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I’m working an an old building, the subfloor is 1×8 planks over the joists. The downstairs occupant complains of to much sound (footfalls etc) through the kitchen floor. The client doesn’t want tile, so I was thinking of using vinyl. I’m giong to sheath/glue/screw with osb or ply. What I want to know is what/where should I add sound deadening materials (cork? rubber? ______?)in the sheathing (sandwiched?bottom layer?)
Thanks in advance for your help, Patrick.
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They don't want carpet in the kitchen? :-) How about a membership at Jenny Craig for the upstairs clients?
I'd go with resilent channel on the ceiling below. Right through the existing ceiling drywall and into the floor/ceiling joists. Then hang a new layer of drywall from the channel. That's what it is for - isolating one room from another. You may have to extend a light fixture or two, but otherwise it would be pretty straightforward. -David
*You don't have to guess. Believe it or not, there is a rating system for sound. Different methods of construction of walls and floors are rated for sound just like they are for fire resistance. Airborne sound insulation is reported as the Sound Transmission Class (STC) and impact noise is reported as Impact Insulation Class (IIC). Fire and STC is reported for walls and floors, IIC for floors only.You can look through tables of assemblies and pick the one with the highest IIC rating. You can find such tables in several places. The building inspector should have them, because fire ratings and sound ratings are reported on the same tables. Drywall manufacturers put them in their construction guides, perhaps available at your supplier, or can be faxed to you by a drywall manufacturer. Or, architects and engineers have the tables, and can advise you on how high an IIC is recommended for a particular situation.Having said all that, I recall that the better systems have a layer of something like Homosote under the flooring. The ceilings below have resiliant channels between the sheetrock and joists.Having objective ratings can help you in contract disputes. You could contract to install a system with an IIC of such and such. If the client doesn't like the results, you still will have met the contract. Of course, you'll have to provide the key as to what the descriptions of the quietness of the different ratings means.
*I'll second the vote for a layer of Homasote. The channels on the ceiling below will work as well, but I didn't get the impression that the ceiling was opened up.
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I'm working an an old building, the subfloor is 1x8 planks over the joists. The downstairs occupant complains of to much sound (footfalls etc) through the kitchen floor. The client doesn't want tile, so I was thinking of using vinyl. I'm giong to sheath/glue/screw with osb or ply. What I want to know is what/where should I add sound deadening materials (cork? rubber? ______?)in the sheathing (sandwiched?bottom layer?)
Thanks in advance for your help, Patrick.