Sound is caused by vibrations of elastic compounds. Vibrations as a result of impact or a surface being walked on reach us as sound waves.

In general, laminate flooring is a relatively thin product with a very hard surface that is then often installed on lightweight, insulating underlay containing cavities. The resulting sound patterns usually do not match customers' expectations of a high-quality floor covering, but rather sound tinny or strange at times. The soundPROTECT insulating underlay effectively counteracts this. Due to special inner insulation and a high surface weight, laminate products that have been laminated with soundPROTECT lie on the underfloor significantly better, reduce hollow spaces under the laminate flooring and have a positive effect on the sound pattern.

Such subjective perceptions of sound can technically also be measured – however not in terms of a reduction of the sound level in the form of decibels (dB) but rather in the technical unit sone. Sone is the evaluation parameter of sound sensation (loudness). With regard to this, loudness changes by approx. 25–30 sone, which corresponds to an improvement of around 30% compared to flooring on conventional polyethylene foam underlay.

The "impact sound level reduction" is often mentioned with regard to floor coverings. These values refer to noise reduction in terms of sound transmission between two residential floors. This is ensured in accordance with applicable, European standards primarily via the supporting structure (concrete or wooden beamed ceilings) and the existing floor construction. In general, a floor covering is not to be ostensibly included for such considerations. Nonetheless, there are relevant standard/testing specifications and units of measure for this purpose. For our product wineo soundPROTECT, the impact sound level reduction is in accordance with DIN 4109, measured on a raw concrete floor between 17 dB and 18 dB and matches the standard values for laminate flooring on an insulating underlay. Thanks to the heaviness of the soundPROTECT underlay, high, disruptive frequencies are converted into low frequencies that are pleasant to the human ear.

Reduction of ambient noise by up to 25 sone*!
*In the comparative measurement with flooring installed on PE foam, 2 mm.