Room Decision System

Sound & acoustics

How much of the outside — and the room next door — you keep out. Glazing, walls, doors and floors decide whether a Sarawak home feels calm or noisy.

Each decision below is shown three ways — what it changes in use, which way it moves the cost, and how it looks. Price-free; ALUMAX confirms the figure.

Room

Specialists: ELS design & coordination

Glazing for a quieter room

SpecialistELS design & coordinationTechnical decisionGet specification / site review

ALUMAX productELS specifies

Single glazingIncluded
Laminated acoustic glassSignatureNotable uplift
Double-glazed acoustic unitBespokeSignificant uplift

Your choice · Whole home

See what each option changes

Single glazing

In use: This is the standard single pane fitted as the baseline. It handles daily use and keeps the weather out, but does the least to hold back street traffic, passing motorbikes, and heavy Sarawak downpours drumming on the glass. Expect to hear more of what happens outside, especially in a road-facing or terrace-front room.
Cost impact: Included — Included as the baseline glazing, supplied and installed by ALUMAX.
How it looks: Reads as a clean, ordinary window — clear and bright, with nothing to mark it out. It looks the same from the street as the acoustic upgrades; the difference between them is heard, not seen.

Laminated acoustic glass

In use: A single thicker pane bonded with an acoustic interlayer, so the same window noticeably cuts more of the road and rain noise you live with day to day. The bonded layer also holds the glass together if it is ever broken, which adds a measure of security and safety for a ground-floor or street-facing room. Its performance is verified against the glazing manufacturer's tested specification.
Cost impact: Notable uplift — Part of the window system, supplied and fitted by ALUMAX.
How it looks: From across the room or the street it looks just like ordinary clear glass — same frames, same sightlines. The quieter room is felt rather than seen.

Double-glazed acoustic unit

In use: Two panes separated by a sealed cavity and specified with an acoustic build, so it holds back the most of the outside world — traffic, passing bikes, and rain-driven noise all arrive softened. The sealed cavity also eases the load on air-conditioning in Sarawak's heat, so a bedroom or study stays cooler and quieter for longer. Its rated performance is verified against the glazing manufacturer's tested specification.
Cost impact: Significant uplift — A made-to-order unit, supplied and installed by ALUMAX.
How it looks: In the room it reads as a slightly deeper glass unit but keeps the same clean, clear look; from the street it is hard to tell apart from the baseline. The real difference is in how much quieter the room feels.

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Door sound sealing

SpecialistELS design & coordinationTechnical decisionGet specification / site review

Specialist tradeELS specifies

Standard hollow-core doorBaseline
Solid-core door + perimeter sealsSignatureModerate
Acoustic-rated doorsetBespokeHigh

Your choice · Whole home

See what each option changes

Standard hollow-core door

In use: A hollow-core door is light and easy to hang, but it passes sound readily. Day to day you will hear conversation, TV and movement through it, and in a terrace or condo where a bedroom sits close to the living area it does little against household noise. The upside is that it is light and almost maintenance-free.
Cost impact: Baseline — specialist quotation required
How it looks: Looks like an ordinary flush door and reads identical to a heavier one from across the room. The difference is felt, not seen.

Solid-core door + perimeter seals

In use: A solid core with perimeter seals closes the gaps around the frame where most sound leaks out. Day to day the door feels heavier and shuts with a more solid thud, conversation and TV from the next room come through noticeably quieter, and the seals also cut draughts and dust. It is a sensible step for a bedroom opening off a busy living area.
Cost impact: Moderate — specialist quotation required
How it looks: From outside it looks the same as a standard door; the added heft and the quieter close are felt, not seen. The seals sit discreetly in the frame rebate.

Acoustic-rated doorset

In use: An acoustic doorset is supplied as one matched unit — leaf, frame, seals and usually a drop-down threshold seal — so the whole assembly performs together. Day to day it gives the biggest step in privacy, cutting more of the road, rain and household noise and softening sound from a media room or home office. It is heavier to swing and the threshold seal needs an occasional check; performance is verified against the doorset manufacturer's tested specification.
Cost impact: High — specialist quotation required
How it looks: In the space it still reads as an ordinary door; the frame may look a touch deeper and the closing is quiet and precise. The difference is felt, not seen.

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Footfall & impact sound

SpecialistELS design & coordinationTechnical decisionGet specification / site review

Specialist tradeELS specifies

Tiles laid directBaseline
Acoustic underlaySignatureLow
Floating floor systemBespokeModerate

Your choice · Whole home

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Tiles laid direct

In use: The tile bed sits straight on the structural slab, with nothing between the finish and the concrete. Because hard tile over a slab passes impact through readily, footsteps, dropped items and scraping chairs from the room above carry down more clearly, and rain drumming on an upstairs slab can travel too. This is the standard build for a ground floor or where the room above is your own and the noise doesn't matter.
Cost impact: Baseline — specialist quotation required
How it looks: Reads as an ordinary tiled floor — there is nothing added to see, and the finish level sits at its lowest.

Acoustic underlay

In use: A resilient acoustic layer is laid under the tile bed so the finish no longer sits hard against the slab, which softens footfall and impact carrying down from the room above. Day to day this makes an upstairs bedroom, playroom or condo unit noticeably quieter underfoot for the space below, and it copes with our humidity as a concealed layer. Where the trade cites a performance level, take it against the underlay manufacturer's tested specification rather than any figure quoted on site.
Cost impact: Low — specialist quotation required
How it looks: Looks identical from outside; the layer disappears under the tile, so the difference is felt underfoot, not seen. The finished floor may sit a few millimetres higher than a direct-laid one.

