Insulation, Radiant and Vapor Barriers - insulation for sound
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mstevensphoto
12-20-08, 09:01 AM
hey folks,
I'm in the last stages of finishing our basement and am curious for opinions on insulating the ceiling. Above the guest room is our kitchen with tile floors. I understand that I can't soundproof the room because sound will still travel through the beams. I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile to stick some r13 fiberglass in there anyway to deaden the footsteps a bit. will it have any effect? It'll cost about $90 and that's pretty reasonable, but I don't want to spend $ just to spend it. what would you do?
thanks
Mark
I'm in the last stages of finishing our basement and am curious for opinions on insulating the ceiling. Above the guest room is our kitchen with tile floors. I understand that I can't soundproof the room because sound will still travel through the beams. I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile to stick some r13 fiberglass in there anyway to deaden the footsteps a bit. will it have any effect? It'll cost about $90 and that's pretty reasonable, but I don't want to spend $ just to spend it. what would you do?
thanks
Mark
XSleeper
12-20-08, 09:35 AM
With your subfloor, cement board and tile above I think the effect of r-13 would be negligible. Like you said, any foot traffic noise you hear will be transferred thru the framing. Insulation won't help much w/ that.
If you have a drop ceiling, it might add a little sound deadening over no insulation at all. Lowes had a good buy on Owens Corning r-13... I picked up some 40 sf rolls the other day for 8.22 ea.
If you have a drop ceiling, it might add a little sound deadening over no insulation at all. Lowes had a good buy on Owens Corning r-13... I picked up some 40 sf rolls the other day for 8.22 ea.
VoltageHz
12-31-08, 05:41 PM
I see that said a lot, how insulation does very little to deaden sound.
However, as a commercial electrician I find an incredible amount of interior office walls filled with insulation. When doing new work, it's common to hear the carpenters call the R-11 unfaced batts "sound insulation" since they use it to deaden sound between rooms. They even line the top of ceiling tiles with it sometimes for sound (as the plans even specify).
I just find it odd that most resources say it doesn't do much to deaden sound, yet it is used very often in commercial construction for that very purpose.
As for the original question, nothing is going to stop the sound of foot steps, but I assume fiberglass insulation could limit some of the higher frequency sounds such as normal television watching, etc. For only $90 you can't go wrong.
However, as a commercial electrician I find an incredible amount of interior office walls filled with insulation. When doing new work, it's common to hear the carpenters call the R-11 unfaced batts "sound insulation" since they use it to deaden sound between rooms. They even line the top of ceiling tiles with it sometimes for sound (as the plans even specify).
I just find it odd that most resources say it doesn't do much to deaden sound, yet it is used very often in commercial construction for that very purpose.
As for the original question, nothing is going to stop the sound of foot steps, but I assume fiberglass insulation could limit some of the higher frequency sounds such as normal television watching, etc. For only $90 you can't go wrong.