Insulting a stud wall?

[macadonald]

Hi guys,

Built a new stud wall framework for a partition wall over the weekend and have boarded one side of it. Before I board the other side, is it best practice to put insulation in the gaps? If so, what is best? A dense foam or rockwool type stuff?

I'd like decent sound insulation.

I will later be doing the same to a bathroom wall, which will hold the necessary plumbing from the loft. What insulation can be placed against the copper pipes?

Thanks

 

[mointainwalker]

Dense fibre-wool is the best sound insulation. I have found that compression 2:1 i.e. 100 mm into 50 mm cavity is the max i can achieve and then put the panel on top.

If you are looking for the best possible solution, you can the either fit two overlapping layers of plasterboard or layers of Soundblok plasterboard.

No reason not to do exactly the same with the bathroom, except that your choice of board should be determined by how much water/moisture it will have to withstand i.e. is it part of a shower or just a wall without any direct spray/splash.

 

[Richard C]

Sound insulation between a room with a w/c & a habitable room is actually a B/regs. requirement now. Several ways of achieving the minimum requirements;
Two layers of standard wall board as already mentioned; using “Wallboard 10” as opposed to standard PB, or 12.5mm “Soundblock” board (but I usually use 15mm). Additionally, a minimum of 25mm mineral wool insulation inside the stud; I use 4” cavity wall insulation bats. This will meet minimum requirements but you can go even further by having ½ width, opposing studs/noggins (with a gap between them) instead of one full width stud/noggin; this prevents noise being transmitted from one side to the other.

If running pipe work inside, I fit standard foam collar pipe insulation around the pipe as well, this helps reduce water noise & avoids heating up the wall.

 

[Deluks]

Call it a ****!

 

[macadonald]

Call it a ****!

lol.. took me a while to figure out what you meant.. My mistake

 

[Nige F]

Call it impotent - the biggest insult to a Stud

 

[macadonald]

LOL...

Sorry I left this for a while, but I have now built the stud walls with noggins and boarded one side. Firstly, is mineral wool, the same as rock wool that you can buy in big rolls for the loft at B&Q?

Secondly, how on earth am I goign to get 2:1 density shoved in there (140mm into 70mm gap and get the board on? Only thought about this yesterday, but I can't figure out how i would pack it tight into all the fifferent spaces between studs and noggins and hold it there while I get the board on?

Should I use tape or something with small nails? or can you buy a netting?

Thanks

 

[Richard C]

Firstly, is mineral wool, the same as rock wool that you can buy in big rolls for the loft at B&Q?
Secondly, how on earth am I goign to get 2:1 density shoved in there -140mm into 70mm gap and get the board on?

Where did you get that from?

Additionally, a minimum of 25mm mineral wool insulation inside the stud; I use 4” cavity wall insulation bats.

I wouldn't use loft insulation.

and hold it there while I get the board on? Should I use tape or something with small nails? or can you buy a netting?

I use adhesive spray.

 

[HH1]

For sound insulation use "Heavy Density Insulation" not the normal "loft" type on a roll.

 

[mointainwalker]

Normal loft insulation contains a lot of air: if you squeeze it out, you can reduce the thickness by up tp 50%. The added mass is of use to absorb sound.

For sound insulation use "Heavy Density Insulation" not the normal "loft" type on a roll.

You can do as above but you will pay significantly for doing so.

Sound-absorbent quilt is the same basic material as insulation but compressed and stiffened. If you compress it yourself, not only will you save yourself the premium that stores put on "speciality" products, you will also benefit from the subsidies being paid by the energy-manufacturers, which will, I'm sure, not be available on sound-insulating products.

When I put 100 mm into a 50 mm cavity I simply used the pb to compress the quilt which was hanging in place and screwed it into position immediately.

 

[HH1]

TBH mountainwalker haven't tried that method.

May give it a go in the future to see how effective it is compared with heavy density stuff.
Have you had direct experience of both methods?
Is compressing the normal insulation giving good, or as good as, results?

Agreed on the price side of things, a 1.2 meter width roll of insulation can be purchased for about £2.50 (SSE) or £3.00 (npower)
Search "DIY Loft Insulation"

 

[macadonald]

Guys,

Sorry to carry on anbd thanks for the responses so far, very informative. Was at the buiulding suppliers yesterday arvo and looking at products. As the insulation slabs are the same price as kingspan, surely with kingspan being much more dense, packing these into the gaps in the stud wall would be best?

I have used 75mm studs, and was thinking of wedging in 50mm kingspan?

What you think?

 

[Nige F]

Blimey you`re getting into the science of acoustics now From what I read about hi-fi and record decks , I would guess that kingspan would reflect more sound than the other stuff - so @ the same price .....That`s one of my hobbies - old vinyl and old amps etc. set in a retro 60s /art deco furnitre and decor scheme Always looking for quirky items

 

[ajrobb]

Kingspan (PIR) is a closed-cell foam so cannot absorb sound.

 

[mointainwalker]

The diffuse mass of the fibre-wool wil allow it to absorb sound, the hard flat surface of the kingspan wil reflect it.

@HH1

Sorry cannot give any comparative answers. Decided to do it this way when I looked up the specs for the insulating vs sound-proofing materials and noticed that the latter were two to two and a half times greater in kg.m2 than the insulation.

Squashing the wool gives another advantage. The the wool is compressed directly against the plasterboard and this makes the wall feel more solid, which I like.