Sounddampening material?

[turbolaser4528]

I found this basalt fiber on ebay that is supposed to be way better than fiberglass and carbon for sound dampening. I was looking to increase the stealthiness of my closet op by lining the walls and doors with this stuff. I was wondering if anyone has tried it, will it work, how much will it work if it does, and are there any other cheaper better solutions to sound dampening?

http://cgi.ebay.com/BASALT-FIBER-FO...in_0?hash=item5634f2bfa8&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

This stuff is really thin which I like because My area is like 3x3x8 with a digital 600hps, i want to maximize as much space as possible, not lose 4 inches all around for sound dampening.


I saw some stuff called reflectix on homedepot's site anyone tried that? any info is appreciated thanks guys

 

[Greenlife1]

That stuf will work better for a ply in between, or on the outside of sturctures to make them stronger. I think the sound damping affect will be limited. at about the same price you can get a couple cans of liquid(spay) dynomat. This would work way better. Or you can just buy 4 x 8 sheet of 1" foam board , and attach to the outside of the box if you don't want it taking up the inside space. But I sure you have thought of that. I know some people that use reflectix works like mylar, but I don't know how much it deadens the sound.

 

[Budweiser13]

Look up green glue.........

 

[turbolaser4528]

Look up green glue.........

wow just researched the greenglue and checked out everything on their site, it looks very promising. All I would need to do is buy a case, apply it to drywall sheets from home depot/lowe's, and then nail/screw that to the walls in my closet. Bada bing.

Easy, simple, apparently highly effective, and somewhat inexpensive. (probably 200 to drastically reduce the noise + vibration from my grow closet) but as they say stealth is priceless.


Thanks for the tip Bud


O yeah and has anyone else done this? if so, how much did it reduce the sound? thnx

 

[turbolaser4528]

here's the link to the green glue site in case anyone wants it - http://www.greengluecompany.com/noiseproofing_compound.php

I had a revelation, I read about flanking noise and realized that first I should do my best to eliminate the noise at the source before trying to sound proof the walls.

Sources:

1) Eco-Plus Commercial Air pump (hung from rubber bungee)

2) Reservoir [(open air lines, bubbles popping, water movement, submersed power-head, etc) - wrapped in insulation, still 2 loud though)]

3) 4" vortex fan (also hung by rubber bungee)

If I were to just build boxes around each of these sources with drywall, wood, or some other material, and utilize the green glue then I wouldn't even need to soundproof the room as the noise would be significantly reduced at the source.

This will save me and others a lot of trouble. Take care of this first, and then move to soundproofing the walls if it is necessary. What do you guys think? and whats the best material to build these boxes out of? wood and drywall are easily available at any home depot or lowe's, but which is better to work with, safer, quieter, etc. Let me know, thanks!

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Before you build a fan box, cover the fan with carpet padding. You can always build a box around that if you want. The best is the multi-colored spec stuff that's glued together with resin. It's available in 1/2" and you can find scraps behind the carpet shops in the dumpster. I've used all kinds of sound damping material and this works best for me w/o having to spend a bundle.

All you have to do is carefully cut custom pieces with a pair of scissors. Glue it on with spray adhesive and it won't dissolve the sponge material. Spray both the metal housing and the pad backing for good adhesion. The more padding you get directly adhered to the housing, the more sound and vibration you'll reduce. That and hanging the fan with a bungee as opposed to being mounted on a rigid surface will go a long way.

 

[turbolaser4528]

Before you build a fan box, cover the fan with carpet padding. You can always build a box around that if you want. The best is the multi-colored spec stuff that's glued together with resin. It's available in 1/2" and you can find scraps behind the carpet shops in the dumpster. I've used all kinds of sound damping material and this works best for me w/o having to spend a bundle.

All you have to do is carefully cut custom pieces with a pair of scissors. Glue it on with spray adhesive and it won't dissolve the sponge material. Spray both the metal housing and the pad backing for good adhesion. The more padding you get directly adhered to the housing, the more sound and vibration you'll reduce. That and hanging the fan with a bungee as opposed to being mounted on a rigid surface will go a long way.

Yeah i know the material you're talking about. The person living underneath me thought I moved out since I put that stuff down along with a carpet lol so I know it works decent. But could this be a fire hazard?


How well does this work as compared to a green glue box or whatever? It would be cheaper and easier to do I suppose, but your really think it makes that much of a difference? thanks 4 the help I appreciate it

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

You're welcome. Fire hazzard, hummm? I guess it could burn if there was a source of ignition like an open flame or a fan shooting mongo sparks from the motor. I just covered the sheet metal housing on a blower fan and left the motor exposed. Although indirect heat from the lamp won't hurt the padding, I wouldn't glue it directly against anything that generates heat (like an external fan motor.) Lots of fans use scrubbers with polyester prefilters in close proximity to indirect heat. Although this is relatively safe, I wouldn't hang a prefilter close enough to the light that safety is compromised.

Don't know about flammable/nonflammable aspects of the green glue.

 

[geopolitical]

I used to soundproof things quite a bit. There are two major ways to kill sound transmission. Absorption and isolation. You absorb things with mass, random mass being best, and you isolate things with physical gaps (a 1/4" space means the sound has to change transmission mediums 3 times total, each with an energy loss that equates to less dB).

