
2nd November 2021

An acoustic door rating is a certification awarded to a door or its complementary parts based on how well sound is contained.
They are tested to different decibel levels; and assigned an acoustic rating in decibels (dB). The higher the acoustic rating, the louder the sound it can contain.
| Acoustic Rating | Location |
| 29dB Rw | Dwelling houses, flats and rooms for residential purposes |
| 30dB Rw | Schools: all spaces except music rooms |
| 35dB Rw | School music rooms |
Acoustic door ratings are needed to ensure the safety and comfort of people using a building. They are especially important in public settings such as schools, in musical settings, and for confidentiality purposes. They are also used in residential settings to ensure residents are not unreasonably disturbed by neighbours or outside sounds.
Ratings are important in order to benchmark a door, or the seals used around it, so that we know it meets certain criteria specified by building regulations and so that this can be regulated across buildings and applications or settings.
The best way to acoustically seal a door is to use an acoustic door seal around the two sides and top of the door, accompanied by a drop-down seal along the bottom. This means there are no gaps for sound to easily transmit from the room.
If there is any glass in the door, use an intumescent glazing system to prevent the glass from rattling or allowing sound to leak around the edges of the glass.
You could also use a threshold seal so that when the drop-down seal drops, it creates a perfectly clean surface and therefore a perfectly clean seal.
We’ve written another blog on how to acoustically seal a door for more information on this topic.
We stock a range of acoustic door seals that also provide cold smoke protection in the event of a fire. For advice on how to acoustically seal your doors, please get in touch with our expert team who will be happy to help.

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