A standard studded wall with drywall on both sides produces an average STC value of 38-40. This is a value that is assigned to any common wall or ceiling assembly surface to gauge its ability to sound isolate one room’s noise from the next A luxury grade rating, established by the US Government, is an STC of 55-60. STC stands for “sound transmission classification”. If you have a wall that bleeds noise, you want a 55 rating, and you can get there by adding a simple layer system to your existing surface.
Walls that bleed noise need to add density to their surface and disconnect how the wall is assembled. Both steps are simple. The density will come in the form of a thin rubber called dB-Bloc. It anchors mechancially right to your existing wall. It weighs 150 pounds per roll, but measures just 1/8″ thick. By addingi the density of this material to your wall, the weight impedes vibration, which kills noise waves. Think of touching the top of a wine glass, or a guitar string, or a tuning fork. The touch of your hand kills the vibration, which deadens the noise due to the mass of your touch. dB-Bloc produces the same phenomenon to your common wall. Deaden vibration, deaden noise bleed.
The second layer is a thin set of furring strips. Some call them resilient channels or hat channels, but in reality, any strip system run horizontally up your wall, over the top of the dB-Bloc, will produce a “space”. The final step is to anchor new drywall to the face of these furring strips, which then defines the dead air pocket you have introduced into your common wall. Separation of your drywall from the existing structure forces the collapse of any structure borne vibration from carrying through the studs to the next room over. Think of this as snipping a string pulled tight between two coffee cans. The contact points are severed, the noise bleed collapses.
The combination of this density and disconnection lifts an average STC rated 38 wall to a luxury grace rating of 55-60 or great on most occasions. Results can vary depending on leakage, no two treatments are exactly alike, but rest assured, you will noticed a definite collapse in sound bleed. For more information on dB-Bloc, call NetWell Noise Control at 1-800-638-9355 or find then online atwww.controlnoise.com.
