FLOOR/CEILING/WALL CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE

Steve, Thanks for the door construction link! The window link I had downloaded over a month ago, so I'm very familiar with the SAE site. The only thing missing are recommended dimensions of the actual glass...so, in your experience, will these dimensions be ok? (42 3/4" H X 32 1/2" W) Again i can frame the window smaller, but that's where it's at now. Tomorrow I'll have pix posted of the other issue...thanks again Steve! dean

Those window dim's are fine - you didn't mention thicknesses, have you downloaded the free insul soundproofing calculator I linked to somewhere? It can tell you what to expect for isolation with different glass thickness, panel size, and spacing - http://www.insul.co.nz/download.html You need to change panel size at the top of the window, it's the double arrow. It won't let you go smaller than about 1.2 sq meters, not sure if that's a constraint of just the freebie or if the other two versions do that also. There are a few "tricks" I've learned using it to "fudge" it into more than it appears to be capable of, play with it and see what you think... Steve

Hi Steve, I plan to use the recommendations from the SAE site (5/16" & 3/8") for my windows. Unfortunately the insul calc download has been written for PC users exclusively...my G4 can't read .exe files and I haven't purchased virtual PC yet. :cry: More tomorrow, dean

I'm not sure what's even going to happen to Virtual PC, now that it's a Micro-Slop property - if you want, post your intended dimensions including air gap, and I'll run them (the freebie only does float plate, not laminated glass) Steve

I've read through this whole thread <and the linked threads within> a few times now and had a question about the ceiling/ wall construction. Through the reading, its apparant (I think?!) that the goal when connecting the walls to the ceiling is to keep it flexible to a degree. The two main reasons I can gather are: To keep the RC flexing as not to lower the STC through the ceiling. And to keep the walls and ceiling from flanking into the adjoining room. Here is my question: Would it be possible to build walls with the ceiling of the room resting on top of them? By doing that you wouldn't have any sort of contact with the floor joists above <assuming were still in the basement>. And you could build seperate rooms with seperate ceilings with the only component to "Flank" being the floor. Assuming the room dementions weren't so big as needing some sort of makeshift trussing system. I'm thinking.. like building some sort of 2x4 framed ceiling to rest on the wall frames. Possibly just with some sort of supports here and there or like some eyebolts with some rope or something? If this is a retarded statment feel free to let me know. I'm just thinking aloud really. Ron

That type construction can be done, but you need heavier framing for any serious spans. Some examples - 24" centers, 2x4 #2 and better douglas fir, max span around 7 feet. 2x6 ups the span to about 10-1/2 feet, and 2x8 increases it to about 13'6" maximum - these are only for single layer of wallboard, so spans would be less for any isolation construction. Even with supporting the ceiling framing on walls, you still need to use RC to hang the ceiling wallboard, in order to isolate it from the walls... Steve

Hi Steve, Here is another pic...a "new" issue. Those are phone/ethernet lines I've run just to illustrate the issue. There is a sizeable gap between the floating wall (in the foreground) and the existing wall. Plenty of space for sound to get through. Should I fill that space with soundboard and then caulk? [please view additional pix that help illustrate the issue even more].

Steve, Here's another one...you can see how there is a gap between the floating floor and the existing one. So, sound can easily go along that gap, along the same path as those wires and into the control room, unless I build another wall (which I'm about to do), that runs the length of the window sill somehow. Any brilliant ideas on that? [see subsequent photos]. I should mention that I'm planning on building an iso box for a window AC this spring that will fit in ONE of the windows seen in the following pix...can I just build a short wall that goes up to the window sill and is sealed against the sill with neoprene/GAF/acoustical sealant all the way around? Am I making sense? Should I just throw myself out into the -10 F weather we're having? (windchill puts us at @ -33F tonite here in Mpls.) dean

Steve...next pic. The heating element to the left of the exposed brick is disabled, so, if I sheetrock over a frame placed directly along the edge of the floor in front of that heater it won't matter (I'll be using a space heater in this room). dean

...next shot up close of "trough" between the rooms... dean

...and one final pic... I know, I know, I know...I really screwed myself by NOT floating that first wall...guess I shoulda just ripped it down and floated it anyway...mmm...guess I still COULD!??? BUT it still doesn't address the issue of those windows and the necessary framing around them to keep the sounds from transferring along that short stretch of wall from the iso to the control room. dean

Hey Dean - Just had a few minutes this AM to check for "quickies" - yours didn't qualify :? so I'll have to catch it a bit later, possibly tonight if I'm still moving after 12 hour shift - Just quickly, here's an install instruction from kinetics on their floor systems - you are missing the first step, but don't panic - I'll explain when I get more time how you can "sneak it in" - meantime, look around for some homosote or celotex that is close to (but less than) the space you have between your floated floor and the wall. http://www.kineticsnoise.com/architectu ... nstall.pdf You're right, we need to take care of those gaps, more soon... Steve

Dean, unfortunately things aren't letting up for me much. Can you group all your questions in one new post? then I can refer to the pix when I need to without having to sift through multiple posts for all the questions - thanks... Steve