What Is an STC Rating? The STC rating, or Sound Transmission Class rating, of a material correlates to the amount of sound that a material is able to block. Some low STC rated products include glass windows and hollow-core doors, while some high STC rated products include mass loaded vinyl and solid-core doors. The higher…
Sound Masking to Prevent Eavesdropping In an open office it’s hard to concentrate when you can hear every conversation around you. Closed offices have the same problem in reverse: voices leak through walls, under doors and over the ceiling grid when the walls stop at the tiles. If you can hear your neighbors, they can…
How Soundproof Underlayment Works Do you constantly hear footsteps and talking above your head? If you live in a multi-story home or apartment building, you’re probably no stranger to noise from the floor above. Soundproofing a floor isn’t complex as long as you have the right materials and access to the floor that needs it.…
Quick answer Screw impaling clips to the wall, about one per 4 sq ft of panel, and press the panel onto them. Start at ear height on the side walls and the wall facing the listener, and spread the panels around the room. How to Hang Acoustic Panels Acoustic panels go up like heavy picture frames, but…
Quick answer Yes. Screw the MLV through the drywall into the studs, tape the seams, and cover it with a new layer of drywall caulked at the edges. It works, just not as well as MLV installed directly on the studs. Can You Put Mass Loaded Vinyl Over Drywall? A common question that we receive…
How to Soundproof a Garage: Start With the Leaks A garage is the hardest room in the house to soundproof and the easiest to get wrong. It has the biggest door in the building, usually a thin sheet of steel with gaps on all four sides. The walls often have drywall on one side or…
Mass Loaded Vinyl Installation Overview Mass loaded vinyl is a heavy, limp sheet that blocks sound when it’s fixed to the framing and covered with drywall. Installing it isn’t complicated, but it is heavy work, and small mistakes – an open seam, a gap around an outlet – let sound straight through. Our sister company…
Does Soundproof Paint Work? Soundproof paint sounds like the perfect fix: roll a few coats onto the wall you share with a noisy neighbor and enjoy the quiet. It doesn’t work that way. A coat of paint, however thick, adds almost nothing to the weight of a wall, and weight is what stops sound passing…
Hidden Acoustic Panels: Do They Work? Exposed ductwork, brick, concrete floors and big windows look great in a restaurant or office, and they are exactly why the room is loud. Every hard surface throws sound back, so conversations stack on top of each other until everyone is shouting. The fix is sound absorbing panels, and…
How to Soundproof an Existing Wall Without Removing Drywall Most walls get soundproofed after the fact: a new neighbor, a nursery next to the TV room, a home office that shares a wall with the laundry. The wall is finished, painted and probably has outlets, trim and a door in it, and tearing it open…