"Civilized" acoustic caulk in Canada?

Hello all! I am about to finish my modest home studio and I am pulling my hair off with acoustic caulk... I've been browsing the internet for hours and I can't find what I look for. I have to caulk the seams between walls (drywall on resilient channel), between walls and concrete floor and between drywalls and joists (the room has an "open ceiling". So the caulk would be exposed to touch, so I don't want to get that cheapo tar-like acoustic caulk that everyone would fear touching. It seems like around here (Québec City, Canada) it is really hard to find some good acoustic sealant (made from butyl). So, I am wondering what my canadian fellows, and others, used for their home studio. I know Lepage PL Acousti-seal is available around, but apparently it falls into the tar-like category. Canadian Tire also has the MONO Acoustic sealant wich I don't know. I am wondering if GE Silicone (1 or 2) would do the job just fine. Thanks for your guiding lights! G.S.

Hey guys! I found this: http://www.ramset.com.au/fileupload/...ebrake_TDS.pdf What da ya think?

... I meant THIS one: http://www.ramset.com/images/ramset/dat ... ulk_DS.pdf Although the first ramset product might work too, it should be more expensive (polyurethane).

G.S., Why must the caulk be exposed? WE do work all the time with fully caulked edges - and then tape corners - istall tear away bead for finished edges against ceilings, etc. that having been said - the problem with silicone caulk is that it doesn't paint period (type ) or it doesn't pain well (type 2) you would be better off with a latex butyl caulk. Rod

Hello Mr Gervais! Your book is great! I bought it, although I didn't read it all because limited to work in an existing space and limits: I am not the owner here. Just renting an apartment and doing this job myself, with the landlord's approval, help and technical advices: he is into construction. When you are talking about "tape" between walls edges, do you mean "tape and mud", just like regular construction or something like tuck tape that you can paint afterwards? I'll post pics of the places where I have caulking questions later this day. Can't wait to finish this project! Thanks for your help!

Niva, where are you in Quebec? My dad was born and raised in Granby. For normal corners - we caulk and then do a standard tape job for the entire corner. But for areas where we have no corner, just a flat joint (picture an exposed concrete ceiling as one example) we would install the backer rod and caulk - then install a tear away bead (which is a flat plastic flange that is held tight to the ceiling (in this case) nailed in place - with a plastic strip in a slot that sits at a right angle to the wall and is about 3/16" higher than the wall surface - this to be flat taped to the ceiling and once sanded the strip is torn away (hence tear away bead" leaving a perfect tape joint sitting about 1/16" from the ceiling. Rod

Rod, What is the baker rod exactly for? I never used it on my studio. I guess its to fill in larger gaps and then caulk over? I have your book as well. but never figured out whats its real purpose, I only read "use it"..

Hello Rod! I am from Québec city, about 2 hours 1/2 from Granby. There is a great musical scene apparently in this city. I think Malajube are from there... Here are the pics of the places that need to be caulked and/or "taped and muded". My first idea was to put acoustic caulk everywhere on theses places and leave it exposed... The landlord refused... and I soon understood why when I realized it would never dry... So, if I would gain at least 1 DB isolation from taping and muding, I would do it. Otherwise, if it would be just a matter of aesthetic, I think I would use butyl based silicone everywhere, as I would later put a lot of bass traps for sound treatment, especially in the corners. Here are some details on the room: Open ceiling: two layers of 1/2 drywall between joists, stuffed with 3" Roxul wool. I just need to attach a cloth on the bottom of the joists. Th highest side of the room is 7" and on the other side, it is 6"7... So, the ceiling (wich is also the floor of my bedroom) has a little slope. You soon realize with a computer chair on wheels :lol: The joists on the highest half of the room (separated about in the middle by a damn trust...) are 7 inches high, so that gives me 6"5' from floor to the bottom of the joists. The joists on the lowest half of the room are 4 inches high, so that gives 6"3 inches from floor to the bottom of the joists... I did the floor with 1/2" rubber slabs direct on compacted earth with a 10-14 inches concrete edging (request of the landlord who is a also a contractor, for security purposes )... Cutting concrete and digging made the room higher of about 4-5 inches.. Crooked isn't it! :shock: You can get more infos on the room, and the work done here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13677 And here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13151 Now every inside wall is made out of ONE 5/8" layer drywall on RC channel. The 2nd leaf (the outside walls) is made of one 1/2" layer drywall except two walls (concrete). Here are updated pics of the room: From the door entrance: http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/6868/vueentre2.th.jpg Room has a slight “L shape”. Check the drywall-meet-floor area. That wasn’t easy! http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/8462/lshape2.th.jpg The door itself (I have to improve it later...): http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/4791/woodbeamctporte.th.jpg Here is a view on the other side: http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/4121/woodbeamctfentre.th.jpg Back to caulk and or tape/mud, here are the places that need to be treated. ANY advices on this or anything else would be HIGHLY appreciated. This is the way I sealed the gap (at least 1/4 inch) between drywall and joists on the exterior concrete wall side. I used spray foam on this side because I was more concerned about thermal insulation than sound insulation as the wall at the back is concrete. Is that correct? I was thinking about just muding it (ok?) http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/1782/joistsctciment.th.jpg These are joists on the other side. Only backer rod for the moment. I was thinking about acoustic sealant + tape and mud but if I could just seal them with silicone, that would be faster (better?) as I would just staple a cloth on the bottom of the joists later... http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/2112/backerrodjoists.th.jpg There are some places where concrete wasn’t even... or the guy who cut drywall (me) was a little clumsy... like here. So I put some kind of foam, very similar to the backer rod type, and spray foam, where gaps were larger than ½”. So, I don't think that tear away beads would work on the concrete edging... So I guess I could partially tape and mud the larger gaps and just do a silicone line about ¼” between concrete and walls. What do you think? http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/6395/erreurgyproc.th.jpg http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/7491/pasfacile.th.jpg I am sorry for all those questions but I can’t wait to finish this project! I invested so much time, energy (and money too!) So as you say so well in english: “better safe than sorry”. I'll save a couple of questions for later. Thanks! Guillaume