Anybody use sound deadening/absorbing material?

[Guest]

I just started looking at using some sound deadening/absorbing material and there seems to be alot of options available. I've been looking at stuff used in cars and was wondering what y'all been using or looked at? There's 'sound board' used in construction (4' x 8') sheets and even paintable material (designed for cars). Sound board is cheap but don't know how effective it is.

Noise is not extreme but looking at ways to reduce it.

Anywho...thanx and any input!

 

[mrgrowmez]

hey Redux
i have my grow cab in a bigger walk in closet and i share a wall in the closet with the people in the apartment next to us so i'm real paranoid that they will here my 265CFM fan blowin away
i built a little "soundproof" section (I hope anyway) up the top of the cab where all the venting gets done.
first i put a muffler on the outlet and i have this exhausting onto a 7cm thick piece of insulation rockwool, which sits against the wall that I share with "the jones'".


and then i built some panels with pieces of scrap wood i had left over, covered these with a double layer of some soft foam on the inside and closed the top section up. so now when you go in it just looks like a warderobe built into the wall instead of a large humming grow cab.

the sound board your talkin about, is that those thick white sheets they put in the walls? ive seen these things lyin around some building sites a few times and always wondered if i should "borrow" some for insulation purposes.
well anyway thats how im doin it....
MR.G

 

[Guest]

Thanx Mrgrowmez. One fan I'm trying to quiet down is 447 cfm and the 1298 cfm exhaust fan could use a little help also. No biggie as it's OK but wanna look at my options to tone things down a notch or two. I built a muffler for the 447 cfm fan and the exhaust is in an enclosure but think with a little effort it could be a tad better...thanx.

 

[SomeGuy]

What you are looking for is a dense, heavy material. Foam is OK but sheetrock/gypsum would be better. There is an owens corning product thats available in 4x8 sheets and is made from fibrous material sold as soundboard that works well. If you REALLY want to be quiet do a net search on building a recording studio. I built one a few years back and found a rubber mat type product that weighed 1 lb per sq foot, came in 4' x 50' rolls but was expensive and it worked great.

 

[Guest]

Thanx SomeGuy...I did run across that mat you are talking about, or at least something similar, that weighs 1 lb per sqft. Seems like all the good stuff is pretty expensive but am pretty sure it would kill any remaining sound. I made a muffler for a fan that draws air from inside the house and it knocked most of the sound out but wanna try to silence things just a tad more.

 

[SpacedCWBY]

A cheaper alternative is to use 1/2" drywall. If you put a piece of drywall up on a wall, then run 1" strips of wood paralell to eachother about 1' apart over the entire section, framing out the edges of course. Put another sheet of drywall over the wood strips to create a dead spot in between. Works fairly well. I have seen it used in hotel construction before to deaden the sound of mechanical rooms and the like.

Good luck.

Spaced...

 

[nUt_jOb]

Neoprene matting that you can get on ebay does the job pretty well and its only a 1/4" thick.

 

[Guest]

Here you are again Redux.........My buddy....... Let me turn you on to what`s being used in the homebuilding industry as that`s what I do............In the insulation biz they have what`s called rockwool slabs..........No........it`s not the shit you grow with......It`s 3 1/2 and or 5 1/2" thick for 2x4 and 2x6 interior walls on custom homes for soundproofing like in media and movie viewing rooms...... Put in the cavity and it`s virtually noise free depending on pumps and other noisy shit that you`ll easily identify once lettin em power up...........PEACE.........DHF............

 

[Guest]

Thanx for the input y'all. Some of the suggestions will for sure be very helpful next time I decide to put something together. I only got a few spots now that need attention and I'll take a closer look as to which materials option is most appropriate.

Later...

 

[Guest]

I snagged ( after asking) a bunch of pieces of that rockwool slab. Some are just yellow, some have foil on them. I haven't used them all yet, I am thinking of making a box for the fan in my cab. I lined the top of the grow room with them and the walls are insulated with 13" insulation. The weak point is the wood door. It vibrates and transmits sounds. I should try the slabs on the door.

 

[mrgrowmez]

are the rockwool slabs solid? i use rockwool but its more like fibreglass wool then a solid slab...
cheers
MR.G

 

[clowntown]

Better than rockwool, better than standard foam, etc, for sound absorption is melamine foam. It's not cheap, but IMO is affordable if maximum sound deadening is necessary. BTW, DynaMat (popular for car applications) is melamine foam. Here's some info I posted earlier about the various sound-proofing materials, from these threads:

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=45025
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=43385

(If you don't need a whole case, I'd be interested in splitting the cost of one with you, since I'll be needing some very soon for my loud-ass air pump.)

