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	IES 2000			IES Residential Noise control

IES 2000 In Home Noise and Sound Control Systems

IES engineers design and install simple and cost effective sound and vibration control systems that limit exposure to noise and improve the quality of life in your home.

Why do you think they call it noise pollution?

Chances are noise has some kind of effect on your life. And it shouldn't be passed off as an uncontrollable annoyance. Noise can lead to serious physical and psychological problems. Things like hearing loss, stress, high blood pressure, sleep loss, distraction and lost productivity can all be attributed to the negative effects of noise.

Given that noise affects nearly everyone, what can you do about it? Well, that part is easy. Use the IES Noise Control System in your home. If one (or many) of the situations is a noise problem in your home, click to learn about a solution.

Upstairs movement sounds like someone is marching on your head.

Floor/Ceiling
Have you ever tried to get to sleep when someone is watching television or talking loudly in the room above or below you? Then you know how well noise can travel through ceilings and floors. For noise control purposes, ceilings and floors are treated in much the same manner as interior walls.

Install Acoustic Batts between joists before covering with an approved interior material such as gypsum wallboard or ceiling panels. Control floor noise by installing Acousti-Mat and IB 10 NR. The mat installs between the subfloor and floor underlayment to isolate and block noise at the point of impact so it doesn’t travel to adjacent rooms. The acoustic mat guards against foot traffic noise and structural noise such as washers and dryers.

Cars on the street sound more like they’re in your bed room.

The neighbor’s dog, car or lawn mower is a common annoyance in your home.

Exterior Walls

Properly insulating exterior walls not only enhances energy efficiency, but also helps to keep unwanted outdoor noise like traffic and lawn mowers from disrupting your home.

If your project is a new home, or remodeling addition, you have a big opportunity to save energy and control noise by filling the new exterior walls with insulation. For 2x6 stud walls, which allow more insulation because of their extra depth, you can choose either 5 1/2 inch thick R-21, or 6 1/4 inch thick R-19 fiber glass insulation. For walls built of 2x4 studs, the choices are R-15 or R-13, both of which are 3 1/2 inches thick. The choice depends on local codes or the desired R-value of the wall. For an even higher level of effectiveness across a greater spectrum of noise we offer a high density block rock wool.

You have to blast the volume on your stereo or television drown out noise from your laundry room.

You flush a toilet or water is running, it sounds like a waterfall flowing through your walls.

Laundry rooms are typically where you find two of your home's noisiest appliances - the washer and dryer. The key is to contain the noise from the appliances within the room and prevent sound waves from being transmitted throughout the house.

Outlets

Much like when insulating your home for thermal performance, attention to detail makes all the difference in controlling noise. Even the smallest oversights can result in the transmission of unwanted sound from room to room.

Use Acoustic Sealant to fill holes or gaps around outlets and switches. Holes drilled through studs or around pipes or wires running from room to room or floor to floor should also be filled.

It is also recommended that outlets be staggered to further eliminate room-to-room noise.

Plumbing

Washing machines send a lot of water rushing through the pipes in your home. Minimize noise from plumbing pipes and washing machines by isolating noise sources from areas requiring privacy. Reducing noise also requires the proper selection and installation of piping and other laundry room fixtures.

Some other noise-reducing installation recommendations include:

	Isolate all piping from framing and drywall with resilient mounts or hangers to create air chambers and insulate well to eliminate “hammering” noise when turning water on or off.
	Use oversized supply and drain pipes to reduce pressure and minimize flow noise. Insulate all plumbing chase walls.
	Select quiet operating washing machines. Provide vibration isolators where necessary and caulk around fixtures and piping penetrations with Acoustic Sealant.
	Use cast iron waste water lines in place of lightweight plastic pipe to substantially reduce plumbing noise.
	If plastic drain lines must be used, use PVC piping with an exterior layer of ABS then wrap and seal piping with faced insulation.

The rattling of the printer in your home office annoys everyone in the house.

You know the words to all your kid’s favorite songs because you continually hear them through the wall.

