You hear the words, they don’t make them like they used to quite often. A lot of the time people will compare their older products to the new “improved” versions only to find the quality has gone down. Companies are always trying to reduce their bottom line even at the expense of creating an inferior product for the consumer. The construction industry is no different. Many homes created in the modern era will have all the bells and whistles when it comes to cosmetic appeal but what about the attributes not visible to the naked eye?
Living in close proximity to other people, family or neighbors, you will begin to realize that sound can carry throughout a building very easily even in homes built in the last decade. Noise travels through standard drywall because it does a horrible job dampening sound waves. Since drywall is attached directly to the house frame, sound waves that come in contact with a wall in one room will simply vibrate and carry the sound to the next adjacent room while providing little reduction in noise. Fixing that problem isn’t rocket science! The solution is easy, Hat Channels.
Walls failing to reduce incoming noise can be fixed by adding aluminum hat channels throughout your drywall with equal distance between each. Used in conjunction with furring strips which run vertically to the ceiling and floor and attaching each hat channel at a perpendicular angle, can help reduce the vibrations throughout a wall. Further noise reduction can be provided by attaching the hat channels to the furring strips using isolating sound clips such as “whisper clips” which will increase the sound dampening effect on vibrations that would normally travel through typical drywall. Adding sound absorbing material such as specialized insulations between the hat channels creates a solid cushion of sound dampening greatness that’s sure quiet the noisiest of neighbors.
Creating sound reducing walls can help greatly in a house with large quantities of people and pets making the house seem less crowded than it would normally feel. You can further work on sound dampening a ceiling (and floor if on an upper story) to create a theater room that will not disturb other individuals in your house that don’t happen to be participating in the media viewing fun. If you’re in the market for hat channels and other aluminum based products you can find everything you need at eagle-aluminum, the experts there can answer any and all your questions.
