Hi all, am new to this forum and first time Skoda owner. The car is great but the cabin noise is shocking. I read up about changing tyres but thought surely it cant all be down to the tyres so decided to have a go at adding more soundproofing inside the car. From what I've done so far I can happily say it has made a massive difference and is a whole lot quieter than before and much much nicer to drive, even the Mrs said how much quieter it was! So, a guide to soundproofing a mk2 fabia vrs using carpet underlay from bnq.

Total cost - 66quid all in for 8.35m/sq of 10mm thick of the plasticy type underlay (the other types were fibre or rubber stuff)

Time spent so far - 4 hours

Tools needed

Scissors

Torx bits

Knife

Flathead screwdriver

m10 or m8 spline tool for front seats (most hardware shops like bnq will have these for bout a tenner)

And yourself

Underlay added

Boot fully lined, including behind the rear wheel arch plastic trim and under the spare wheel.

Behind rear pillar trims

Under rear seats.

Both front seats out and carpet up to line whole floor pan up to the underside of the dashboard.

Behind middle pillar trims.

Behind upper glovebox.

Left to do

Front/rear door cards.

Behind dashboard.

Centre console.

Bit more adding behind rear arch trims.

On the mobly phone atm so will get pictures up this weekend of getting the trims off and how I put the underlay down.

I really recommend having a go at this if the road noise winds you up as much as it did me.

lol.. I cut some soundproofing out when I had the dual controls fitted, love the whine of the supercharger

 

nice guide though, will appeal to lots I'm sure!

No photos and instructions = No guide 

 

But seriously it would be nice to read a more detailed description of what you did, how easy (or not) it was to remove panels and everything (with photos if any).

 

I considered this in the past but I was fearing I will end up having parts half-removed and not being able to go any further so gave up the idea...

Edited 27 September, 201312 yr by newbie69

I'll wait for the pics too...

No photos and instructions = No guide   But seriously it would be nice to read a more detailed description of what you did, how easy (or not) it was to remove panels and everything (with photos if any). I considered this in the past but I was fearing I will end up having parts half-removed and not being able to go any further so gave up the idea...

As I said in the first post, I'll put pics up this weekend

But did it work? Ideally some scientific data, but in the absence of that, try not to let your desire for it to succeed, blind your assessment.

 

I found, in the past, that using house carpet stuff is not that suitable for cars due to mildew developing.

I had thought about the possibility of moisture retention but looking at the factory fitted soundproofing, it looks and feels pretty much identical to the stuff I'm adding. I guess moisture would be retained anyway by the carpets, seats so adding more shouldn't cause any problems. The issue would be, why is water getting into the car and not what's absorbing the water.

I took it for a few test drives (same road, same speed) after fitting and noticed a huge difference. The Mrs also commented on why it sounded quieter (she didn't know I fitted the soundproofing) so I told her what I'd done.

So I guess unless you've got a decibel meter lying around (won't trust a phone app) all I can go on is my ears.

Well, material choice is free. I agree that personally, would rather go with stuff like Dynamat which is specially designed for this use, but that wouldn't change the procedure which is what's most interesting here.

Underlay way chosen purely because I didn't know if it would actually make any real difference but also it was nearly a 1/5 of the price of dynamat.

http://www.diy.com/nav/decor/flooring/carpet-carpet-tiles/carpet_underlay/Diall-White-Foam-Carpet-Underlay-8-35m2-12608620?skuId=13129326

Underlay way chosen purely because I didn't know if it would actually make any real difference but also it was nearly a 1/5 of the price of dynamat.

http://www.diy.com/nav/decor/flooring/carpet-carpet-tiles/carpet_underlay/Diall-White-Foam-Carpet-Underlay-8-35m2-12608620?skuId=13129326

 

 

the item mentioned in that link has the description stating '..with excellent sound transmission..' to me that means the sound travels well through the material? so in theory your not stopping the sound?

I guess that is a misleading statement as the grammar isn't brilliant. Think "panda eats shoots and leaves". From the link, if you click on the "additional info" tab "provides excellent heat and sound insulation" after all that is what underlay if used for.

