John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hey there. First post, though I've been lurking for a while. Nice site and people, I must say.

Anyway, I found a local distrubitor of 703, but they want about $1.30 sq/ft. for 2" and when the guy told me I just about soiled my nether regions.

I'm pretty sure I've been seeing this stuff go for about .60 - .70 from the posts around here, right?

Just to make sure, I called another place that sells Johns Manville 814 and she quoted me $1.52 sq/ft!

I was all geared up to start building, but now I'm suffering sticker shock, realizing that this is going to cost me almost twice what I had originally thought! Am I way off base here?

I told the guy at the original store that I was expecting to pay around .65 and he told me that in this year alone, the cost has risen about 22%.

What the heck happened!?

Thanks,
Zach

Which Distributor is it in the San Francisco bay area? (no secrets here)

Do not get discouraged... For example, to find SFB/rock wool / mineral fiber... It took a lot of hunting and even with some input from a member here (Chunger) and my own investigations - things definately are changing in terms of who keeps things in stock and who is supplying at decent pricing in this area...

For Thermafiber Mineral Wool / Ruxul Rockwool material I finally found a distributor (Javier at Accurate Firestop in Hayward) that carried it at affordable pricing -

Ruxul - 3" deep x 16" width at .31 cents a sf/ft - like $20 a bag

I do not believe AF carries rigid material. And was about to start investigating that around here for rigid insulation material.


Best Regards,

David

Knauf Insulation company has a manufacturing plant here in California so I assume they have distributors and dealers here, too (but, this sort of logical thinking with insulation can get you killed!)

They make Insulation board comparable to 703,705 etc. with NC ratings that are similar/better etc.

http://www.knauffiberglass.com/index.cf ... tail&ID=12

I emailed them - waiting to hear back for a dealer...


Best Regards,

David

Western MacArthur Company in Oakland is where I found the 703. Apparently they had a bunch.

Thanks for the heads up on the Knauff... I think I'll give them a call... do you happen to have a model number?

The Roxul looks extremely tempting, but I've been talking to my neighbor (about to get his contractors liscence) and he was saying that the Rockwool was a pain in the a$$ to work with, "truely nasty stuff", which scares me off. The only thing is that A) it's a hell of a lot cheaper, B) there's no formaldehyde worries and C) the fire rating is great.
And while it may not be as good as 703 or the equivilent in the lower frequencies (.86@125 for the 4" as opposed to Knauff's .95) it's cheap enough that you can double up and make a super-trap if you want to.

Have you worked with the stuff before? Anyone? I know Bryan Giles seems to be all about this stuff, but I think he had it installed for him.

Where do you live?

Western is in many lawsuits related to Asbestos from the last 50 years etc. - I don't know who is in the wrong. But, for me - more concious companies are better to try and work with. I was turned off by them initially from this information (find it all via google). Now, their pricing turns me off further.

I think Rockwool is fine and useful when used for where its maybe better intended - (inside wall cavities mainly) - plus its cheap and better in different ways then standard insulation and at roughly .30 cents a sq/ft - I like it...

For acoustical traps etc - the rigid insulation seems like the better choice and with 1" - 4" being available - it is great for John's backwall bass trap design as well as for other thinner absorbers.

All the insulation is in many ways the same material. Just how its compressed or more loose and fluffy. This obviously (Duh! to me) determines its rigidity. I would look at knauf's website for model info - its there under KNAUF INSULATION BOARD. Again, comparable to OC 703, 705 etc.

So far -

RSA Supply in Sacramento carries the Knauf line of insulation. Still looking for someone directly in the Bay area who supplies it. Will report back once I talk further about this with someone.


Best Regards,

David

This is the Knauf equivalent to OC 700 series:

http://www.knauffiberglass.com/index.cf ... tail&ID=12

Andre

Javier was just here from Accurate Firestop in Hayward, CA - and he threw some Roxul up on the wall (24" wide stuff - turns out my studs are 24" OC!) and cut it with a sharp knife to fit in the cavity like it was a slice of bread... no fuss, no mess, no gloves even, no nothing... easy, brilliant... I would go for this stuff. I am not sure what your friend had such difficulty with it in using it in his application....

Best Regards,

David

Ok so - here is what I got for Rigid Insulation Board ala OC 703:

2" 3lb density 2' x 4' 72 sq.ft. a bundle is $1.03 sq/ft is what they quoted me today ($74.16 each) (either Johns Manville 814 or Knauf) that is from General Insulation in the Hayward 510 area code. No breaking of bundles.

General Insulation -
Rosa or Len -
510-670-2848

Finding it cheaper on the West Coast in California will be difficult I suspect considering another place quoted me $1.15 sq/ft.

BEWARE - further price increases coming in January they said!


Hope that helps -

David

Wow!
That is such great news! Thank you for teling me.
So does that mean that you did your whole project with the Roxul? What exactly were you building. I'm thinking of building corner bass traps and a couple of absorbers, but if I can get the Roxul, I think I might just go a bit farther out there, seeing as how it's so cheap!

That lead on the 703 is tits too. I'm going to call them up tomorrow if they're open and see what's going on. I'll post back when I know.

Thanks so much!

Hey David,
I also forgot to ask you how much you paid for the Roxul per sq/ft. (for the 2x4'... you earlier stated the price for 16" width.)
Also, what was the model number he used?
Thanks,
zach

The Roxul was around $22 a bag with tax etc.

Please keep in mind that they are not distributors and that their main business is installation. So bluntly put - they make the real money on installation for industrial, commercial and residential fire safety and insulation jobs.

They make peanuts on selling us Roxul. So, given the availability and the general good pricing if you speak to Javier at Accurate Firestop keep this in mind cause he can't go any lower then he is going on this material. He is great and really helpful... so hopefully you can find what you need.

I am building out my garage as a studio/mix and composing room and using Roxul for all the walls and ceilings. I got 14 bags and that should cover what I need. Will use rigid in my acoustical treatments. But, not at that bridge yet - too busy knocking walls together and measuring measuring measuring things...

Best Regards,

David

I was just quoted $1.09 sf for 703 here in Nashville. Heads up...OC is bumping up the price of 703 again in January, so buy it now.

Arronw, (or other folks in or around Nashville) We just moved here to the Lebanon area (east of Nashville 20 miles) and were going to build a project studio here over our 3 car garage, space will be about 24x40 with 9 or 10' ceilings.. so, I'm going to be looking for places to pick up materials once I get the building up.. so, if you can send me some places to purchase the materials that would be appreciated.. I posted a note on SPI in Nashville.. perhaps that is where you have sourced yours.. let me know if you will please.

Dave

David,
I wound up talking to Javier also and got 6 bags of the 6" AFB, about $20 a bag, as you said. I like the stuff-- it's not as firm as fiberglass, but it doesn't have any kind of smell and specs out wayyy better than the 703, plus it's pennies compared to any fiberglass that I was being quoted (though the price kind of evened itself out as I had to rent a uhaul van to pick it up over in Hayward, which cost me about $80... wish I had friends with trucks.).

Anyway, I'm drawing up the blueprints for these absorbers now. Got a gigantic load of lumber last night and plan on making four 6'x2' corner traps, as well as a bunch of 2'x4' absorbers. 6" material and this many absorbers was an overkill, yes, but as I get into continually larger and larger spaces I think these will migrate well, plus I can use them as gobos since I'm not permanently affixing them to the walls.

Anyway, thanks for your help. I hope that your project is going along as planned.

-zach