Wood slats treatment?

Hey all! I'm thinking about putting wood slats along the side walls of my all-in-one-room spot, as I mentioned in another thread, but I've got some more detailed questions about them... The walls will effectively be turning into low-mid absorbers: between the studs will be 3-1/2" fiberglass blanket insulation, and over the top of that I'm going to put fabric and wood slats. I'm not trying to make a helmholz resonator out of them; I just want to balance out the mid- and high-freq absorption of the wall. What size slats would you recommend for this use? 1x4s or 1x6? Smaller? I plan on spacing them to make a 50/50 mix of absorption and reflection, and I'm sure the edges will diffract as much sound as they reflect... Is there any particular pattern I could use (or avoid)? But the biggest question I have is about fire; With wood slats over fabric, I'd be afraid to even light incense down there. What's the best way to treat the wood so it's not quite so hazardous? How about the fabric? Thanks! Kase www.minemusic.net

I think one of the more popular fabrics around here is made by guilford of maine...look for the fire resistance stuff.

Kase, I couldn't find a thread on your room - got a link? Have you done any calculations on the amount of absorption you need at specific frequencies? On cloth, the Guilford stuff is good, but expensive - you might check out fire retardant treatment and see if less expensive cloth works for you with treatment. Here's one site that sells treatments - http://www.natfire.com/ If you're looking for 50% coverage, then you'll have about as wide a gaps in your wall as you have slats, not sure how that would look or work... Steve

Hey Steve! Here's that other thread; http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1326 If I have the right color fabric behind the wood slats, and color them properly, I think it'll look ok. I'm planning on using 1x4s right now, we'll see if that changes. Thanks for the link- that looks like it'll work great! Kase www.minemusic.net

Is the Guilford cloth people have mentioned the FR701 AV cloth (kind of looks like burlap) ? Geoff

That sounds like one of their part #'s - Go here - http://productplan.guilfordofmaine.com/ click on the Style Name drop-down box, and the 701 series is about halfway down the list... Steve