My question is how and what kind of insulation can be used to insulate between bathrooms and bedrooms. I have two bathrooms–one exterior and one interior between two bedrooms. What kind of insulation can or should I use in the wall between the two bathrooms? What kind of insulation can or should be used between the bathrooms and the bedrooms?
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
dlf
Replies
I'm assuming this is for sound deadening purposes.
Most fiberglass insulation will tell you that it is for thermal as well as noise reduction. I always use a higher density fiberglass if you can get it for noise, or you can use good old homosote on the one side along with the insulation, which really knocks down the sound. There is resilliant soundboard made for this type of thing.
The next step higher is to isolate the studs every other one so there is no sheeterock hung on the other side of that rooms studs. Usually it's every foot you alternate studs back & forth so the rock is a 24" o.c., and then you weave fiberglass insulation horizontally inbetween all the studs. This is so there is no vibration carrying noise to the other side of the wall. It is vibration that carries sound, and if you can deaden that with whatever material, then you are on the right track. Fiberglass is good because it has a lot of pores to absorb the sound.
Then there's the "floating rooms" for sound when you build a studio. But that's a story for another time.
TRy quietrock, from http://www.quietsolution.com
They have a new product that is THX certified that can generate an STC of 80!
We used the previous generation of stuff which is "only" rated to 54 dbs and it's still darn good.
Can't hear the toilet flush in the stall next to the baby's room when all the doors are closed.
Brace yourself for the cost of each 4X8 sheet, though; $80/each or more.
It's worth it.
No acoustic faults and no need for a genius to install it (like RC channels needs) and it stiffens the wall to OSB overlayment standards.
Be aware of a couple of drawbacks:
1) Cost
2) The steel interferes with the tranmission of wireless signals (cordless phone etc) so if you have a really big house, be prepared to install another phone jack (we had to)
3) Contractors will look at you like you're crazy because they haven't worked with it yet
4) only a couple of their products are score and cut; the rest need sawing (like OSB) so installation takes a little longer (5%-10% longer)
5) Your friends will pester you to know how you got your house so quiet.
Envy is an ugly thing...
NotaClue
Try rock wool insulation. I used it in my home, between bedrooms and bathroom. Even stuffed it under and around an acrylic tub/shower, which deadened any noise to the adjoining bedroom. Roxul is the brand I used.
http://www.roxul.com
Dense fiberglass or rockwool works well. You could also Icynene the walls if you want by putting up netting (looks like thin geotextile) on one side and applying the Icynene from the other side.
Besides the sound-deadening material, also have a look at how to frame walls in such way to maximize their sound-deadening properties, i.e. no studs that go all the way from one room to the other, etc.