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Does regular insulation block sound? | |
Does regular thermal insulation block sound? I know there are different types of soundproofing insulation, but does regular insulation work at all? If so how well?
Answers:
1When it comes to insulation, you really do get what you pay for. If you want the best insulated home regardless of cost, spray foam would be the product of choice. The reason is not because of higher R-values necessarily, but the ability to stop air infiltration. Other insulation materials are porous to air and won't seal the house. Spray foams act as both an insulator to prevent conductive heat flow and an airseal to prevent convective heat flow.
There are two types of spray foams...closed-cell polyurethane and open celled products such as Icynene. Both are very effective. The closed cell foams offer a higher R-value per inch (approximately R-6.5-6.8 per inch) and can add rigidity and strength to the home because they are as hard as wood when installed. However they can offgas a small amount over time, and because they are rigid, do not move with the house over time which can lead to separation from the substrate in some instances. Open celled foams have a lower R-value per inch (R-3.6 per inch), but offer the benefit of being soft and being able to handle building movement without separating and losing the airseal. They are also waterbased which makes them very safe because there is no offgassing over time.
As far as sound control, the best products would either be an open celled foam (complete airseal and it is soft, helping to absorb sound) or a spray in cellulose product (airseal and good sound absorber). Closed cell foams perform pretty well also because of the airseal, but because they are so rigid, do not absorb sound as well as softer materials.
It's important to know that you will pay about 2.5-3 times the insulation cost for a foam insulated house as compared to standard fiberglass. Also,because of the tightness levels achieved with spray foam, you need to consider something like an air exchanger to bring fresh air into your house and purge out moist, stale air. Otherwise, you could have an indoor air quality and/or moisture problem inside the house.
Hope this helps.
From: john bergstrom
Insulation doesn't really 'block' sound. The sheets of drywall do that (having lots of mass is a cardinal rule in soundproofing).
Insulation absorbs the sound bouncing around inside your wall, killing any 'resonances' that can transmit noise through the partition. Whether it's fiberglass, cellulose, mineral wool or cotton, the acoustic performance is about the same. Expanded foam does not work well in this regard. It's too rigid and transmits vibration too readily.
From: Bonnie
How does sound insulation work
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