Interior Walls

Standard interior walls do little to disrupt the flow of noise from room to room. So how do you block and absorb sound and break the vibration path through interior walls? Install Acoustic Batts inside interior wall cavities. And if you’re building a new home or room, use isolated Acoustic Wall Framing instead of conventional wall framing studs to break up sound waves. When combined with the noise-reducing construction techniques listed below, you'll have the peace and quiet your home office deserves.

Noise-Reducing Construction Techniques:

	Build interior walls with isolated wall framing to break the path of sound vibrations.
	Sound travels easily through air, so don’t leave walls hollow spaces. Install acoustic batts and or high density rock wool to reduce sound transmission between walls.
	Caulk around the perimeter of drywall panels, plumbing fixtures, pipes, windows and wall plates with acoustic sealant
	Caulking with Acoustic Sealant around drywall at the floor, corners and ceiling is recommended to ensure that acoustical gaps from warped or uneven studs are filled. And the flexible caulk will also help to reduce vibration and limit noise transmission.
	Avoid locating electrical outlets or switches back to back.
	Plan interior layouts to stagger doorways.
	Use solid-core doors with threshold and seals for rooms requiring privacy.

Windows

To block outdoor noise, use double-glazed or triple-glazed windows with at least ½-inch air space between the glazings. Non-operable windows typically provide better acoustical performance than operable windows such as casement or awning windows.

Be sure to install window jambs plumb, straight and true. Fill the rough opening gap around the window jamb with insulation and carefully caulk the window frame in place to prevent air and sound leaks. Make sure that window casings are installed flush and tight to the window frame and to the perimeter wall. Also, use Acoustic Sealant on any noticeable gaps.

Doors

To cut down on room-to-room noise transmission, use solid-core doors instead of hollow-core doors. If sound gaskets are used on interior doors, be sure that adequate air return is provided to the room.

Install doorjambs plumb, straight and true. Minimize the gap between the bottom door rail and the threshold or floor. Fill the rough opening gap around the doorjamb with insulation and carefully caulk the doorframe in place with Acoustic Sealant to prevent air and sound leaks.

Make sure that door casings are installed flush and tight to the doorframe and to the perimeter wall. Caulk any noticeable gaps.

Check doorstops to make sure they are set evenly around the doorjamb. When the door is closed, make sure that the door and stop form a tight seam. If gaskets are used, be sure that they seal properly.

When the air or heat kicks on, you get a percussion of bangs and tings.

HVAC Ducts

Don't think air ducts carry noise through your home? Have someone talk near a duct in one room and put your ear to a duct in another room. Chances are you'll hear what they're saying as clear as a bell. Plus, metal ducts have an annoying tendency to "pop" and "ping" - sounds which are also perfectly transmitted throughout the duct system. (For more info follow our HVAC Noise Control Link on the top left of this page.)

Let’s start with what noise is. Simply put, noise is any unwanted sound. So to control noise, we must first understand how sound works.

Sound is produced when a vibrating object causes air particles around it to vibrate. The vibrating air, commonly known as sound waves, acts much like ripples in water - moving and expanding through an area. Sound will always travel through the path of least resistance. Air is the easiest, but sound waves can travel through almost any material in your home.

The best way of controlling noise is using a combination of four techniques – absorb it, block it, break up its path and isolate it.

Absorb and Dampen Absorber products like the Acousti-Foam work to control noise through absorption. The absorption method works by converting sound waves into energy such as heat that is then captured by insulation.		Block Building a continuous barrier that traps or stops air movement greatly reduces airborne sound transmission. IB 10 NR and acoustical sealant reduces noise using the principle of blocking airborne noise paths through cracks, holes or gaps in a wall.
Break Framing in interior and exterior walls, ceilings, floors, and the studs and joists holding them, all allow sound to travel between and through them. Using an acoustically resilient clip in the assembly, which literally breaks up sound waves as they travel through the structure. Also stagger openings such as windows and doors.		Isolate Products like acousti-mat deaden noise and isolate or confine it to the area where it originated.

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