The Search For A Simple Solution With Paper Thin Walls
Having lived in a plaster and wood lath walled house for the past 27 years that was built in the early 1900's I forgot how terrible typical stud walls with drywall are - acoustically speaking that is.
Our new house (built in 1947) had the walk-out basement lower level finished by the previous owner. Tap the drywall ceiling and walls and they sing like a tin drum.
Short of tearing it all out and starting over I'm looking for a shortcut, and my imagination has come up with one, a bit unconventional.
Here is some recent reading I've done as a background before I spring my idea on the world.
How To Make Walls Quiet
In short the above says use Mass loaded vinyl (MLV) barrier (rubber-like dampening) and QuietRock a multi-layer laminated gypsum wall product with a middle layer of "viscoelastic sound-absorbing polymers".
Soundproofing 101: How To Keep Your Home Theater Quiet
The above article by Bob Ankosko is kind of depressing when it says 90% of resilient channel jobs are botched. However page-2 offers hope with Rubber Sound Isolation Clips, well kind of.
Anyway the conclusion of both articles is to get into the 10-20 dbl (50%-75%) improvement/reduction range, 3 dbl of insulation and 3 dbl's of a second layer of drywall isn't going to cut it.
Most of the products offering best improvements use rubber/vinyl/viscoelastic layer and or special rubbery glues/caulks to similar affect.
So the brainstorm hits me, kill two birds with one stone, install a decorative product over my boring white walls that will not reduce the size of my room by much and not become a major construction project.
Such a product will have a rubber/vinyl backer and simply self-adhere, glue or screw on to the existing wall (inside of stereo room).
I was thinking wood on the face for looks (textured or perforated is okay) with a rubber/vinyl backer already bonded to it.
Sounds like a flooring, right?
Ever try to Google "wood rubber" flooring or panel or tile? In short, I did not find what I was looking for, not yet anyway.
My room is really small, but I could maybe install a Mass loaded vinyl (MLV) barrier to the existing drywall, furr-out with 1/2" wood strips, and cover with a cork backed perforated wood veneer tile. I get the mass damping of the rubber, a tiny airspace, and back of panel absorption, plus good reflection on the wood face so the room isn't totally dead.
I'd settle for the simplest solution, a tile/panel perhaps of wood with a rubber backer - one step and done.
I'm not so keen on vinyl flooring that looks like wood or composite flooring with a photo finish. That's what I seem to keep finding.
There are ceiling panels like I've described in wood with holes or without holes but they lack the rubber backer, plus are expensive I imagine.
Several PVC decorative wall panels from the Big Box home improvements stores look affordable and interesting, but not quite the direction I wanted to take this.
In conclusion, if anyone knows of or finds something like I've described to put on my walls and ceiling please post it, and a link would help.
Cheers, George/kach22i
Having lived in a plaster and wood lath walled house for the past 27 years that was built in the early 1900's I forgot how terrible typical stud walls with drywall are - acoustically speaking that is.
Our new house (built in 1947) had the walk-out basement lower level finished by the previous owner. Tap the drywall ceiling and walls and they sing like a tin drum.
Short of tearing it all out and starting over I'm looking for a shortcut, and my imagination has come up with one, a bit unconventional.
Here is some recent reading I've done as a background before I spring my idea on the world.
How To Make Walls Quiet
In short the above says use Mass loaded vinyl (MLV) barrier (rubber-like dampening) and QuietRock a multi-layer laminated gypsum wall product with a middle layer of "viscoelastic sound-absorbing polymers".
Soundproofing 101: How To Keep Your Home Theater Quiet
The above article by Bob Ankosko is kind of depressing when it says 90% of resilient channel jobs are botched. However page-2 offers hope with Rubber Sound Isolation Clips, well kind of.
Anyway the conclusion of both articles is to get into the 10-20 dbl (50%-75%) improvement/reduction range, 3 dbl of insulation and 3 dbl's of a second layer of drywall isn't going to cut it.
Most of the products offering best improvements use rubber/vinyl/viscoelastic layer and or special rubbery glues/caulks to similar affect.
So the brainstorm hits me, kill two birds with one stone, install a decorative product over my boring white walls that will not reduce the size of my room by much and not become a major construction project.
Such a product will have a rubber/vinyl backer and simply self-adhere, glue or screw on to the existing wall (inside of stereo room).
I was thinking wood on the face for looks (textured or perforated is okay) with a rubber/vinyl backer already bonded to it.
Sounds like a flooring, right?
Ever try to Google "wood rubber" flooring or panel or tile? In short, I did not find what I was looking for, not yet anyway.
My room is really small, but I could maybe install a Mass loaded vinyl (MLV) barrier to the existing drywall, furr-out with 1/2" wood strips, and cover with a cork backed perforated wood veneer tile. I get the mass damping of the rubber, a tiny airspace, and back of panel absorption, plus good reflection on the wood face so the room isn't totally dead.
I'd settle for the simplest solution, a tile/panel perhaps of wood with a rubber backer - one step and done.
I'm not so keen on vinyl flooring that looks like wood or composite flooring with a photo finish. That's what I seem to keep finding.
There are ceiling panels like I've described in wood with holes or without holes but they lack the rubber backer, plus are expensive I imagine.
Several PVC decorative wall panels from the Big Box home improvements stores look affordable and interesting, but not quite the direction I wanted to take this.
In conclusion, if anyone knows of or finds something like I've described to put on my walls and ceiling please post it, and a link would help.
Cheers, George/kach22i
