TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2013
Two rooms that share a common wall also share two “paths” that sound waves will travel, delivering noise back and forth.   To properly sound insulate one room’s noise from the next, there are two steps that you should take.   If you apply these two steps to your common wall, you can knock out up to 90% of the noise bleed straight through the wall.

Step one is to line the common wall with density.   Think of objects such as tuning forks, wine glasses, guitar strings or the face of a drum.   If these objects are allowed to vibrate, they will resonate and produce sound.  But if you place the palm of your hand on these objects, the mass will deaden the object’s ability to accept vibration, and the noise dies.   The same phenomena will happen if you add mass to your common wall.  Step one should be to take a material called dB-Bloc and add to your exisitng wall.    This is a thin sound deadening insulation material, shipped in 30′ rolls to your doorstep.   Think of it as a thin heavy rubber lining that will deaden your wall’s ability to accept vibration.

Step two is to then disconnect the wall assembly.   Think of this as a string pulled tight between two coffee cans.   The studs inside your wall, connecting your two rooms together, serve the same function as the string.   Vibrations carry structurally back and forth, releasing to air borne on the other side of the wall.  By disconnetxing your common wall assembly, you can force the collapse of the vibration, and force the collapse of the transmitting sound wave.   The wave will die inside your wall cavity rather than pass through.   The technique for disconnecting your common wall is easy.   Simply apply a set of horizontal furring strips up the wall, over the layer of dB-Bloc, and then apply a new finished layer of drywall to the face of the furring strip.  This will create a new dead air pocket inside your wall assembly, which in turn, will force the collapse of the structure born vibrations.

For a demonstration of this common wall sound insulation technique, click here.

For questions related to blocking noise from bleeding through your common wall, contact NetWell Noise Control at 1-800-638-9355 or visit us online at www.controlnoise.com.   We offer free consultation on your soundproofing needs, with 25 years of industry experience and tens of thousands of satisfied customers.