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Insulation can help cut down the room-to-room noise levels in a home. |
(NAPS)—While longing for peace and quiet in their homes, Americans have surrounded themselves with decibel-raising high-tech gadgetry including big screen TVs, computer games, CD players and stereo systems.
Coupled with a love of home offices, media rooms and spacious "great rooms," these noise-laden environments can adversely affect sleep, stress levels and quality of life. But, homes can easily be a haven of peace and quiet, with just a little insulation.
In most homes, walls between rooms are only marginally effective at blocking noise. Made of drywall and lumber, these interior or partition walls have poor Sound Transmission Class STC ratings. An STC rating is a number used to characterize the sound insulating value of a wall, floor or ceiling—the higher the STC rating, the less sound will be transmitted between rooms.
Home builders typically take steps to increase the STC rating for rooms that tend to be the noisiest, such as kitchens and bathrooms, but it may not be enough.
There are a number of simple measures that can be taken to raise the STC number in any home.
By far the easiest and most economical method for controlling noise is to install insulation in the wall cavity. Adding insulation beneath drywall in a typical wall configuration can increase sound control.
Contact a professional insulation contractor about installing loose-fill fiber glass insulation. Loose-fill fiber glass can be blown into walls in an afternoon. If you are doing any renovations on your home where drywall is removed or a new wall constructed, fiber glass batts or rolls can be put in place by any do-it-yourselfer.
If a new wall is being constructed, homeowners can also build what is called a resilient channel between the drywall and the studs or joists. Properly installed resilient channels will break the noise vibration path, providing a dramatic reduction in sound transmission. For a free brochure on noise control, or to find out the many benefits of fiber glass and mineral wool insulations, visit www.SimplyInsulate.com or contact NAIMA.
Don’t let noise adversely affect the quality of your life. With a little time spent installing acoustic insulation in the walls, homeowners can ensure peace and quiet all year long.
For additional information, refer to the publication "Noise Control: Sound Advice for Today's Families." This colorful brochure is designed to help homeowners increase the comfort of their homes by controlling the transmission of unwanted sound. It provides useful information on how to "soundproof" today's noisy home environments through the use of fiberglass acoustic insulation. Download for free now: Acrobat PDF (610 KB) or order free printed copies from the NAIMA Literature Library