Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Creative Common House Soundproofing?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

on 10/18/2002 8:21 AM, lpoley at lpoley [at] vt.edu wrote:

> We are building our common house and are trying to decide on our sound
> proofing plan for the dining area. We have a high ceiling and will have wood
> floors so we clearly need some help here.  Has anyone done any soundproofing
> on the ceilings or walls of their dining area that is both aestheiticly
> creative AND effective?  We were thinking about doing slung canvas sound
> proofing on the ceiling or perhaps using large (home-made) quilted panels and
> arranging them in an interesting way so they make up a kind of huge quilt in
> the ceiling. We were also wondering if hanging quilts as art along the walls
> would help with soundproofing.  Any ideas or feedback on these ideas?

The person who did our acoustical study using bazaar sounds made by strange
black boxes and measured on meters had previously measured quilts in a
synagogue. His verdict was that a quilt with 2 inches of Dacron behind it
was as effective as a fiberglass panel. Later investigations suggest hanging
the Dacron in one fabric covered bag 1/2 inch from the wall and the quilt in
front of that. Then the quilt can be easily cleaned and the Dacron just
recovered in inexpensive fabric (like old sheets).

The Dacron used is NOT the standard quilt batting which is thin and light,
but the Dacron used for padding furniture. It is very inexpensive.

We are working on rope hangings made from donated yarn and yarns purchased
in lots on ebay. The technique is like finger crochet, easily done by
children as young as 10 but best for teens+. We think this will be as
acoustically effective as the quilt + Dacron. We are also doing a quilt but
only one. People do not want to feel as if they are walking into a quilt
show.

Any one allowing any architect to  build a two story dining room without
acoustical treatment EVERYWHERE is really asking for trouble. Ours said the
bulletin boards would do the job. Not even close.

Sharon
-- 
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org


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