soundproofing / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

...soundproofing batts in the interior partitions and for the mechanical room, we added soundproofing batts along with resilient channels and 2 layers of 5/8 drywall. More on soundproofing: Understanding sound transmission in buildings Controlling sound transmission in buildings Choosing Sound absorbing insulation Learn ...

Before embarking on any structural changes, it is most important to understand that the sound isolation between two homes is not determined only by the common wall or floor. All the other parts of the construction - side walls, ceilings, floors under walls - can transmit sound. Flanking sound transmission (see below), ...

The first step to controlling sound transmission in buildings is assessing the situation. What kind of noise is it? Noise in buildings is usually assigned to one of three classes: Airborne sound: Sound such as voices, TV or stereo sounds. The source does not strike or vibrate against the structure of the building. Stru...

There is a plethora of home improvement shows demonstrating how easy it is to buy, renovate and flip a house, and make some easy coin in the process. And when there is insulating to be done, it often seems people gravitate towards spray foam insulation. Why is that? Well, it works - at least in some ways. Spray foam ma...

Home Insulation - how much is too much? A House can definitely be under-insulated (millions of homes throughout the United States and Canada have this very problem), but can a home have too much insulation? In short, yes it can. In reality, there is an optimal balance between the up-front cost of insulation and the lon...

...soundproofing. You don’t want to be around it when a building is on fire. There is some evidence that it can shrink over time. All of that is true, but there are workarounds to all those problems. The point is, things on the planet don’t look so great right now. And if we remove our blinders and acknowledge the true st...

...soundproofing Reducing sound transmission in buildings improves the quality of life for occupants and allows the construction of smaller homes while keeping privacy as a priority. Some are better than others at this, a lot of it has to do with the mass of the product, so things like EPS, XPS and Polyiso rigid insulatio...

...soundproofing panels; semi-rigid decorative and soundproofing panels; felts for subfloor insulation. 5.5 " batts for a standard 2x6 wall currently cost $1.90 per square foot and 3.5" batts for 2x4 stud bays cost $1.35 per square foot. "Our prices per square foot fall right between the cost of mineral wool and polystyr...

New blowing agents for spray foam coming by the end of 2017 Foam insulation is a petroleum-based product and nothing will change that. But that was never the biggest problem the 'eco' building community had with foam insulation; the main issue was the inclusion of chemicals with a global warming potential (GWP) that wa...

No matter that engineers and architects long ago debunked it, insulating paint still occasionally finds its way into buildings. Powdered ceramic chips that can be added to any paint are said to reflect heat in or out of a building and reduce heat loss by staggering amounts. I was under the impression that this had been...

...soundproofing, and being made with stone, it is fireproof.  Not being affected by moisture makes it is a great choice for retro-fitting insulation when finishing basement, either interior or exterior. It is also something of a fool proof exterior board insulation when renovating, as it will not trap moisture from the ...