Mass Loaded Vinyl

 

 Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV for short) is one of the industry standards for soundproofing.  MLV is used to soundproof wall, ceiling and floors. In essence Mass Loaded Vinyl is a high grade vinyl that is impregnates with barium and silica to give it mass.  It was designed to emulate lead sheeting bit without the hazards of dealing with lead sheeting. MLV is used for residential as well as Industrial and commercial applications.  It is a very weatherproof material so it can be used in most outdoor situations.

 Installing MLV is not rocket science, but there are some rules to follow so that the vinyl performs to it’s optimum ability. For example, if you are going to soundproof a wall using the MLV then it is best to remove the existing drywall and then install the Vinyl directly to the wall studs., Basically you would staple the MLV right to the face of the studwork much like a vapor barrier on a bathroom wall.  You can also use an air drive nail gun that shoots the roofing nails with the large plastic heads.  Keep in mind that for the most part Mass Loaded Vinyl is not a reinforced product. You can buy reinforced MLV but it is nearly double the cost of the non-reinforced product. I don’t feel that it is worth the additional cost in most soundproofing applications.

You will be stapling the MLV directly to the studs, overlapping the seams by at least 1inch. You will need to caulk all seams using an acoustical caulking compound. It is also recommended that you caulk the perimeter of the installed  MLV membrane. The key to getting the most bang for the buck from MLV is to make sure that it is properly sealed. Sealing is vital to any soundproofing endeavor. Now if you overlap the MLV directly over a stud, you will have a hump there , you’ll want to flatten that out the bump using a hammer. Simply flatten out the vinyl overlap so that the new layer of drywall will lay flush on the studs. I always recommend bringing the MLV all the way to the floor and then caulking the seam where the MLV meets the floor. This will insure a good seal of the MLV membrane.

Now that you have the MLV installed and properly sealed, it is time for the drywall to be installed. You can use one of the soundproof drywalls such as the Sound Break XP or you can simply install a later of quality 5/8” fire code drywall. It is a great idea to butter the edges of the drywall with caulk so that you guarantee and excellent seal. Well there you have it. Mass Loaded Vinyl is a simple and quite effective soundproofing agent. This is Dr. Bob, 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, soundproofing your car. Soundproof flooring, basement soundproofing, Green Glue,

Green Glue soundproofing compound

 
 There are tons of articles and posts regarding the use of Green Glue to soundproof walls, ceilings, and floors. We have had experience using the Green Glue for over 5 years now. Green Glue is a Visco Elastic Damping Compound that is used in conjunction with multiple layers of wallboard, In essence, the Green Glue applied between 2 layers of drywall will damp both layers of drywall (remover the resonant frequency of the drywall) or the ability of the drywall to vibrate and thus transmit sound.

Normal drywall and even the soundproof drywall still can have a tendency to transmit sound. The Green Glue is an excellent retrofit soundproofing agent. In other words, if you already have drywall up on your walls and wish to soundproof the wall, you don’t have to remove the existing drywall. All you would need to do is apply the Green Glue to a new layer of drywall and once the Green Glue is applied, simply screw the drywall over top of your existing drywall with the Green Glue sandwiched between the 2 layers of drywall.

 Basically, you would place a layer of quality 5/8” drywall onto saw horses and then take a tube of the Green Glue and cut the tio of the tube to give you a ¼” round bead. Then simply shoot the drywall from the Green Glue tube using and ‘S’ pattern, back an forth, The ‘S’s would be about ½: apart. You will need to apply 2 full tubes to each layer of 4’ X 8’ drywall. Once you have 2 tubes applied with the ¼” bead, you will leave the Green Glue with the bead you do not want to trowel of smooth it out. It’s visco elastic properties will allow the GG to spread out evenly and  completely dame both layers of drywall.

I always recommend using at least 2 tubes of Green Glue for each 4’ X 8’ sheet of drywall and I always recommend using the 5/8: drywall in most applications.

Before applying the new layer of drywall to your existing wall you will need to move and electrical outlets or light switches out about 5/8” or so to accommodate the new layer of drywall. We also recommend that your seal up all electrical outlets and light switches using the Nielson Fire stop putty pads. This will seal the electrical outlets and switches and prevent the sound from transmitting through these open areas. You also may want to put a small bead of silicone caulk around the perimeter of the light switch cover as well as the electrical outlet cover. Once all the electrical has been repositioned and the boxes sealed with the putty pads, it is time to install the Green Glue laden drywall. You will still use drywall screws to affix this new layer of drywall. The Green Glue compound will be sandwiched between the 2 layers of drywall. Make sure to bring the drywall screw down tightly to force the Green Glue into both layers of drywall. Using the Green Glue method will give you instant soundproofing when first applied, but give the glue 30 complete days to completely cure before judging your results There you have it. Green Glue for eadsy and effective Soundproofing. This is Dr. Bob, 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, soundproofing your car. Soundproof flooring, basement soundproofing, Green Glue,

Basement Soundproofing

 

 There are a variety of reasons for soundproofing your basement. Many times a home owner wants to renovate the basement so they can rent it out to potential tenants. Sometimes they just want to build a recreation area in the basement with perhaps a home theater and other entertainment facility and they want to keep the noise in the basement and not have it travel up the floors above.

