My husband is starting to develop the basement of our new home. His 1st project is a bsmt. bedroom. Should he insulate between the ceiling and the drywall as a sound barrier? I think he should. The same should apply when he does the rec room as well right? By the way we moved here from Thunder Bay, Ont. a year ago and used to listen to you on 580 CKPR all the time. What station are you on in Calgary AB? You are excellent!
Answer:
I'm afraid in Calgary, you can only get us at www.cfra.com and in time I hope to see past shows on there too.
Two points I have to make here and I don't know if either of them agrees with either of you but these are the systems I've found most agreeable: Sound proofing a wall or ceiling, I’ve found, is best done by creating a sandwich with lots of bulk. I apply 5/8” gypsum board (roughly taped, jointed and sanded) to the studs or joists and then 7/8” sound absorbing fibrous panel manufactured for the purpose. On top of that, I apply resilient channel and then another layer of 5/8” gypsum board. This time the gypsum board is properly taped jointed and sanded.
When insulating any below-grade masonry wall it is best to build (in place) a 2X4 structure with studs 16" O.C. and pull it an inch and a half from the wall in order to accommodate R-20 fibre insulation bats without compressing them. The insulation actually goes from the sub-flooring above to within eight inches of the concrete floor and the 6mm polyethylene vapour barrier goes two inches lower so it can be pinched and stapled to each side of each stud. This keeps the insulation bats from sliding down and at the same time, the system avoids a lot of condensation problems. It also permits a bit of heat loss to the drainage tile along the exterior perimeter of the footings. In areas where frost is a problem, it is important that drainage at this point not be impeded.
