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Sound proofing interior walls
If you are planning to start a project about sound proofing interior walls you should do some reading on the basic soundproofing principles. There are only three things that stop noise – space, mass and dampening. The additional space at hand, the additional noise reduction you would get. You can have large wall but if it is not thick enough or doesn’t have enough mass it will not stop much.
The concept of dampening for sound proofing interior walls – work like a wine glass, when you make it ring, you can keep it quiet by holding it. Basically you have achieved this by retarding the vibrations. This can be attained by using a number of techniques. You can use layers of different materials to arrive at the desired effect.
However, be warned if incorrectly done it can sound like the string are out of cord. One of the popular choices for sound proofing interior walls is lead as it is heavy and soft. The softness makes it dampen the noise and the heaviness acts as an excellent noise stopper.
Another Principle for understanding sound proofing interior walls is to be able to comprehend the difference between noise reduction and noise absorption. Noise absorption is not Noise Reduction though many may use the words interchangeably. This is because not all noise reduction and soundproofing is similar.
Noise reduction can be accomplished by not allowing the noise pass through the wall or window, basically stopping it from transferring. For this, you use mass and space to your benefit. You will require heavy walls with large air spaces so that you can maximize the dampening effect. This procedure of sound proofing interior walls deals with the noise transfer.
On the other hand, noise absorption can be accomplished by altering the characteristic of the noise. In other word, not to allow the noise to echo by stop the reverberation and noise reflections. This procedure of sound proofing interior walls is basically handling the noise level and it reaction in the said area. For this type of soundproofing, you will use carpets, upholstered furniture, acoustical ceiling tile, soundboard or interior walls. That would explain the concept of “live” room or a “dead” room.
Considering the difference between the two, you would realize that what works for one does not necessarily work for others. Let’s take the example of soundboard, it is useless as a noise stopper but when it is put up with the sheetrock as an outside layer, it provides noise absorption sound control.
