentioned is not that loud only very clear and grating as the house has no sound protection at all when it comes to knocks, bangs, scrapes, creaking stairs and doors, on a daily and nightly basis and I only wanted to do the bedroom but if anything it seemed to conduct the noise.
But I agree, THE WRONG PRODUCT WAS ORDERED and I have tried to speak with Stephen Young today but he is out of the office until next week, so i will call again then.
Many thanks for your website where one can discuss these things at anyrate -
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EMPLOYEE
I’m
confident
Hi Rachel,
Please let me answer point A first.
We have two websites. One caters for domestic customers (www.keepitquiet.co.uk) and on that site we ONLY promote and sell the membrane as party of a system. On our commercial site (www.soundservice.co.uk) (clearly marked at the top of each page) we sell all the individual items which can be bought separately.
Many architects and builders only need to increase the sound levels by a small amount in their designs and therefore do not need a whole system which is why we sell the items in the way we do on our commercial site.
For this reason we do not vet each sale and assume the customer has read clearly what the product is used for and what acoustic results can be achieved from it.
All I can assume is that you viewed the product on our commercial site and decided as it was thin, that it was the best product for you.
If you had consulted with any of our staff and said you wanted to use only the membrane on a wall we would have advised otherwise.
With regards to point B,
The two layers of plasterboard are crucial in adding mass to the wall. Stephen can explain this in more detail as he is our technical guy.
I hope this clarifys things a little further.-
Dear Mr Young, Although I would quite happily draw a line under this situation, I started to wonder and am not sure what you meant further to our conversation on 18 August, that something that I had written here on the site was not very fair. Exactly what you were referring to I'm not sure, but I think I have been extremely fair and not pointed at anything, and even agreed that the wrong product was ordered (in hindsight). But the point about being consulted by soundservice re the product- I ORDERED THE PRODUCTS BY TELEPHONE and spoke with PETER about the product, how much would be needed for ONE WALL, at which we agreed a roll would be enough, and 5 cans (only half of each were used for the wall). AT NO TIME during that conversation did he say to me this HAS to be used with a fibre board sandwich and pinned, Also- I phoned him at a later date and asked about the smell if it would ever go, and only then did he mention vaguely about something about putting fibreboard on it.
The main issue is here is not that the membrane fell down, because that situation could have been retrieved , the issue is that the sound blocker membrane , made no difference if anything conducting the noise. Had it even remotely reduced the noise, my partner would have stuck it back up, and my partner could have put fibreboard on top (wall already is fibreboard(not cavity), and pinned it.
MY ISSUE is that this product regardless of whether I ordered the wrong product is being described as Award winning Nano vacuum technology, 22 decibel reduction- "not only is it versatile it boasts a very high performance reduction rating ". ALSO on the page that gives the price, that i printed up at the time and still have here NOWHERE does it say ANYTHING about it being used in conjunction with fibreboard sandwich - only on the overview page does it ONCE mention "that it is a very effective soundblocker when sandwiched between two acoustic plasterboards" - which does not imply it HAS to be used with them otherwise we would have bought them from you.
And further more during our conversation, you said the membrane is used for generall building work for minor sound reduction !!
Although I do not wish to draw this issue out, it is against the Goods and Services act and that a product should be fit for purpose, and I suggest the description (and particularly as a layman coming off the street to your website) is very inaccurate.
And yes I did buy it because it it was thin, but that was not the main issue ,it was the one that seemed the easiest to use, and put up, but it was extemely heavily , and tears extremely easily(god only knows how one man could put that up on a ceiling), - and just seems like recycled rubber and stunk to high heaven for weeks I spent days painting it with sealers. So I am very sorry if you think anything I said is unfair, but please note all my above points.And as I spent £300 on the wall and only have a decrepit wall left I think I have paid for the right to make my points. Yours sincerely Rachel Craig Invoice SP 23468. -
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EMPLOYEE
I’m
thankful
This is a response from our Office Manager
After reading your comments we agree there is room for improvement and perhaps more clarity and have taken steps today to address that. Only when we have feedback such as yours are we able to improve our site and make adjustements as necessary so we thank you for that. From what you have told us it would appear that you found the product on our Commercial site and the main page promotes the product for use on ceilings. Only in the installation instructions linked from the product page does it refer to using it on walls and there it states should have plasterboard screwed on top. Since your comments we have also re-written these instructions and will be adjusting them on all of our web sites including the on-line shopping cart.
With regard to the sound insulation value of the product, the 22dB is the reslt of a lab test for the product in its own right but it will not improve a structure by 22dB when the product is correctly applied to it. This is another area that will need more clarification because it often causes confusion and we will be working on that in the near future as well.
As you now know, the product is not suitable for application onto walls on its own but should be sandwiched between either an existing wall and another layer of Acoustic Plasterboard or two layers of Acoustic Plasterboard. Fibreboard is not recommended by us as being suitable because it is not dense enough to be effective.
We agree that the product sometimes has an odour but when correctly installed, it is completely encapsulated and sealed so odour is not a problem.
We regret you have not benefitted from the gainful results this product could have given you which is why it is so important that the installation instructions for all of our products are read and followed before installing them. -
Also I phoned up several times for technical support and is not to say it was unhelpful, but seemed that it was also a learning curve on your part. there is not much more I can say really about the subject except for a refund, and I will live with the noise, but failing that at least i have reported any problems I had with the product for future investigation, because I would say this product does not work in any way it was supposed to, sound proofing or its ability to stay up, to any degree.
I appreciate any effort of any company to try to innovate new sound proofing materials as it is a big problems of which solutions are always costly laborious, and usually require some participation of the person causing the offending noise (people's defensiveness and inconsideration to deal with the matter at source)., so I'm not angry about this product, I just thought one should share my not so successfull experience, even though all instructions were followed,