I’m new to the forum. Hello.
We’re building a ‘barndominium’, i.e., a barn package inside of which we’re building our home. It’s to the point now of having been sheetrocked and trimmed out, now we’re painting it (husband and I).
It is 36×60 (+12′ extension for porch: 36×72 total), 22′ eave height, 4/12 pitch, concrete slab. Two story w/cathedral ceiling 26′ at highest. No attic. We’re leaving some of the steel trusses exposed, and AC ducts will be exposed. Total floor space is about 4,000 sq.ft.
Husband and I have done the contracting and made many mistakes. One problem concerning us at present is the echo we’re getting throughout the house. It’s difficult to understand each other even when we’re in the same room because of the echo.
We’re planning on tile floors in kitchen, utility and baths, carpet on stairs, laminate floors everywhere else.
Will the echo go away with cabinets, flooring and furniture in place?
This may be beyond the scope of this forum, but if anyone has the solution, I’ll appreciate it!
Thanks,
Gup
Replies
Hey! Cool! The first house I built/lived in was a repurposed barn. I loved it & would do it again in a heartbeat. Tho' mine started out as a real barn & had many critters who had made it their home well before I did. I always smile when I think of a dinner party we had where one of the guests at the table exclaimed "Either that's the biggest rat I've ever seen or there's a possum in your living room!" ;-)
The echo is due to open spaces & hard flat surfaces. You'll kill much of it by adding carpets, rugs, curtains, furniture, dividers or other stuff that will absorb the sound.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
Thanks, Mike... I feel a little relief already!
I didn't mention in my e-mail that the barn has a steel (29 gauge) skin.
Might that be a part of the problem?
Welcome to Breaktime.I hope you'll fill out your profile so we know where you're from. And would ya consider posting some pics of your house?
Definition of a teenager: God's punishment for enjoying sex.
Thanks to the forum.
I will post photos when I get some time, and figure out how.
Thanks to the forum.
That's what this place "does."
Note, that when you reply, you can click the "TO" box, which will pull down a list of people, one of the entries in that list is "ALL" which is handy, as it flags an "unread meassage to me" to everyone who has posted in that thread.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
I've never seen that happen with "ALL". I only get notifications when someone posts to me.
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
I've never seen that happen with "ALL".
I've had a couple where I was never replied specifically to, but "all" was. But, it has been as consistent asemailnotification seems to be (and could be a linked sort of event).Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
"the barn has a steel (29 gauge) skin. Might that be a part of the problem?"
If it's not covered by anything, you bet. I assume you will insulate and install some other surface for walls as the project progresses -- that too will help a lot.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
Yes. As you continue and add flooring, furniture, etc., the echo will diminish. Right now you have a whole lot of(actually, nothing but) large, smooth, flat, hard surfaces for echos to bounce off.
Soft surfaces(carpet, drapes, etc) will absorb more sound than hard, but the disruptions(cabinets, hard furniture, etc.) will have a large effect as well.
Things should definitely quiet down as you fill the space. Fabric wall hangings can help if it's still a little bouncy.
And if it just doesn't go away, consider some angled surfaces between wall and ceiling, as you'd see in a Cape Cod, say, where the roof line cuts into the ceiling height. A few different angles will cut down on the reverberation, and could be added next time you paint.
Aitchkay
Gup,
I've always been amazed at how the acoustics in a building change during construction and then finally, the occupancy.
Your at the echo stage,,, as others noted, it will pass.
I have a room in my basement, completely finished w drywall and a glue down cork floor, w really nothing in it but a chair and a couple of plants. I sit down there and (try) to play guitar. The acoustics are incredible.
Harry
The Tile and laminate floors aren't going to stop sound bounce. If after you get the walls on and you still find a distracting level of echo, you maywant to add some fabric and carpe coverings to certain areas to help reduce sound retransmission
BUT
You won't know how it will be until everything is in place.
Tu stultus es
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
I'd like to sum up "acoustics" in one post, though the others have largely hit the main points.
Materials both reflect and absorb sound. Some, like drywall, do a lot more reflecting than absorbing. Place another hard surface in line of that reflection, and you have created an endless echo. Oops.
This suggests that not only are hard surfaces bad, so are right angles. The echo is greatly weakened if the other surface is at an angle. Indeed, the echos can start interfering with -cancelling out- each other.
Adding materials that absorb sound will also kill the echos. These can either be furnishings, or part of the structure itself. Loosly supported hard surfaces can also help; their vibrations will tend to cancel out echoes.
For the floor, you're pretty limited in what you can do; floors almost have to be hard, flat, and level. That's why so many acoustical treatments are found on ceilings.
You say this is a 'barn,' and a job site. This suggests two things: that the place is changing, and that the ceiling is not parallel with the floor.
If the roof is not parallel with the floor, it is possible that the roof angles are focusing sounds in certain places. Play around with a laser one evening, and try to find where these places are. That's where you can place absorbing materials - like your supply of insulation - for most effect.
Otherwise, 'break' right angles. That is, simply stand a sheet of plywood in each corner. Set up work benches at an angle to the walls, and lay down tarps and even throw-rugs. Cover the windows with clear plastic.