Has anyone used "Quiet Rock" sheet rock in room?

Field observations are sometimes where discoveries are first made. We regularly learn things from builders and then incorporate them into our plans so that everyone benefits.

It can replace normal sheetrock or greenboard. My contractors are using is throughout the job. It has a paperless backing so it is not receptive to mold. There is some fiberglass involved, I think.

Again, my own 'test' is one of a field observation, nothing else.

Unclejeff--that's interesting and we will actually explore some possibilities of using that in combination with a layer of sheetrock and green glue in between. Same material layers (5/8 sheetrock) with green glue in between give really incredible results for $ spent. I think we may do some experimentation with this Densarmor board. Is it similar to blue or green board?

An interesting somewhat less expensive idea would be to use the DENSARMOR sheetrock. It is paparless and mold resistant.

The reason I mention this is that we did a re-model for a client and used regular half-inch rock on some walls and the DENSARMOR in the bathroom. He installed wall speakers on both kinds of sheetrock. Just putting my hand on one wall, then the other, it seemed that the DENSARMOR vibrated a whole lot less when playing music from the wall-mounted speakers.

Not scientific, but food for thought. Oh, this stuff is available at Home Depot. You can google DENSARMOR and decide for yourself.

Undertow
Metallica is good head banging,hair pulling music.Assuming you got hair to pull,cause I don't but I am expolring the possibility.My next upgrade is "hair club for men"
Cheers
George

Ha, Funny I just used metallica as an example.. However I don't own a single piece of material from them.. Okay so that was my question meaning a full on application would in fact be pretty serious to fully contain. Yeah for 30 k I would build a Garage in the backyard for 12,000 15 feet away from the house with a dedicated sub panel, just add a heated floor calling it a day! Thanks

If want Metalica at 120 db and to be quiet outside--full on sound isolation, then separate wall structurs inlcluding Quiet rock (the heavy 160 lb a sheet stuff), floating floor, hung ceiling, windows are possible, but difficult and expensive, double fourier entry studio doors, specialized isolation for all penetrations including electrical and some very inventive HVAC solutions. Build cost would likely be $30k, maybe more depending on location and how complex the HVAC gets. And figure on losing 22" in length and width and close to the same in height to construct what's needed for isolation.

We do recording studies--where it IS Metalica or Ozzy not reproduced--but actually recording and producing music. Sometimes the studio is near a highway--always difficult. Then the same studio is used for a vocalist and it has to be absolutely quiet to hear every nuance--no HVAC noise at all because the ribbon mic will pick it up. The engineering is expensive, the build out is very expensive, but it can be and regularly is done for commercial endevours. It is very rarely done at this level for residential environments, but we have done it for a few clients.

Use tight, heavily weather stripped, exterior entrance doors inside. I've done that and it makes all the difference.

Also, if you are going to insulate the best option is blown in poly spray foam, next would be blown in cellulose or laying blue jean batts. Stay away from fiberglass for insulation because it's junk.
Blueboard and plaster is better than sheetrock too. More $$ but it has a better finish and and is more solid, not flimsy.

I did not use the quietrock sheets in my room, but did use the safe n' sound insulation in between the walls and double drywall. It is very quiet outside the room but would not contain 120 db levels. I used to play drums for a living, and still play, and it would be hard to completely insulate that kind of vibration from leeking out of a room without building a 'room inside a room'. I also agree with Bjesien that you have to be careful about vapour barriers on outside walls. More important is the issue of heat buildup inside the room. You would need more than just a heat run to the room. You would need at minimum a cold air return as well and it would be critical that these were dealt with so that the sound would not be leaking through the ducts into the rest of the home, no matter how well the rest of your room was insulated. No sense in having a beautiful quiet room that is too hot to be in. You could build a 'hushbox' for these. There used to be good ideas on the 'www.hometheaterbuilder.com' website, as well as 'mufflers' you can buy already made to insert between ductwork pipes.
I built a room approx. 11' x 18', did all the work myself including the ductwork and electrical etc., and spent about five thousand dollars on materials. That did include a riser (insulated and ported) with several layers of plywood for the second row of seats though. Good luck!

Rives is right - a wholistic approach is by far the most cost-effective. Getting wall transmission down by 50 dB is of academic interest only if your doors only isolate by 25 dB and/or if your air conditioning ductwork acts like an intercom. You gotta pay attention to all the little things - the wall outlets themselves may be a significant sound transmission pathway. Sound can transmit by vibrating the air or by vibrating a large structure which in turn vibrates the air.

Also, if the walls of the room are somewhat lossy at low frequencies this works in your favor because it damps the low-frequency room modes. Consider using resiliant channels to hang the sheetrock; this is far more lossy than direct attachment to the studs and significantly reduces mechanical sound transmission. Insulation in the wallspace would reduce air-borne sound transmission between the walls. But, what about the door?

Nothing wrong with Quietrock, but don't blow your whole budget on that unless that's really the only problem you have. It's like having six leaks in your rowboat so you do a really really good job of fixing only one of them.

There are two chapters chapter devoted to this subject in Earl Geddes' book, "Premium Home Theater: Design and Construction". It will save you far more than its $44.00 price.

http://www.gedlee.com/Home_theatre.htm

Duke
dealer/manufacturer

Rigid foam is a great way to go. You can get anywhere from 1/2 in to 2 inch in 4x8 foot sheets. I have this on the exterior walls of my house and you can't hear anything. You would just need to make sure you or someone doing the project understands vapor barriers.

Rives,
So lets see.. I may be coming buy an unfinished Concrete foundation basement soon... Problem is I need FUll on un-comprimised sound isolation.. I am talking if you are running a live 120 db metallica concert inside it can't leak.. Basically you need the floors correct, the ceiling correct, all the utilities coming in isolated correct, the doors etc... No windows. Basically would be lets say a 16 foot wide by 20 foot deep area. With the cheapest possible material from the ground up design to make this thing whisper anywhere else in the house, or houses next to it what would be the overall average construction cost of such a project?

I am not talking excess designer costs, or full on room acoustic considerations... Just basic carpet, basic Door entryway, a couple electrical outlets, possible a single duct coming in right off the furnace in the basement right next to this room, basic lighting etc... Give us a ballpark here because I am always curious about this.. 10,000, 25,000$ ?

Thanks

It is expensive, but does work. However, you should consider what your goals are. Is it to isolate the room? There are less expensive ways to do this reasonably well and you will likely have other sound leaks--so don't break the bank on one aspect of sound isolation and forget another.

Second aspect, if you build a really rigid wall it will increase your peaks for modal response. Thus by isolating room in one particular method (stiff walls), will actual reduce the performance of the in room frequency response.

Check out our resources. You will find an article on sound isolation (right column) that may be of help to you.

If you end up dbl-ing up on the drywall make sure you buy the extra deep receptacle boxes with the nails set in the right place. If you don't and you start to cover up the walls you will have a giant headache. Standard depth boxes will be too far back in the wallboard and not pass code, let alone causing a ton of grief with covers & such. Speaking from experience of course doohhhh!
And if you have the money & motivation run some extra boxes with 1" flex tied to each one. That way you can pull cables and anything else through for a really clean look and convenience.
Good luck, John

I doubled up on the sheet rock and it makes a big difference.
Larry

That stuff was way to expensive when I looked at it.I think you could double up on the sheet rock for less.And put a sound barrier in between If you wanted to.Also take a look around this website "super soundproofing.All kinds of stuff.They also sell the little 3 layer pads for $1.25 or $1.50 that Mapleshade sells for 20 some dollars.A bargin.Good luck,KP