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Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 11:26 am
by knightfly
No, you're right - 2.5 pcf stuff is optimum for almost ANY place in a studio where you would use insulation, either in or outside of a wall or ceiling. If that's what you have, and you can get it to "come out even", as in, complete fill with slight overfill (only enough overfill to require slight pressure against the first layer enclosing the insulation, in order for the wallboard to contact the frame) - then, you're set.

If, however, another layer of the Roxul would cause moderate to heavy compression of the insulation, then you will need to get some UN-faced, normal density, house insulation to make up the difference if you want the best isolation you can get with your particular combination of joist depth, layers, etc. -

If you're NOT concerned with max isolation for some reason, you can just put the batts into the joist cavities and install the ceiling layers - gravity will damp the lower panels, the extra wallboard layers between joists will lower the resonant frequency of the upper leaf, and it will cost less for insulation.

The main loss of doing it the second way, will be increased footfall noise from movement above you, although it would also lessen overall TL through the structure a slight amount as well, same as in a wall... Steve

Overall, the best performance will be by using as much of the 2.5 pcf stuff as you can, making up the difference with lighter stuff for panel damping - the lighter stuff should go into the cavity first, so it ends up on TOP of the heavier stuff and will therefore compress less, staying in better contact with the upper panels.

From no insulation to nearly filled is the most change in performance; likely around 10 dB or so. The extra I'm referring to will not make a lot of difference in overall TL, but will lessen any ringing at resonance so the room will sound flatter in response.

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 1:25 pm
by Billyboy
Brilliant-

It's all clear now (for the time being).

Oh- one more quick one. Should I be insulating the cieling (subfloor) even where my inside cieling doesn't extend? In other words, should I insulate between the joists in the air space around the room? This seems like it could be pretty tricky to do...

Thanks for the quick responses as usual!

--Josh

Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 10:58 pm
by knightfly
Why tricky? Is there a drawing or pic I can look at? Steve

Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 4:39 am
by Billyboy
Well...

I don't have a pic, but it shouldn't be any different in my situation than anybody else's.

I meant tricky because I would have to insulate before framing the wall which will be adjacent to the air space. Or, I guess I could to try to insulate after I framed the wall, but that seems difficult (not undoable though...).

I'll also need to figure out a way to keep the insulation against the wallboard "cladding" inbetween the joists for damping purposes (since there will be no inner ceiling below to support the insulation).

String maybe? Or did I read something about impailers of some sort?

That's the essence of my concern.

Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2005 10:06 pm
by knightfly
I would insulate those areas too - it will damp the upper subfloor a bit if nothing else. Before framing will be easier.

I've not seen impaling clips used for horizontal insulation, nor for the lighter stuff; only horizontal, for 703 or rockwool batts. Lightweight lath across the joist bottoms every 2 feet usually works pretty well... Steve