 Whatever the reason is that you would like to soundproof your basement, here are some pointers and methods for keeping the sound from  transmitting between floors and for stopping the foot fall traffic above from being transmitted to the basement area.

 One of the major problems you will come across when dealing with a basement soundproofing project is low floor to ceiling heights. Sometimes this precludes you from floating the ceiling on Sound Clips and furring channels,  If you have typical 8’ or higher ceilings in your basement, then all of the soundproofing options are open to you. Many times when building out a basement people want to install recessed lighting in the ceiling. I generally discourage people from using recessed lighting in a ceiling because they are a serious breach in the soundproofing effort. That being said, that are a multitude of ways to soundproof the canned lights and  still maintain the acoustical properties of the ceiling assembly. We will discuss  soundproofing recessed lighting in a subsequent post.

The ceiling is where you want to start when soundproofing a basement. You can either do your soundproofing from below or put down a soundproof floor underlayment above and soundproof your upper floor at the source. The recycled rubber floor underlayments that we carry at Soundproofing America, Inc would be perfect in this application.

 Let’s get to work on the basement ceiling. I am assuming that there is no drywall on the basement ceiling so we will be working with bare joists and studs on the walls and ceiling. In the  joist cavity of your ceiling assembly it is recommended that you add a sound absorbing insulation that will friction fit in the cavity and will be positioned right up against the sub floor above Some Great insulations are Rockwool (Roxul safe and Sound or Roxul AFB are both good choices) You also have the option of using the recycled bonded cotton called (Ultra Touch), Either one of these product will offer great sound absorption in the joist and wall cavities. The joist cavities will be deeper than one layer of the R-19 sound insulation would fill. You would simply fill the rest of the cavity with  standard fiberglass insulation (the pink stuff will work).

 Once the cavities are filled with the sound absorbing insulations we will be stapling up a layer of the 1% per sq ft mass loaded vinyl. (MLV for short) MLV is a high grade vinyl that is impregnated with barium and silica to give it mass. It was designed to emulate lead sheeting. It has all of the characteristics of lead but it contains no lead whatsoever. MLV comes in rolls that are 4’ X 25’ long or 4.5’ X 30’ long. It is no picnic attaching this to a ceiling, but you can always cut the vinyl into more manageable lengths. You will still need at least 2 people to install the MLV to your ceiling. Using an air drive stapler or nail gun, you would staple the MLV directly to the face of the joists, overlapping the seams by about 1” and then caulking the over lap as well as the perimeter of the MLV membrane.

Now that you have the MLV attached to the ceiling and properly sealed with the acoustical caulk, you come to a crossroads. If you have 8’ or higher floor to  ceiling joists, then you can float a new ceiling using Sound Clips and metal furring channels. Sound clips are a device that is used to completely isolate a ceiling from the joist structure above. We will be talking about floating your ceiling is later posts. It takes a lot of time to explain the floated ceiling concept in one post.

The next option would be to add 2 layers of quality 5/8” drywall (good brands are National and US gypsum), You would basically screw up the first layer of drywall directly over the MLV membrane making sure to screw into the joist only. You only want to perforate the MLV where it is on the joist itself. Putting unnecessary punctures in the center of the membrane degrades the amount of soundproofing you will obtain. Once the first layer of drywall is up on the ceiling, I would recommend that you place the second layer of 5/8” drywall onto aw horses and apply a damping compound that we call Green Glue directly to the surface of the new drywall where it will mate with the first layer of drywall that is already installed on the ceiling. The Green Glue comes in 29oz caulk tubes. You would cut the tip for a ¼” bead and then shoot it out onto the drywall in an “S” pattern. The distance between the “S” would be about ½” apart. You will need to apply 2 full tubes of Green Glue for each 4’ X 8’ sheet of drywall. Leave the Green glue in the ¼” bead, do not trowel it out or spread it out. When you screw the new layer over top of the existing layer of drywall, the Green Glue will automatically spread out evenly. That is a characteristic of a visco elastic compound. In essence, the Green Glue will damp both layers of drywall and thus will remove the Drywall’s ability to transmit sound, It is not 100% effective but the Green Glue with 2 layers of drywall can add up to 35-38 STC points to any ceiling. Basically that equated to a 35-38 Decibel reduction of sound through the ceiling.

