[Greenbuilding] second floor wood floor over insulation layer - questions

Reuben Deumling 9watts at gmail.com
Tue Dec 11 11:37:06 CST 2012


Thanks, John. That is wonderfully detailed. I shall ponder this and see how
much of that I can do here. When I get closer I'm sure I'll have another
question or two.

On Mon, Dec 10, 2012 at 10:21 PM, John Salmen <terrain at shaw.ca> wrote:

> Any mechanical connection (screws, nails) transmits sound – also anything
> rigid (sleepers, framing blocking, plumbing etc.) so you are best off
> floating the next floor assembly and building on top of it (as is done
> commercially). ****
>
> ** **
>
> What you are trying to do is convert sound energy into heat basically. So
> materials that absorb and reduce the transfer of sound by interfering with
> it (reducing vibration). Layers of dissimilar material can work much
> better. Initially I would look at something like a cork layer adhered to
> the hemlock decking with acoustic sealant and then a layer of foam adhered
> with acoustic sealant to the cork followed by a layer of drywall (cheap and
> the weight holds down the foam and cork. I would then laminate ¾ sheathing
> to that with acoustic sealant – I might even consider two layers of thinner
> particle board sheathing with acoustic sealant between (changing the
> orientation of the sheets between layers). The acoustic sealant (vapour
> barrier sealant) is key as it doesn’t ever set or harden so allows each
> material to float reducing transfer of energy by vibration. ****
>
> ** **
>
> The assembly has to be thick enough to isolate nail penetration of the
> flooring above which usually sticks through the sheathing by ¼ to ½ “.
> Floor plates for walls should ideally be glued with minimal nailing or use
> a gasket – don’t let wall drywall touch the floor (its not just the floor
> think of the room as a giant speaker – compressing some insul batts along
> the floor line in walls – anything that can absorb sound from the room
> before it hits the floor). Edges of the floor sheathing should be isolated
> from touching the exterior walls. Everything has to float like a boat. The
> nails through the oak flooring into the sheathing will hold everything in
> plane.****
>
> ** **
>
> I would look at the weight of that assembly see if it worked with the
> floor structure and the budget and then tinker with it. Dissimilar
> materials in layers that both provide both high density for absorption and
> low density for isolation.****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* Greenbuilding [mailto:
> greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] *On Behalf Of *Reuben
> Deumling
> *Sent:* December-10-12 5:46 PM
> *To:* Greenbuilding
> *Subject:* [Greenbuilding] second floor wood floor over insulation layer
> - questions****
>
> ** **
>
> I'm going to be remodeling a two-storey house where 1/2 of the upstairs
> will become a ~ 600 sq ft apartment. To that end I'm planning to add a
> layer of something  to the floor (in between the existing decking and
> future finished floor) for both sound and thermal insulation. All that is
> there now is 2x6 T&G Hemlock decking. I want to install an oak floor above
> the insulation but have not done this before and am curious to hear your
> suggestions.
>
> The only thing I've come up with so far is rigid foam with T&G plywood on
> top screwed through the insulation?
>
> Thanks very much. ****
>
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