Green glue is mass loading. It's recommended as a top sandwich including another layer of drywall on top, which is also mass. Just like the above, sound is going to have to "jump" through several different transmission mediums in that sort of sandwich, losing energy each time.

You can also use heavyweight vinyl tiles in the above sort of sandwich, lead sheeting (lead sheeting is probably the MOST effective soundproofing material due to it's mass, but it's very hard to work with, expensive to ship, and well, it's lead), silicone caulking material, steel or lead shot, etc.

It all depends on how much soundproofing you need. A closet might only be transmitting noise through the door, in which case adding a layer of 1/2" drywall sandwiched with green glue or a silicone caulk to the door may be all you need.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Great info and easy to understand, geopolitical.

I know the speck padding is ghetto but those specks vary in density. It worked on the walls of my band practice room better than acoustic eggshell foam which is very expensive. Never thought about the physical gap technique, would have probably worked even better.

 

[JustanotherDave]

As mentioned in Geo's post...depends on how much sound attenuation you need.

The most basic, and thin, box you can build that could be considered a "quiet" box is 5/8ths 'fire code' drywall with acoustical sealant at the corner seams. You build the box so it doesn't touch anything except the floor of the room/closest it is placed in. (even then...you can place the box on feet that also isolate transmission).

MLV (mass loaded vinyl) is a material that is typically draped between walls/surfaces.

Dynomat and a cheaper alternative, Fatmat, is also used to create mass.

Quietrock is drywall specifically made for sound attenuation and can be screwed right to existing walls and provide great results. But pricey.
For the DIY'er...there is the Greenglue. Use 2 tubes between two 4x8 sheets of drywall.

Isolate first...then block.

 

[turbolaser4528]

ahhh i dont know what to do...its not just the door, it goes through the walls and is very audible in the next room over. I'm gonna try and pad the fan, maybe wrap it in a winter coat or blanket as well as I've heard this helps and is cheap/easy to do and apparently safe.

I saw a guy who hung his air pump inside of a glass jar and that worked real well, but I worry about heat issues with this method. will it heat the air/pump significantly since there's no airflow or is it fine?

Then I will wrap my already insulated rez with this carpet padding since I already have some in my living room to cut down on the bubbling noise. Do you think I should cover the top with it as well?


By doing this I hope to significantly reduce the noise from the growroom by starting at the source, if thats not enough I will resort to acoustic drywall and greenglue.

 

[FrankRizzo]

Not sure if it would really work in your room, but somewhere here there is a guy that stuck his fan in an old cooler and then filled it with padding. All he had to do was cut the intake and exhaust holes and hook the ducts up. Might work for some, easier than making a box.

 

[grouchy]

Here is something thin that I used called Peel & Seal. It adds mass to the walls and is very similar to Dynamat extreme that they use in cars for sound deadening. It has a very reflective aluminum backing and is self adhesive. Check out the link in my sig to see what it looks like installed. It may not be the only product needed for sound deadening but it sure won't hurt with the reflectivity. I purchased mine in a 100 sq ft roll from a roofing supply house but it can be bought at lowes as well.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=154017-81326-PS625

 

[geopolitical]

Grouchy, be very careful of tar based (bitumen, etc) materials inside the house. Some of the petroleum products used in these have the potential to off-gas in lethal amounts (at least for a plant).

 

[grouchy]

I sealed the edges with aluminum tape anywhere I thought it would be exposed. Plants don't seem to mind it so far. The only way it would affect it would be to off-gas through the 1/2 plywood. I also didn't use it on the ceiling in case it decided to fall down on the lights for some reason. They also make sound deadening material out of butyl rubber based products.

Nice heads up though.

 

[hoosierdaddy]

Dow Corning SuperTuff R comes in 4x8 x 1/2" sheets for about $12 per
Aluminum on both sides, and dense foam in between.
Works fantastic as an insulator and deadens sound pretty well.
Easiest stuff in the world to work with, and cheap.

bLowes, HomedePot, etc...

 

[turbolaser4528]

thanks for the info guys, I remember seeing the fan in the cooler idea. I think ill do that for the airpump (a small lunch box type cooler) and then either the same thing for the fan or just wrap it with that padding.


As for the resevoir, I should just make my res out of a large cooler, but I was never able to find like a 30 gallon cooler that fit in a 3x3 space. So I'll either run airstones now to reduce the turbulence, insulate it more, or build a new system (most likely a bio bucket type deal).




On a side note: I got the bubbledust viking pheno going right now that fucker is huge! I cut clones from my 3 plantsI just hope one of the viking fist cuts survived, I was realy busy and mixed them up. please god let that cutting be from the almighty viking fist lol

 

[canadiancracker]

for the cheapest solution. hit up a fruit and vegtables store and ask for the cardboard forms that the peaches and tomatos and shit come in, its pretty much the same crap used in cheap studios so tell the person you need it for a recording studio your making and everything will go ove smoothly. youll get a shit load of it and for free, they throw it out or for recycling. i used it to soundproof and it was perfect for the cost ratio lol...

i undertand if this doesnt suit you cause of the space issue but its the only tip i got lol.. sorry dude. dynamat for car sound proofing is amazing but highly expensive.