SOUNDPROOFING A PARTY WALL

Soundproofing a wall between 2 separate living areas is a pretty straightforward deal. If your main concern is airborne noise (radios, TV's, voices, or Stereos etc.) then adding a barrier such as American Mass loaded vinyl to your existing sheetrock wall would be your best and most cost effective option. Of course the American Mass Loaded Vinyl would need to be caulked (with OSI-175) between all of the seams as well as around the entire perimeter of the wall structure, and then all of the seams taped with a lead tape or a good quality seam tape. Then finally you would layer over top of the American Mass Loaded Vinyl, with a layer of 5/8" fire code drywall.

This would most likely solve your airborne noise problems. The American Mass Loaded Vinyl would be either stapled up to the existing drywall (using and air-drive industrial stapler) or it could be glued up with a high quality contact cement or industrial adhesive. (3M-77 is a good spray on contact cement) We would then recommend that you layer over your American Mass Loaded Vinyl with that final layer of 5/8" fire code drywall. The drywall greatly adds to this barrier system for soundproofing, plus it looks much better aesthetically and can be easily textured and painted to match the rest of the room.

Now if you have an older dwelling with lath and plaster walls, or the very rustic "horse hair" plaster, then it will be necessary to glue the American Mass Loaded Vinyl directly to the plaster (staples will not penetrate plaster at all) and then of course we would still highly recommend that final layer of 5/8" fire code drywall to finish off the job. Needless to say the caulking and taping would be essential as well.

Let's say that the problem is not merely "airborne" noise, but is in fact impact noise or extremely low bass frequency sounds coming from the subwoofers of a D.J. or a home theater, or even a very high end stereo system from the unit next door. If any of these factors are present, then it will be necessary to float the walls using either resilient channels (RC-1) or better yet, the American Sound clip.

In order to get a clearer description of this method, I would recommend that you read the narrative on "soundproofing from a noisy neighbor above" under the "Soundproofing" button on the home page of www.soundproofingamerica.com or simply click

HERE

The methods used for floating a ceiling closely parallel those of floating a wall as in a condo/apartment party wall. The only factor that is different has to do with the installation of resilient channels (RC-1). When floating a wall with RC-1, the longer flange that supports the drywall, will always face upwards towards the ceiling. That way you get the maximum resilience from this product. Remember, that resilient channels (RC-1) are only 50% as effective as an American sound clip wall floating system. Both the Isomax and the RSIC-1 clips offer the same amount of soundproofing, providing approximately 38 STC (sound transmission class) points per wall or ceiling installation, using 5/8" fire code rock of course.

If you have further questions about these installations or need more technical data, please contact one of the experts at Soundproofing America, Inc. They will be more than happy to answer all of your questions. Remember, when peace of mind is all that matters, Soundproofing America, Inc. is all you need to know about soundproofing. Thanks for reading and learning.

As always, Dr. Bob.