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strange insulation question

12 years ago

We are building a second story atop our ranch house, and have discovered that, but for a small area, there is no insulation on our main level.

Since all our siding will be open during the building process, contractor wants to insulate downstairs, as upstairs needs to be insulated as per code.

The small area that DOES have insulation was probably done in the mid 1960's, and is R-3 insulation. Contractor says it's not worth keeping, as present day insulation is far more effective.

Separate from this, I have a bee in my bonnet, that I must have 2 interior walls insulated for sound reduction. 1. The wall between my bedroom and the kitchen (teenagers entertaining all night, and all), and 2.the wall between the bathroom and my daughter's bedroom (does she need to hear the water running and toilet flushing?)

TO reduce costs, I asked Mr Contractor if he could salvage the old R-3 stuff, since it would be used for a different purpose, and doesn't have to be "top of the line".

He said he wasn't sure R-3 would give adequate sound protection either.

What do you think? As you can tell by my username, I'm clueless!!

Thanx.

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Comments (5)

User
12 years ago
Will the interior walls be open anyway? Filling the interior walls with regular insulation will help a little for sound especially where outlets are back to back in the same stud bay but it won't be anything impressive. For better sound separation you need additional wall board tight to the old finish or mounted with resilient channels or GreenGlue, etc.

I can't imagine what kind of insulation would have an R value of only 3 even from the 60's. That would be about an inch of fiberglass. I never saw anything like that in the 60's. Does it fill a 2x4 cavity?

Without knowing what the material is I guess the best answer is put the old stuff in but don't expect sound reduction that you would actually notice. If there is a door in a wall it will serve no practical purpose to insulate it with any kind of insulation.
energy_rater_la
12 years ago
Probably R-11 3" thick
salvage..or new?
I'd go new
batt insulation isn't expensive
and you can get high denisty R-15 for
2x4 walls.
granted insulation doesn't 'show' but
it saves you money.
you either pay for it upfront or
every month for not having it.

bee in bonnet about sound insulation?
friction fit batts (with no vapor barrier)
will reduce sound. not as well as costlier
products and or installs but if cost is
a factor (thus the bee) check out friction fit
batts.

best of luck
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clueless_70
Original Author
12 years ago
oops, my bad. It's R-7, not R-3.

Now I'm hearing that sound insulation is different from thermal insulation anyway. And if I don't insulate the ceiling also, the sound will find a way to travel into my room.

Anyone think the whole thing is just not worth the bother??
worthy
12 years ago
Throw away the old insulation. And even if you can't bear that thought, new fg batts 3.5-4" thick in 2x4 walls yield a reduction in sound over standard walls to STC (Sound Transmission Class)-32-34 vs. STC-30, according to the North American Insulation Manufacturer's Association, citing the federal National Research Council of Canada. And that's with sealed floor plates. (See link.)

NAIMA claims this is a "clearly noticeable" reduction. However, standard texts note the difference between STC-30 and STC-35 is that loud speech is heard but not intelligible with the higher STC.

I certainly never noticed any difference when I've added fg alone to a wall cavity.

Here is a link that might be useful: Noise Control

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