Floating floor system

In use: The whole floor build-up is isolated from the structural slab so impact energy — footsteps, dropped items, dragged furniture — is decoupled rather than passed straight through, giving the most thorough reduction of the three for the room below. It suits a bedroom or living area stacked over a quiet space, or a condo where you want to be considerate to the unit downstairs. Where a performance level matters to you, have it confirmed against the system manufacturer's tested specification, since the result depends on the trade detailing the perimeter and edges correctly.
Cost impact: Moderate — specialist quotation required
How it looks: The finished floor looks the same as any other; the isolation sits hidden in the build-up, so the difference is felt, not seen. It typically raises the floor level the most of the three, which the trade sets against thresholds and adjoining rooms.

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Wall & partition sound isolation

SpecialistELS design & coordinationTechnical decisionGet specification / site review

Specialist tradeELS specifies

Standard partitionBaseline
Insulated stud partitionSignatureModerate
Double-layer resilient wallBespokeHigh

Your choice · Whole home

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Standard partition

In use: A standard partition divides the rooms but does little to slow sound, so voices, television and footfall carry through fairly easily from one side to the other. It suits spaces that share the same daily rhythm - a study beside a family area, or two rooms used by the same people at the same times. Where one side genuinely needs quiet, expect to hear what happens on the other.
Cost impact: Baseline — specialist quotation required
How it looks: Reads as an ordinary flush wall - clean, painted and indistinguishable from any other partition once finished.

Insulated stud partition

In use: A stud frame filled with acoustic infill is noticeably quieter than a hollow partition. Conversation, television and everyday noise from the next room are dulled rather than passing straight through - useful between a bedroom and the living area, or around a home office that needs to stay calmer. In a terrace or condo layout it takes some of the edge off living against a shared wall.
Cost impact: Moderate — specialist quotation required
How it looks: Looks identical to a standard wall once skimmed and painted; the difference is felt, not seen.

Double-layer resilient wall

In use: Two layers of board on resilient mounting decouple the wall's two faces, so far more of the voices, television and footfall from the other side is held back rather than transmitted, and footsteps and speech carrying between rooms are softened. Where the wall backs onto a shared boundary or a busy road, it also keeps out more of that outside noise. This is the build for a master bedroom, a media room, or the party wall shared with a neighbouring terrace unit - the settled, still quiet you notice the moment the door shuts.
Cost impact: High — specialist quotation required
How it looks: From inside the room it reads as an ordinary painted wall, only slightly thicker; the performance sits in the build-up, not on the surface.

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Echo & room absorption

SpecialistELS design & coordinationTechnical decisionGet specification / site review

Specialist tradeELS coordinates

Hard surfaces (live room)Baseline
Soft furnishings & rugsSignatureLow
Acoustic panelsBespokeModerate

Your choice · Whole home

See what each option changes

Hard surfaces (live room)

In use: Day to day, a room of tile, glass and painted plaster stays easy to wipe down and shrugs off Sarawak humidity, but sound bounces around it. Voices, the TV and footsteps carry, so the room feels live and echoey, especially once furniture is sparse. Conversation across the room is harder to follow, and rain on the roof or passing traffic rings on a little longer.
Cost impact: Baseline — specialist quotation required
How it looks: Reads clean, open and bright, with hard reflective surfaces and bare walls that soften nothing. This is the honest starting point — the echo is heard, not seen.

Soft furnishings & rugs

In use: Adding rugs, curtains, upholstered seating and cushions is the simplest way to take the edge off — soft surfaces soak up the reflections so the room feels noticeably calmer and speech is easier to follow. Footfall on a rug is quieter, and heavy curtains cut a little more of the road and rain noise coming through the glass. In our climate, choose washable, breathable fabrics and lift rugs to dry, so humidity does not leave them musty.
Cost impact: Low — specialist quotation required
How it looks: Warms and softens the room visibly — texture, layers and colour replace the bare hard surfaces, so you see the change as well as hear it. It reads as a furnished, lived-in space rather than an empty shell.

Acoustic panels

In use: Purpose-made acoustic panels target the echo directly, placed where the reflections are worst, so a hard open room settles down and speech, music and video calls come through much cleaner than soft furnishings alone can manage. Any reduction in echo is felt against the panel maker's tested specification, not a promise of silence — the room stays quieter and less ringy, and everyday noise dies away faster. A specialist fabricates and installs them while ELS coordinates the placement and finish so they work with the rest of the room.
Cost impact: Moderate — specialist quotation required
How it looks: A deliberate design element — panels in chosen fabrics, timber slats or shaped forms that read as intentional wall or ceiling features rather than an afterthought. Here the acoustic work is meant to be seen, not hidden.

Take this into your room plan

Each decision's badge shows who supplies it. A real figure belongs only to what ALUMAX supplies; appointed-trade works — electrical, air-conditioning, ceiling, flooring, painting, data and security — are quoted by the trade, and loose items are the owner's own purchase. ELS specifies and coordinates throughout. Cost is a relative direction only, never a price; maintenance is described in each option's “In use”.

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