 Dealing with the walls is not as critical as the ceiling, but if you need to block noise from one room to another, it is recommended that you add the sound absorbing insulation to the open walls and perhaps installing  a layer of the MLV prior to installing the drywall.

I have pretty much described to you exactly what needs to be done to soundproof a basement. I could not get into doors and windows in the basement but we will cover those areas later. Thanks for reading and learning about soundproofing your basement. This is Dr. Bob, 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, soundproofing your car. Soundproof flooring, basement soundproofing

 

Soundproofing your Vehicle

 

   Soundproofing your vehicle doesn’t really have to be a daunting task. What you want to look for are the hot spots where sound is able to penetrate into your  ride. One of the biggest culprits when it comes to  the transmission of both engine and road noise is the hood of the Vehicle. Generally there is some sort of fiber pad underneath the hood and most people assume that this is soundproofing. Actually is si  there to reduce the heat transfer  from the engine to the metal hood and damaging the paint. This fibrous material does nothing for soundproofing. The hood on most vehicles are notorious for transmitting road noise from the struts or shock as well as engine noise. We will discussing how to stop both the transmission of noise and head through the hood of your vehicle.

 America Mat is a very heat resistant foam that will withstand temperatures in excess of 240 Deg F. The rolls of America Mat comes 4’ wide X up to 70’ long.  Basically for standard hood for a car or truck or SUV you should not need a piece larger than 5’ X 4’. The best way to cut the America mat to give your vehicle a professional look is to use an electric meat cutting knife. This will allow you to contour the cut of the foam and will give the foam a nice factory edge cut. The knife also allows you to make a radiused cut for the corners of the foam. Whenever cutting  any foam mat we always recommend using an electric carving knife.

 Now that you have cut the America mat to fit under the hood, it is recommended that you remove the hood from the car in order to properly clean the underside and to get the absolute best adhesion possible  of the foam to the hood. The first order of business would be to remove the fibrous mat that was put under the hood by the factory. Next you will want to clean the hood thoroughly   It is good to use a de-greaser and then to clean the entire underside of the hood with pure rubbing alcohol. Allow the surface of the hood to dry then apply spray contact cement to both the America mat as well as to the underside of the hood. Let the material sit apart as long as the can states and then mate the two pieces together. With contact cement you don’t have a lot of wiggle room so make sure you lay the foam  in the exact position you want the first time. I would suggest that you lay something heavy over top of the foam to insure proper adhesion to the underside of the hood. Let the hood sit over night and then re-install the hood the next day. You will be surprised at just how much noise is mitigated by adding the 1” America mat to the underside of your hood.

 The next step in soundproofing your vehicle is working on soundproofing the floor boards. This will require removal of the carpet or vinyl kit from the floor of the vehicle. You will clean the floor board are in the same manner that you cleaned the underside of the hood. The De-greaser is probably unnecessary, but a good alcohol wipe down is important. Now that your have the metal floor cleaned, you will want to install a mass loaded vinyl material with closed cell foam backing directly to the floor of the vehicle. Mass Loaded vinyl is a high grade vinyl that is impregnated with barium and silica to give it mass. The closed cell foam backing de-couples the MLV from the actual metal floor boards. It is recommended that you either spot glue the foam facing to the floor of the vehicle or you could full strength glue the foam backed vinyl to the floor. You also have the option of not gluing it at all. This would make the foam backed barrier a floated mass layer. I do strongly recommend that you caulk around the perimeter of the foam backed barrier for help seal it to the floor at the seams and edges. Once you have the MLV composite installed, it is time to re-install your carpet kit. This is a job the can be done by a do it yourself enthusiast or you can have a local upholstery shop install it for you.

 Lastly we need to focus on the doors. I recommend using the ½” America mat foam in the door panels. You would glue the foam to the outer door panel and also to the back of the decorative interior panels. Make sure you have plenty of space so as to not interfere with the window and the door opening mechanisms. You want to cover as much of the metal outer door  area as possible so make sure you jave plenty of ½” America mat closed cell foam.

 Soundproofing the trunk of a car would pretty much follow the same procedures as soundproofing the door panels, I hop this narrative has been helpful to you. Believe me this is a project that you can do on your own if you are hand and have a minimum amount of skill and knowledge of you Vehicle. This is Dr. Bob, Adios!

