I was supposed to be working on more soundproofing but to be honest it is a lot more fun to take down the drywall. Cutting and installing the drywall between the joists is a real chore. Lots of reaching, measuring, bending, cutting, lifting, swearing, bending, trimming, lifting, lowering gluing, lifting, stretching, drilling, and groaning. I can only do so much at a time. I did some trimming and more demolition.
I am playing a bit of catch up with the blog and only have one picture from this weekend so i thought i would share some of what i have learned about soundproofing from this great website i found.
I am re-using 1/2 inch salvaged drywall with the first layer generally being the older and riskier 1977 drywall and the second layer the material i installed 2005 through 2010. I am using the Green Glue as a damping compound but not quite at the coverage specified by the manufacturer as the stuff is hella expensive.
The builder will probably use Rockwool Safe and Sound for the added fireproofing rather than the fibreglass. I am not sure if that is for code but we discussed it. I have read (on SoundproofingCompany.com and elsewhere) that regular fibreglass is just as good for soundproofing. The furring channel gives a mechanical break and then we will put 2 layers of drywall. 2 layers of 5/8ths is required for a firebreak between units. We haven’t decided yet whether we will use the Green Glue between the ceiling layers. (see my comment above about the cost). This setup is an upgrade from what we originally talked about and while not perfect it should boost the sound rating from about 65 STC to 75 STC which is about 15% better for what it’s worth.
We also finally got the final drawings in and paid for our Development Permit ($1190) on the 27th. We have already been working with a project co-ordinator who has reviewed our drawings. I actually thought we had submitted a month ago but looking through emails i think i wasn’t reading emails as closely as i should be. They say 6 to 10 weeks so now we wait.
While waiting we are starting to think about details. One of our concerns is that with the terracing we have to do in the front so that we don’t have a railing in front of the sunken patio we are going to lose a bunch of “our” front yard. I did a little hack modification of some of the architects recent drawings with an idea i tried to articulate badly a couple of months ago. Likely one of those things i should have put more time into sorting out months ago. My idea is to run the path as one of the terraces if possible and have it a couple of steps lower. This is instead of having it on the outside of all of the terracing. This will also make the stairs a bit shorter into the sunken patio which could make the patio a bit bigger. Our other idea is to have a seat built into the south wall of the garden as one of the terraces. Obviously my profile on the left of the drawing is not to scale.
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