It Feels Like The Beginning Of The End

While the closed cell foam has been going in for a few days, yesterday when we went to the house the place just felt different – like it was the beginning of the end. Fiberglass sound insulation has been put in, and now when you walk through the house you don’t see the guts of the house so much. We’ve got yellowish white walls and either pink or yellow ceilings…

fiberglass sound insulation and closed cell foam

There’s still a little more to do (they missed a few walls – like the one in the picture below), but in general it looks great and it transforms the feeling of the house. Walking through the house is so different now – everything is just quieter and more muted and cozy.

sound insulation in the den

[If you’re wondering, the PVC you see in that wall is the condensation line for the A/C.]

One issue which I thought of just at the right moment was the sound insulation between the rental unit and our unit. When I thought about sound I realized our living room is right above their bedroom. I mentioned it to the contractor who mentioned it to the insulation sub-contractor and an $800 change order later we went with 5″ of open cell foam in the ceiling between the two units.

Open cell foam looks like closed cell foam, but it’s much softer – it feels like a fairly soft foam pillow. While closed cell foam is good at stopping thuddy sounds like someone walking overhead and the bass from a stereo, open cell foam is good over a broader range of sounds. Still, even with the open cell foam you can still hear people talking through the floor, but we still need to put the wood floor on and the ceiling below – that will improve things. I’m temped to put a second layer of drywall with a closed-cell-foamish sound proofing layer between the two layers for even more sound reduction – we’ll see.

So starting next week drywall should be going up pretty quickly. That will transform the house even more.

2 thoughts on “It Feels Like The Beginning Of The End

  1. This is just to wish you merry Xmas and all the best in the New Year … and a light at the end of the tunnel.
    We have moved into our house 2 days ago … sort of had to, as we have sold our condominium flat and had to vacate it by the end of the year. A lot of things remains to be done (minor issues in the interior, such as a few interior doors and built-in furniture, and a LOT on the exterior), everything smells of paint, but it already feels like home – no, it IS home! I wish you reaching such a stage soon 🙂

Leave a Reply to Gryllus - from Prague Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *