Hi,

I am purchasing a new house (2400 sq ft, 4 bed rooms) in San Diego.
The builder asked me if I want the inside walls insulated just like
the outside. They mentioned two benefits: noise reduction and better
insulation(windows in one room could open). The cost is $1250.
I like a quite house and this seems like a good option to have. But I
don't want to waste money if the benefit is minimum. Any suggstions?

Thanks!

Leeh wrote:
I like a quite house and this seems like a good option to have. But I
don't want to waste money if the benefit is minimum. Any suggstions?

Take it! The soundproofing alone is worth the price. I have lived
in multiple houses with and without insulation in interior walls, and
it makes a big difference.

Una

Leeh wrote:

I am purchasing a new house (2400 sq ft, 4 bed rooms) in San Diego.
The builder asked me if I want the inside walls insulated just like
the outside. They mentioned two benefits: noise reduction and better
insulation(windows in one room could open). The cost is $1250.
I like a quite house and this seems like a good option to have. But I
don't want to waste money if the benefit is minimum. Any suggstions?

It's a standard feature in the higher end homes around here on what they call
"sound walls". Those are walls with water pipes or between bedrooms. Also
between floors near the bedrooms.

I wasn't real impressed as the insulation they use on sound walls is R-11 -
hardly worth the effort. I did pay for blown damp cellolose on the sound walls
though. That's dense enough to really work.

--
"Tell me what I should do, Annie."
"Stay. Here. Forever." - Life On Mars

On Apr 27, 11:16 pm, Rick Blaine wrote:
Leeh wrote:
I am purchasing a new house (2400 sq ft, 4 bed rooms) in San Diego.
The builder asked me if I want the inside walls insulated just like
the outside. They mentioned two benefits: noise reduction and better
insulation(windows in one room could open).

I see the noise benefit, but can't begin to understand the "windows in
one room could open" concept. Why would you ever want windows open
in only one room to acheive such a temp diff that insulation from the
rest of the house makes sense? Or one room to be of such a diff
temp than the next that insulation in the walls would be of material
benefit?

I would look at it as being of some benefit in reducing noise between
adjacent rooms. And in that case, there are only certain walls/floors
that you would really want it in, like adjoining bedrooms. For the
price, assuming it goes where it's gonna do some good, it sounds like
it could be worth it.






The cost is $1250.
I like a quite house and this seems like a good option to have. But I
don't want to waste money if the benefit is minimum. Any suggstions?

It's a standard feature in the higher end homes around here on what they call
"sound walls". Those are walls with water pipes or between bedrooms. Also
between floors near the bedrooms.

I wasn't real impressed as the insulation they use on sound walls is R-11 -
hardly worth the effort. I did pay for blown damp cellolose on the sound walls
though. That's dense enough to really work.

--
"Tell me what I should do, Annie."
"Stay. Here. Forever." - Life On Mars

On 27 Apr 2007 18:15:22 -0700, Leeh wrote:

Hi,

I am purchasing a new house (2400 sq ft, 4 bed rooms) in San Diego.
The builder asked me if I want the inside walls insulated just like
the outside. They mentioned two benefits: noise reduction and better
insulation(windows in one room could open). The cost is $1250.
I like a quite house and this seems like a good option to have. But I
don't want to waste money if the benefit is minimum. Any suggstions?


Everything I've ever read indicated that regular fiberglass was a poor
noise insulator. Add to that that the studs still connect the two
sides of the wall and this one just smacks of scam.

On Apr 28, 4:40 pm, Chris Hill
wrote:
On 27 Apr 2007 18:15:22 -0700, Leeh wrote:

Hi,

I am purchasing a new house (2400 sq ft, 4 bed rooms) in San Diego.
The builder asked me if I want the inside walls insulated just like
the outside. They mentioned two benefits: noise reduction and better
insulation(windows in one room could open). The cost is $1250.
I like a quite house and this seems like a good option to have. But I
don't want to waste money if the benefit is minimum. Any suggstions?

Everything I've ever read indicated that regular fiberglass was a poor
noise insulator. Add to that that the studs still connect the two
sides of the wall and this one just smacks of scam.


Guess you haven't looked very hard. How about Tom Silva, at TOH? He
talks about insulation being useful to deaden sound:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/know...212626,00.html

"First off, if you want to sound-deaden a room and don't have any
space to sacrifice, there is sound-deadening insulation that can go
into the wall. You can then cover the wall with a sound-deadening
product such as homasote. There's also a product available now that
actually is a sound board designed especially for the purpose. That
wall then gets covered again with a layer of 5/8-inch drywall. "


Or how about this:

http://www.akustx.com/design/Factors...s olation.pdf

" Cavity Insulation Fiberglass or mineral wool cavity insulation can
dramatically improve the STC rating of partitions. STC ratings
increase with thicker cavity insulation up to approximately 4 inches.
Greater insulation thickness beyond 4 inches results in slightly
smaller incremental improvements. There are conflicting data relating
to whether mineral fiber insulation provides better sound isolation
than fiberglass insulation. Mineral fiber insulation manufacturers
claim better sound isolation for their products, due to greater mass,
but this is countered by fiberglass insulation manufacturers. One
factor is clear: while mineral fiber would appear to offer better
acoustical performance by virtue of its density, it is more difficult
to install continuously within stud cavities, and around electrical
boxes, than fiberglass insulation. Since mineral fiber insulation is
more rigid, it can bridge across the GWB and reduce the partition STC
rating. Rule-of-thumb: For wood and S-J structural stud walls, cavity
insulation will increase STC ratings by 2 to 7 STC points. 25-gauge
metal stud or resiliently isolated partitions will have STC ratings
increased by 4 to 8 STC points with cavity insulation. These results
are averaged for both insulation types."



Insulation isn't a total solution. And there are other things you can
do that would be even better, if you have the space and money. But
if you can get some reasonable reduction between rooms in an entire
house during new construction for $1250, it seems like it could be
worth it to me.

Thanks for the advices. Looks like it is worth the money. I will give
it a try!

On Apr 30, 11:37 am, Leeh wrote:
Thanks for the advices. Looks like it is worth the money. I will give
it a try!

I didn't worry about sound our current house when it was built.

BUT, I did insulate the laundry room with R13 batts. We live in
Phoenix, and it gets a tad warm in the summer. I isolated the laundry
as best I could so that I don't have to suck out the cool air through
the dryer--I just crack the outside door to that room and get hot air
into the dryer room.

On Sat, 28 Apr 2007 15:40:17 -0500, someone wrote:

Everything I've ever read indicated that regular fiberglass was a poor
noise insulator. Add to that that the studs still connect the two
sides of the wall and this one just smacks of scam.

The three factors to reduce sound transmission are mass, separation
and (preventing) infiltration. Fiberglass only helps some, but it is
a lot better than just an open cavity.

Where we have some adjoining bedrooms, we have separate parallel stud
walls, and "sound board" under the sheetrock on each wall. Bedroom to
bedroom is a critical area since the person trying to sleep will
likely have their room quiet, so will more easily be able to notice
any sound coming through the wall from the next room.

Where two of these bedroom are next to a "den", we also have sound
board under the sheetrock (single wall only). However this is of
limited effectiveness as it is udnermined by this being the wall with
the bedroom doors. More sound likely infiltrates under the little
crack under the door than through the entire wall itself. This type
of thing is often quite noticeable in hotels. The wall between rooms
may be massive (concrete block) but there is a gap under the door big
enough for them to slide newspapers through, and you can easily hear
the conversations of anyone passing by in te hallway.

The fiberglass helps with some mass. If there were openings in the
wall skins (such as cutouts for electrical outlets) it would also help
cut down on the infiltration by muffling the direct path from outlet
to outlet (don't put them back to back in the same stud space).

The fiberglass itelf doesn't help with through transmission from the
single studs bridging the cavity. BTW, to cut down on through-stud
transmission, if you don't have room for two full walls, use a single
2x6 sole and plate, and then stagger 2x4 studs alternating to each
side. There is still through transmission through the sole and plate,
but much less as the studs now don't go through.




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