Batt Insulations, Are They a Sound Investment In Soundproofing?



Posted: Monday, November 27, 2006

by Random Writers

“Whichbatt type insulation will give me the best soundproofing?" I hearthis question a lot, or better still, “Do I need to add moresoundproofing if I already have insulation in the walls andceilings?" Keep in mind that any batt type insulation, though itmay be a great thermal insulator, is generally not very good as asoundproofing agent. If batt insulations such as fiberglassinsulation or Icynenewere effective soundproofing products, the big boys like JohnsManville ™ and Owens Corning ™ would take over the soundproofingindustry and leave the real professionals out in the cold. Luckilyknowledge is still power and it will be a while before all thesoundproofing companies are put out of business.

Ifyou are serious about soundproofing always consider batt insulationsasthe proverbial “icing on the cake". They simply don’t have thehorsepower to be stand alone soundproofing agents such as lead,closed cell foam and mass loaded vinyl.

Thereare some good sound batt insulations on the market today, one isRoxul AFB™ (acoustic fire batt). Roxul™ is a rock wool that ismade up of mining slag Canada that is hit with high pressure air thusgiving it the properties of a very dense fiberglass insulation andwhile it will provide the end user with an R-13 for the 3 ½"variety and an R-19 for the 5 ½" batts, it’s main functionin life is to provide superb sound absorption and structuraldampening of wall and joist cavities. It is a know fact that dampinga structure; especially a wooden structure helps to control thetransmission and vibration of sound through said structure.

BondedLogic™, a company in Arizona also provides a cotton sound battinsulation that is great for filling voids and cavities where soundcontrol is essential. The cotton is an inert material that absorbssound but does not transmit through its fibers like fiberglassinsulation does.

Fiberglassinsulation is one of the worst for soundproofing agents out these. Itactually transmits sound through its very fibers thus causing theannoying noise to appear amplified. If you are forced to usefiberglass insulation make sure it is isolated from either the subfloor or the ceiling below. Never pack fiberglass into cavities orvoids. By isolation the fiberglass insulation from the sub floorabove or the ceiling below you will break the sound transmissioncircuit from the floor above to the ceiling below. The same appliesto walls, if the fiberglass insulation is touching one side of yourdrywall, make certain that it does not come in contact with the otherside of the drywall. This makes perfect sense once you know thenature of fiberglass insulation.

Tosum this up, never count on any batt type insulation to be yourstand-alone soundproofing agent. You will always need the horsepowerof lead, mass loaded vinyl, closed cell foam, or of course myfavorite, Green Glue™.You can read about these great soundproofing agents in subsequentarticles throughout the Internet. For now, this is Dr. Bob, The GreenGlue King, signing off and may all of your soundproofing journeys besmooth ones.

Tolearn more about Soundproofing and Soundproofing materials visit oursite http://www.soundproofingamerica.com/

Toorder Mass Loaded Vinyl see our site

http://www.soundproofingamerica.com/mass-loaded-vinyl.asp

Youcan read more articles on soundproofing on our blog at

http://massloadedvinyl.blogspot.com/

This Article has been viewed 1,765 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.