Boot fully lined with underlay. The carpet still sits flat

 

 

First panel to remove is the middle one. Pull carpet up to reveal two plastic nuts

 

 

 

The nuts aren’t tight so just used pliers to get it going then unscrewed by hand.

 

 

 

There are two plastic plugs at each end on the centre trim, pull the centre pin out first then the plug can be removed.

 

 

 

Pull the bottom of the trim out and up to pop the spring clips out from the slots in the chassis

 

 

There are 4 of these spring clips holding the trim to the chassis

 

 

 

Rear pilar trims require removal to gain access to  rear arch trim bolts. Pull from rear first, again metal spring clips hold it on

 

 

 

Pull down from the top  corner nearest the window, moving down to the bottom corner. Add a bit of underlay when refitting

 

 

Bottom left to top right -

T25

T10

Flat head

Light (one end needs to come out before the other)

T25

T30

T25

 

 

 

Bottom corner of back seats have another plug to pop out

 

 

 

Once all the screws are removed, pull the trim away from the back. Pad out behind the trim with underlay filling all the gaps so it pushes against the trim but not so much it doesnt allow the trim to sit back square to the screw holes. Now the trims are off, put the underlay down over the whole boot

 

 

 

Pop the back panel off, there is a T25 screw near the pull handle which needs removing, pad out with underlay.

Edited 30 September, 201312 yr by mrburdon123

I cant seem to figure the additon of pictures!

Boot fully lined with underlay. The carpet still sits flat

 

 

First panel to remove is the middle one. Pull carpet up to reveal two plastic nuts

 

 

The nuts aren’t tight so just used pliers to get it going then unscrewed by hand

 

 

There are two plastic plugs at each end on the centre trim, pull the centre pin out first then the plug can be removed.

 

 

Pull the bottom of the trim out and up to pop the spring clips out from the slots in the chassis

 

 

Rear pillar trims require removal to gain access to rear arch trim bolts. Pull from rear first, again metal spring clips hold it on

 

 

 

Pull down from the top corner nearest the window, moving down to the bottom corner. Add a bit of underlay when refitting.

 

 

 

To get the side trims out

Bottom left to top right -

T25

T10

Flat head

Light (one end needs to come out before the other)

T25

T30

T25

 

 

Bottom corner of back seats have another plug to pop out

 

 

Once all the screws are removed, pull the trim away from the back. Pad out behind the trim with underlay filling all the gaps so it pushes against the trim but not so much it doesn’t allow the trim to sit back square to the screw holes. Now the trims are off, put the underlay down over the whole boot.

 

 

Pop the back panel off, there is a T25 screw near the pull handle which needs removing, pad out with underlay.

 

 

Door trims. There are two T30 nuts under the door handle cover, the cover will just pull off. There is a  T10 at the bottom of the door card, two T10s for the front cards.

 

 

To remove the rear winders, set at 7 or 5 and pull the spacer out.

 

 

I ran out of the other underlay so got a bit more stuff from BnQ and with spray adhesive stuck it to the door cards.

 

 

Bit more underlay added to the door.

 

 

To get the underlay under over the floor pan, the side trims and front seats need taking out. Front seats are on 4 M10 spline bolts.

Pull the pillar trim away, its on metal spring clips again. Dont take the top one out as its got an air bag under it.

 

 

Pull the base of the trim up. Its got three spring clips at the bottom and one guide pin.

 

 

When re fitting, add a strip of underlay behind the trim.

 

 

Pull the front sill trip up

 

 

 

T25 screw behind the bonnet release. This allows each side of the carpet to be pulled up and more underlay added as one whole strip from under rear seat to under the dashboard.

 

 

Didn’t take the seats out again so haven’t got a shot of how the underlay looks with the whole carpet up but you can get the idea.

 

When putting things back together, here are a few things that help.

 

Open up the spring clips before re fitting to keep everything tight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If the clips get stuck in the body, pull out with a pair of scissors.

 

 

 

 

Hope this guide helps people. I had aready put a load of the underlay in the car before i took these pictures so some of them dont show the full view of the underlay iv added.

