Soundproofing a drop ceiling

 

 
  Soundproofing a T-Bar or drop ceiling in a office or medical facility can appear to
be quite a challenging task, but the reality is that soundproofing a drop
ceiling is not as difficult as you might think.
 There are products such as Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV for short) that can be
placed atop of an acoustical drop ceiling. It is always a good idea to first
lay down a soft absorbent material on top of the ceiling tiler to add
absorbency to the ceiling, but most importantly to decouple the MLV barrier
from the ceiling tiles themselves. One great product for absorption and
decoupling is called Echoless roll material. The Echoless roll is a bonded
cottom product that comes in rolls. This material comes in 2 thicknesses, the
1in and the 2in. Either thickness will sufficiently decouple the MLV from the
ceiling tiles and the grid assembly.
 There are two ways to install this method of soundproofing. One would be to
get up on a ladder over looking to top of the ceiling tile grid. You would
then roll out the Echoless bonded cotton roll all the way across the top
surface of the ceiling tiles. You will need to carefully cut the Echoless
roll material so that it will fit around the ceiling grid suspension wires.
This will take a bit of skill because you will not be able toi stand on top
of a t=bar ceiling for obvious reasons.
Once The Echoless roll mat is laid out flat ontop of all of the ceiling tiles,
 you will need to perform the same operation using the MLV. The MLV will cut
with scissors as will the Echoless roll so that the MLV will fit around the
grid suspension wires. If you can reach the cuts that surround the suspension
wires, it is a good idea to caulk these areas to seal them as best as you can.
  Now the second method will take a little more time, but it would be easier
due to the fact that you would not need to deal with the Grid suspension
wirea at all. This method would require that you remove all of the ceiling
tiles and then cut the Echoless roll material to fit the back of the tiles.
It is a good idea to spot glue the Echoless toll material to the ceiling tile.
 There are 2 sides to the echoless roll material, one is a denim cotton and
the other is a black scrim facing. When you glue the Echoless roll to the
ceiling tile, the black facing should be facing upwards, in other words you
will be looking at the black facing material. Now that the Echoless roll
material is adhered to the tile, you will cut the mass loaded vinyl to fit
directly on top of the Echoless mat. It is recommended that you cut the MLV a
little bit bigger that the perimeter of the ceiling tile, that way the MLV
will over lap once the ceiling tile is re-installed into the ceiling grid.
 At this point you will place each ceiling tile back into the Grid. Using
this method you will be adding at least 1 Lb per sq ft to your ceiling, but
the weight will be evenly distributed across the entire surface of the grid.
 You may need additional suspension wires, but unless the ceiling is over 500
sq ft the additional wires are probably not necessary.
 There you have it, and easy and effective way to soundproof your T-Bar grid
ceiling.
 For more information about these products or any of our soundproofing or
acoustical treatment products, talk to the professionals at Soundproofing
America, Inc, your #1 Soundproofing Resource. This is Bob O. adios!


www.soundproofingamerica.com
www.soundproofingamerica.us
e-mail bob@soundproofingamerica.com
PH (877) 530-0139

Soundproofing, soundproof, mass loaded vinyl, sound absorption, soundproof foam, acoustical treatment, Green Glue, noise control,  Soundproof doors, recording studio windows, recording studio doors, sound isolation, home theater soundproofing, industrial soundproofing, home soundproofing, Ultra touch insulation, sound barrier, wall soundproofing, floor soundproofing, soundproof ceiling soundproofing a fence, soundproofing and aircraft, RV soundproofing, acoustical caulk