After some research, it sounds like an even better material is melamine foam:

Melamine foam has an interlinking bubble format which produces a structure more like a block of microscopic fibreglass than normal foam. It is used for soundproofing, as a fire-retardant material (but not as insulation, because it allows air to pass through its structure),...

Sounds like the perfect material for building sound-proof enclosures for devices such as pumps: Fire-retardant, non-insulant (is that a word?), AND extreme sound-deadening properties!

It can be ordered from McMaster-Carr (industrial materials supply company), part number 9216T1 in 5/8" thick sheets of 24" x 24" or 24" x 48". These are traditionally used as ceiling tiles to absorb sound in noisy rooms. It's not terribly expensive for what it does, but you must buy it by the case: (8) 24" x 24" @ $56.16/cs or (5) 24" x 48" @ $61.70/cs. They also have a wide range of other noise control products to fit your growroom best, just click through the links! (It's difficult to post the JavaScript'd links.)

Some more information on noise control and sound insulation:

Absorbers reduce sound waves and convert them into heat energy. Use absorbers in areas that have hard, reflective surfaces. The average amount of sound absorbed by a material is represented by the Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC). The higher the NRC value, the more efficiently the material absorbs sound. A material with an NRC of 1 is the most sound-absorbing material you can get. NRC is calculated during testing in an acoustical laboratory.

Barriers reduce sound by blocking sound wave transmission and reflecting sound waves back to the source. Use barriers in passageways to reduce sound transmission to surrounding areas or to divide an open area. A barrier's ability to reflect sound back toward the source is represented by the Sound Transmission Loss (STL). The STL is the difference between the sound level striking the barrier and the level of sound transmitted through the material. So the higher the STL, the better the barrier performs.

Absorber/barrier combinations give you the advantage of two noise-control products. Sound waves pass through the absorber where they are converted into heat energy. Any sound waves that then hit the barrier reenter the absorber which converts those remaining sound waves into heat energy.

Dampers reduce sound caused by vibrating surfaces. The damper material flexes slightly to convert vibration into heat energy so noise is deadened. A damper's ability to reduce vibration is represented by the Damping Loss Factor (DLF). The higher the DLF, the more the damping material reduces vibration and sound.

McMaster-Carr even says the foam absorbers are "good for use on machinery housings, equipment cabinetry, and cases."

There are also some very expensive materials, like the melamine triple peak sculptured foams, 3" thick with NRC of 1 @ $65 for a 2' x 4' sheet!

 

[Guest]

Thanx Clowntown...good info...I gotta use the search function more before starting a new thread. Here's something else I found in my travels on the net. It's a paintable material that's supposed to be more effective and cost efficient than Dynamat. Don't know how well it'd work on building materials like sheetrock and stuff but it may be appropriate in some cases.

http://www.quietcoat.com/index.html

Another product line mainly for cars, but seems similar to Dynamat, is:

http://www.b-quiet.com/index.html

 

[clowntown]

Interesting; I'd be interested in finding out how effective the paint-on (Quiet Coat) is, considering it's such a (relatively) thin surface.

If you're going to line a whole room, the melamine foam may be a bit on the expensive side. There are many other sound-absorbing materials from McMaster-Carr, including many cheaper alternatives ... but with a lower NRC.

Home Depot sells insulation foam boards, 4' x 8' sheets that come in maybe 5-6 different thicknesses. the lorax used these boards to build a sound-deading box for his "commercial" air pump, and says it works wonders.

 

[Guest]

Sounds like ya`ll have a better product Clowntown...........I can`t imagine it being as cheap as rockwool slabs though......I`m cheap on DIY shit..........I spend whatever it takes for the lights and environment control but Rockwool slabs for insulation is a solid slab and nothing like grow slabs...the shit`s gray and yes it will make you itch like fiberglass if you get it on you but I`m not sure about the material makeup of it is as I`ve only used it for soundproofing in custom homes I`ve built for clients in the past........PEACE..........DHF..........

 

[SpacedCWBY]

Here's some decently priced accoustic foam. They use this type of stuff in theatres and studios.

http://800stereohometheater.stores.yahoo.net/auusa24accep1.html

I'm still trying to find the really deep pocketted stuff you see in studios.

Anyone use this stuff before for a grow space?

 

[Fireface13]

I used this stuff called Homasote. Half inch panels. Can be purchased as a full 4 x 8 sheet or 1/4 panels individually. $20 for the full sheet. Its made out of recycled newspapers, too!

Put up a layer of that and then def. use the 5/8 fireproof drywall over that and youre set.