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, soundproofing your car. Soundproof flooring

Soundproof Flooring

  With the number of Condos, apartment and other multi family buildings, the need for effective floor soundproofing is imperative. If you have ever lived in a lower unit in a condo or apartment complex where the people upstairs have a wood or tiles floor with no soundproofing, you know that is is a living Hell. I deal with these issues on a daily basis. There are many effective  soundproof floor underlayment’s such as dense recycled rubber membranes, or mass loaded vinyl with the foam backing for decoupling. The recycled rubber products are the most widely used. One such product is called American Impact Standard, This is a 3/8”  thick  recycled robber membrane that comes in a 4’ X 25’ roll. This product would be rolled out onto your subfloor wall to wall. It is suggested that you glue this material directly to the subfloor  using an specialized adhesive designed for adhering rubber to  wood or concrete. Once the Impact Standard is  rolled out over the adhesive you would butt the seams together and then caulk the seams with an acoustical caulk. It is recommended that you also caulk the  perimeter of the membrane with the same caulking compound.  Now that you have got the Impact Standard Installed, you can  then install any type of floor you would like over top of the membrane. Keep in mind that if you are installing a nail down wood floor, you will need to glue down a backing board over top of the Impact Standard so you have something to nail into when installing the wood flooring. It is also recommended that you install a backing board for  a ceramic floor. This would make sure that you have a stable platform for the tile to prevent the tile or the grout from cracking.

The America Impact Standard is much more effective than standard cork underlayment’s. For more information on this or any of our soundproof floor underlayment’s please call or e-mail one of the Pro’s at Soundproofing America, Inc. This is Dr. Bob, 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, Soundproof Floring

Floating a wall or ceiling the poor man’s way

 

There is a relatively easy and inexpensive way to get some great soundproofing especially if your home is under construction or is being completely remodeled. The soundproofing method I am about to discuss requires that the drywall be removed and you’re working with bare studs or joists/ There is a very versatile Sound Isolation tape that can be adhered directly to the face of the stud or joist. This Iso tape would be taped to the face of every stud or joist to give you isolation of the wallboard from the actuall joist or stud structure. The Iso tape ihas a PSA stick back and a smooth vinyl surface where you would screw the new drywall directly to the stud or joist. If you are floating a wall, you need to make sure that there is a small gap (approximately ¼”from the adjoining walls as well as isolation from the floor and ceiling. This small gap will be filled with an acoustical caulking compound or a combination of a backer rod and acoustical caulk to seal this joint completely. Now that you have isolated your wall and sealed the perimeter gap you would still tape mud and paint or texture the drywall as usual. Make sure you do not over mud the area of the caulked gap and always use the mesh drywall tape as opposed to the paper tape.

 Well that’s it in a nutshell, a very easy and economical way to soundproof a wall or ceiling. This is a method that is effective during new construction, but if you are looking for more soundproofing for a home theater or a home recording studio, you will need to use more heavy duty soundproofing agents such as Mass Loaded Vinyl, Green Glue, Closed cell foam or soundproof drywall. I hope this post sheds a little light on soundproofing on a budget; This is Dr. Bob, 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

Soundproof foams

 

 A lot of folks get soundproof foam confused with acoustical foams. I am going to explain the differences. The Soundproof foams  such as our America mat foam is a closed cell foam, which means the foam has pours but the pours or cells are closed and therefore the sound would be both absorbed and blocked if you use this foam. When you are talking about an acoustical foam you are generally talking about an open celled foam where the sound is absorbed into the foam, but the foam has no ability to block sound or to soundproof anything. Open cell acoustical foam is used in studios to reduce the echo and reverberation in the live room. It stops the reflective sounds from bouncing off the walls floor and ceiling. The Closed cell foams do stop reflective sound to a degree both they are mostly designed to block sounds from getting out or coming in to any given area.

Closed cell foam are used is a wide variety of applications from Soundproofing water pipes in a wall to soundproofing a car or a boat or even and aircraft. The America mat closed cell foam is fire retardant and will withstand temperatures up to 260 deg Fahrenheit. America mat is used to soundproof generator compartments on motor homes of class C RV’s  The America mat is also used in building applications  such as stopping the sound transmission of recessed lighting in a ceiling assembly. It can also be used to line stud and joist cavities and will seal these cavities and isolate the cavity from the rest of the structure. In other words, if a stud cavity is lined with the America mat even in the ¼” variety it will seal off that cavity and add to the soundproofing by creating a sealed dead air space.

 Lastly, the America mat closed cell foam in the 2” thick variety can be cut to fit into a window cavity and would act like a cork in a bottle to soundproof the window. If you would like to learn more about the America Mat closed cell foam, call the pro’s at Soundproofing America inc, they will be glad to help you. This is dr, Bob, 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