Basics of soundproofing dry walls
Do you live close to busy roads? disturbed by external traffic noise? then you need soundproofing,
Do you not want your neighbor to hear your private conversations? then you certainly need soundproofing.
Soundproofing is the ultimate solution to your acoustical troubles.
Soundproofing includes methods with which sound or noise in a room to meet various needs. It usually includes blocking any sound from entering or leaving the room as well as reduce reverberations in the room that can cause echoes, or muffled and unclear voices. One of the ways through which this can be achieved is by soundproofing the walls.
STC rating denotes the ability of a material to resist the passing of sound through them. The more the STC rating, the better acoustical properties the material possess.
Drywall has low STC rating which means that its ability to block sound from entering or leaving a room is low. Also, sound waves hit drywall and bounce off of the wall, reverberating across the room interfering with the sound waves. Hence we can say that drywall has poor acoustical properties and we should implement ways to improve the same for soundproofing any room that needs privacy, be it a mini home theater or your bedroom, or simply to block any external noise from entering your room and disturbing you.
Let us discuss some ways with which the acoustical properties of a drywall can be improved.
1. Increase wall thickness
2. The principle behind enhanced acoustical properties of a material with more mass is that sound transmits through a medium through vibration of particles. When the mass of a material increases, it will be difficult for it to vibrate and hence, only less noise will be transmitted. Mass loading method involves adding mass-loaded vinyl. Sheets of heavy vinyl can be installed between studs and dry walls to increase the mass of the drywall. Employing ass-loaded vinyl will give good soundproofing results but installing it is labor intensive with high labor cost, and needs a combination of materials. Thus it is an unattractive option since it is highly error prone when we one tries to install it on their own.
4. Soundproof dry walls panels have high STC rating and ensure good soundproofing. For 100% soundproofing, the space between panels should be vacuum but it is absolutely impossible for manufacturers to achieve that and hence no acoustic panel is 100% soundproof. But soundproof panels can be easily installed and are available.
Materials with high STC rating can be used for soundproofing dry walls
6. Visco-elastic soundproofing
Visco-elastic soundproofing is the newest technology in the field of soundproofing. Visco-elastic materials have both viscous and elastic properties. When sound waves hit these materials, they are deformed and slowly goes back to their true form. Thus the energy of the sound waves is dissipated by the contraction and expansion process and converted into thermal energy. In constrained layer viscoelastic damping, a thin layer of visco-elastic material is sandwiched between two rigid surfaces, in this case dry walls. When sound wave hits the first drywall, the particles vibrate and the energy will be transmitted through it. But when these vibrations reach the visco-elastic material, the energy is dissipated and only very little energy is transmitted to the second layer. This is how soundproofing is achieved by the use of visco-elastic materials.
In terms of quality and cost, soundproofing dry walls is the most preferred ways of achieving soundproofing.
Interior game offers free soundproofing lessons and tips for the required people.