Sound / Acoustic insulation

I dont want to buy just any old sound insulation as i have suffered the consequences of using "average" quality acoustic insulation in the past and wondered why i bothered at all.

What is the best sound insulation available? I will require only about 60m2 so am happy to pay top dollar to get a product that performs.

Is 32kg / m2 about as good as it gets for domestic purposes (70mm studs) ?

Also, i have noticed that a lot of insulation companies rate their acoustic insulation with an R value? I understand that in some applications people are trying to kill 2 birds with one stone (thermal and noise) however i think a product designed specifically to stop room to room transfer of sound has to be better than one that is also trying to act as a thermal barrier.

Is there such a thing as sound specific insulation?

Egg cartons maybe?

I was going to suggest egg cartons. . . then I finished reading the end of your thread. . . egg cartons.

haha

gonna have to tell the wife i'm Jake da mus and she gotta " cook da man sum iggs"

Have you considered mass loaded vinyl. Here is a recycled version:

http://www.acoustica.com.au/acoustiflex.html

One industry method of measuring acoustic insulation is by Sound Transmission class (STC) reduction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_transmission_class

But the subject of acoustic insulation is quite complex. Noise can also be transmitted alongs studs and pipes or via air gaps in the building structure.
Multiple strategies may be needed.

http://www.yourhome.gov.au/technical/fs27.html

PS R value has nothing to do with acoustic insulation

Wake_me -what sort of sound are you trying to block and what wall type?

Thanks dynomite, I have tried contacting acoustica and will await their reply.



Exactly why i am suss on any acoustic insulation product that is rated with an R value.









General household noise. I guess the sounds will be different in every room. Between the garage and the house i want to stop the sound of the car starting. between the HT and the rest of the house its the sound of the HT. between bedrooms i guess its talking / music / snoring / special cuddles . between the bedrooms and bath rooms its general toilet sounds (shower, basin taps, etc.) between the toilet and bedroom its flushing and dropping bombs

70mm timber stud walls.

I found this other product, Green Glue with impressive data:

http://www.ultrafonic.com.au/Green%20Gl ... 0Tests.htm

Thanks Dymonite,

That stuff certainly shows impressive results. Will look into it tomorrow.

Cheers

wakame - As dyno mentioned - sound is tough to stop due to the resonate nature of the wall studs, gaps in the ceiling above the wall etc.

As for a sound based product also claiming and R value - i don't have an issue with that as they can do both - but perhaps not as effective at pure sound attenuation as a dedicated sound only product.

Rockwool is reasonably effective at this and products like the vinyl and others are excellent but some of them are way more expensive and way more effective - So it's the old budget versus level of attenuation required.

I personally was involved in a suspended ceiling office with vented doors in a real estate office being made shouting level quiet outside by building via new non joined stud walls being built to roof height inside the ceiling space above the existing walls (with sond insulation inthem, sound insulation in the ceiling, and double sheeting with sound deading material the vented doors - which enabled a big loud voiced man able to shout in the room and not be heard in the next office. So it's all about how much you want to spend.

Lots of noise travels over the top of the wall as well as through it.

Even those special cuddly moments which in a lourved tropical hosues even the neighbours 3 doors away might hear.

Also try these products at
http://www.soundblock.com.au/index.html
will be using the barrier board for HT room

There is a product called I think called Soundboard that was made in NZ - I think it is no longer made but I could be wrong. A simlilar one called softboard made by a South African company is available in Oz. Another similar one in the states (AFAIK not sold here) is called homasote and there is some info on their website http://www.homasote.com/applications/Sound-control.aspx

I have not used it for soundproofing but that is one of its uses - It would be interesting to hear if anyone has used it and their thoughts?

similar to soundboard, its called quietwave - was on new inventors and was close to winning the prize of the year lala; was invented by a sound technician; i am yet to get a price i have quite a large room to sound proof and i am going to use bulkhead spaces/squares as 'sound traps' in the ceiling aswell.

http://www.acoustica.com.au/quietwave.html

-Nathan

You might also want to consider Fletchers rigid glasswool products. This one is 48 kg/m3 :

http://www.insulation.com.au/content/up ... 0Rigid.pdf

Been a while since this thread was open. Has anyone had any great success with any of the above methods? From my research, it seems the best approach is:

- concrete, brick or hebel outer walls
- inner timber frame, isolated using clips and tracks, filled with dense insulation (eg: rockwool)
- mass loaded vinyl or rubber sheeting over timber frame
- two layers of acoustic rated plasterboard, separated by "green glue" or similar

For the flooring, mass loaded sheeting under the timber floor, and acoustic rated rubber matting on top, followed by underlay and carpeting.

Does that sound about right? I'm intrigued by this Green Glue - is it just another fancy way to package silicon? Reason being, I've got 40 tubes of silicon sitting in the garage!

Very interested to hear your experiences...

??

http://www.onlinetips.org/soundproofing-interior-walls

Johnson,

There are 4 elements of soundproofing:

#1 Decoupling. Could be double stud framing, resilient clips, etc

#2 Absorption. This is one of a number of insulations, generally.

#3 Mass. Standard plasterboard is your friend.

#4 Damping. Several products that can damp, including the aforementioned Green Glue.

Out of all of these, people intuitively select Absorption (insulation) as the most effective. It's exactly the opposite. Insulation is the least contributive of the 4 elements. Surprising, perhaps.

Additionally, the least expensive insulation you can find is generally about as good as it gets. People like to spend a great deal of money on insulation, therefore there are companies that will sell you exotic insulation. Beware.

I am planning to put insulation of some sort between the joists between the ceiling of our kitchen and the floor of the bedroom above, mainly to prevent noise from the kitchen disturbing children sleeping above.

I will be using 12.5mm Gyproc FireLine plasterboard, which will stop more sound that normal plasterboard, but am debating whether to spend about £100 (UK) on 75mm Rockwool RWA45 slab, or about £25 on 200mm glass mineral wool (Knauf Saver Value Triple Loft Insulation).

Does anyone have any idea of the relative effectiveness of 75mm Rockwool RWA45 slab compared with 200mm glass mineral wool, in terms of acoustic insulation? The most recent post by Ted White would tend to suggest that the glass mineral wool would be just as good, but I'd appreciate any thoughts.

Thanks.

General Rules of Thumb:

Use a lower density insulation when available. This is typically standard batt insulation for thermal purposes.

Don't compress.

If the cavity is 50% - 70% full of insulation, there's not much if any improvement to fill the cavity completely.

Generally the cheapest insulation you can find is the best option.

Thanks Ted. Sounds as though I'd be wasting my money going for the Rockwool slab rather than the cheap glass mineral wool insulation. Thanks for the advice. That's one job I can tick off my list for today!

j rippon if it accoustic barrier your after use the rockwool! teds information is regarding thermal inulation!