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Radiation control - yes.
Soundproofing - hell, no.
You would have to be out of your mind to fool with lead lined drywall for anything but an x-ray room.
The word nightmare doesn't even come close to describing the experience of hanging this stuff.
The price of the board alone will scare you away....
carpenter in transition
heard a "soundproofing expert" today recommending it on the Carey Bros. radio show. they didnt object. Were talking about sound reduction this guy was w/ "Sound Proof Windows".
I guess I answered the question thinking in terms of sane people on a reasonable budget.
Can it be done ? Sure.
Does it work ? Yes, STC numbers of 20-30 are possible.
Sheet lead commonly comes 4' wide, 1/32" thickness, 2 lbs. per square foot in rolls.
It costs about $4 per square foot and you get to glue it onto the back of the drywall before you hang it.
It's the hanging part that separates the men from the boys.
Wait till you get to hang the lead lined doors !
carpenter in transition
he said "lead drywall is available, not real common, but available" i thot it might have a lead core. i have never heard of it.
Hey, you are in Pa right? I did a medical center xray rm in Harleysville...we even had to stuff the door knobs with lead wool..what a bitch. Funny thing was, the union had the PLUMBERS hang the rock...cuz it was lead, therefore thier job..man what a joke.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
I'm going to guess that was a while ago. The closer you get to Philadelphia, the more powerful the unions are.
You are talking about a battle of two business agents, carps and plumbers. Today, I would think the carps would win that one.
Hey, at least the tin-knockers didn't get it.......
carpenter in transition
Ya guessed right..musta been early eights..yes, them eights.I got a 30B skull cap...just in case...never know where them boys will show up with fat pocket....lol
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
>>Were talking about sound reduction this guy was w/ "Sound Proof Windows".They use lead sheet to sound proof windows?Depends on the application, X-ray equipment protection typically has the lead from one to six feet from the floor. Most of the X-ray labs are on the ground floor or in the basement so there is nobody below, and of course nobody will ever shoot any beam through the ceiling.For sound proofing a room I can't imagine getting lead lined sheet rock up to the ceiling though.
it's a pain to hang----way to heavy,doesn't fit in the std. door frame(the p.m. doesn't allow for it when he orders the frames). also ,we couldn't get the lead lined frames soon enough so they sent sheets of lead --guess who drew the short straw?! no fond memories.
it's also used for those cryptonite chambers.
Google finds sites for both "lead lined drywall" and "lead lined sheetrock". I didn't see any sites with war stories, but I didn't look very deep, either. You can buy it with the lead already in place. Here's one supplier.
http://www.leadshield.com/sheetrock.htm
And here's a site that discusses the acoustic application specifically.
http://www.soundproofing101.com/soundproofing_7.htm
Edited 11/22/2004 1:13 am ET by Uncle Dunc
I have installed lead-board in quite a few x-ray rooms and it is no picnic.It is acually an involved process where all seams and screws need to have lead backing also.The lead also comes in different thickneses depending on type and location of equipment.
I've never seen any sound ratings for lead board,but I did salvage the scrap lead off our last med. center and wrapped the waste lines above my masterbedroom and they are very quiet,hardly noticible.
As mentioned,the price of lead sheetrock is a shocker,and the installation is real fun,Mike
P.S The lead is glued to the back of standard 5/8" rock,there are shops that provide the service.
Edited 11/22/2004 12:37 am ET by Ruffmike
> I've never seen any sound ratings for lead board,but I did salvage the scrap lead off our last med. center and wrapped the waste lines above my masterbedroom and they are very quiet,hardly noticible.
Now that's very interesting. Lead wrapping to reduce plumbing noise could be something that a lot of people would like to have. How thick is the lead? How did you do the wrapping? Are there gaps?
-- J.S.
John,I used lead that was about 1/8" thick and wrapped the pipe as good as I could, there are gaps but I kept the bottom as continuous as possible.I also had the plumber use cast iron in this area(the rest is abs)s .Seems to work good,I had the lead available and the labor was minimal,I don't know if I would have gone out and bought it,probablly pretty expensive.I can't remember who suggested the idea to me.Off to work now,Mike
Thanks -- I'm going to keep an eye out for some sheet lead, and if I find any, try wrapping some of my ABS pipe.
-- J.S.
It is useful in soundproofing if you can't afford to build up much thickness. In most soundproofing situations, the key is to add mass, and that's what lead does. However, if you can stand a little more thickness, you can add mass for much less expense with sheetrock. 1/2" rock is about 2 lbs per square foot, and costs 20 cents a square foot. It also is considerably easier to hang.
Beside the mass lead is soft so it doesn't resonate. Do you have any numbers on how effective it is as a sound proofing material?
Adding any mass other than lead will reduce sound transmissions as well. lead just does it in less thickness than most.
Gold would work too, but another layer of sheetrock would be far more cost effective.
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