 

If any more info is needed on how i did things just shout up.

 

It wasnt difficult to get all the trims off but sometimes a good pull was needed. If  any of the trims wont budge at all theres a good chance that youve missed a screw somewhere.

 

Cheers for reading

 

Great guide thanks! it's getting pinned for the future...

I am guessing that it will also help heat retention, thus costing less fuel expenditure long term, heating the car. May also keep excess external heat out during those long hot U.K. summers, saving a little on the air-con side... I recon you will break even in about five years, financially, two mins, aurally!

Good guide. I fancy doing the doors to help with the sound from the speakers & reduce rattle and was wondering how easy it is to remove and refit the door cards.

 

Planning to use dynomat rather than underlay tho. More expensive but its self adhesive and should be affordable if just the doors. Various shapes & sizes for all applications:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=dynomat

How much soundproofing is under the bonnet on the VRS?  Is it as much as the Monte, with its whisper quiet CR TDI? ;-)

The door cards are easy to remove/refit.

For a front door

Remove the pull handle cover, exposes 2 T30 screws. 2 T10 screws at the bottom of the door. The door card is now only held in by plastic push fittings so from the bottom of the door start pulling out, working your way to the top. Then pull the whole door card upwards to remove. Now your can release the connections for the windows controls, tweeter speaker and door pull handle. The door pull handle is the same connection as on pushbike V Breaks. Then your done.

Before refitting check the the plastic push fittings haven't been pulled from the door card and been left in the door

It will take about 10 mins per door card.

Adding sound proofing does eliminate any rattles in the door. A knuckle wrap test between a soundproofed and unsoundproofed door card shows the difference it makes.

How much soundproofing is under the bonnet on the VRS? Is it as much as the Monte, with its whisper quiet CR TDI? ;-)

Just a single sheet of fabric sound mat. The engines quite enough as standard imo.

I get a slight but annoying rattle from driver's door card when driving over bad tarmac or listening to some wide-bass music, as soon as I press my hand against the card it goes away. You reckon adding some dynamat or similar matierial on the inside of the cards and/or door will help with that? Where does it actually come from, bad card fit?

Edited 3 October, 201312 yr by newbie69

Almost certainly. There are a few wires, connections, cables between the door and door card which could be the source of your rattle. There's also a rubber plug at the bottom of the door which sits against the chassis, maybe unscrew that a little so it pushes against the door a bit more...

Silent Coat Door Kit is here (http://www.silentcoat.co.uk/vibration-damping/silent-coat-door-kit). There are 8x 375x265mm sheets in it. I take it this amount is mainly aimed to line front and rear doors only? Doesn't seem to be enough to cover the boot as well although it will depend on the % of coverage I will be going for. What is the case with coverage? In another sound proofing thread, somebody had said something about covering around 25% of the total surface because apparently more material wouldn't result in equally higher sound deadening but from what I see from mrburdon for example or other generic sound proofing videos, the inside of metal door panels are covered to a much greater extent of around 70-80%.

 

My priorities are in the following order of importance: 1) Door card rattles,  2) Door card rattles (!), 3) External noise / Stereo quality. So how could I make best use of the available sheets? Should I apply one sheet on the metal panel and one on the door card as well maybe?

Imo

I guess it's a question of what you want to achieve. You have 8 sheets so if soundproofing is what you want then full coverage of both surface is what I think you'd need and I guess doing It that way you will only have enough to do 2 doors - 4 sheets per door. If vibration is the Issue, changing the frequency of a panel could be done by adding the sheet to the largest flat area of the card and door, so 2 sheets per door.....

This is a useful guide:

 

http://www.deadening.co.uk/pages/tips

 

Things like Dynamat only need to cover around 25% of the metal surface you are looking to deaden as the job of that sort of material is to reduce vibrations rather than absorb sound so full coverage is not necessary. 

Sound absorbing and blocking requires much larger area coverage to achieve good results which is done with foam. Any amount will help but isolation needs full coverage.

 

I had dynamat applied to my front door panels and door cards last week when I had my speakers installed - it really does make a difference!