Question about soundproof wall

[littlewood]

Maybe someone here knows whether a log cabin, or simply a room made out of wood but without any openings whatsoever could be soundproof, in that if you scream will the sound pass through the wall made out of logs? I heard a woman screaming through the concrete wall, so does that mean that I could hear her screaming even better if the wall were made out of wood? And which wood? I need this information for a riddle, where scenario takes place in a log cabin without openings of any kind, so if someone here knows the answer I would appreciate it.

[Cuzme]

Originally Posted by littlewood

Maybe someone here knows whether a log cabin, or simply a room made out of wood but without any openings whatsoever could be soundproof, in that if you scream will the sound pass through the wall made out of logs? I heard a woman screaming through the concrete wall, so does that mean that I could hear her screaming even better if the wall were made out of wood? And which wood? I need this information for a riddle, where scenario takes place in a log cabin without openings of any kind, so if someone here knows the answer I would appreciate it.

This is fun. What's the riddle?

[littlewood]

Cheers Cuzme. Here is the riddle:


Somebody knocked you down, and you lost consciousness. A voice of a man, who is standing near you and pointing AK-47 at you, slowly wakes you up: "Scumbag... Scumbag... Scumbag... Scumbag! As you can see, you are inside a log cabin, but there are no openings of any kind, no gaps whatsoever, so with every breath you take you have less and less oxygen, but more and more of the beautiful carbon dioxide. I, unlike you, have a compressed-air bottle on my back, and a teleportation device on my belt. Yes, a crazy scientist, Albert Veinstein, invented this wonderful device, that can get me out of here, but it wont help you, because I am a selfish person, in that I do not share things – I keep them to myself. There is nothing else in the cabin that could be of interest to you, except for a pencil, pack of cigarettes, Pepsi can and the Bible on the floor behind you. I will give you a chance to leave, if we can call it a chance at all: if you can get anything out of the cabin by yourself, you are free to go. So, pig's behind, unless you throw, say, the Bible through the wall, you are going to suffocate in about an hour, because that is how much oxygen I have left just in you honor, if we disregard, of course, my compressed-air bottle. If you, somehow, miraculously succeed to get out of this, I will teleport us both out of here and you are free to go. And I want you to know, that I am there for you 24 hours a day, or should I say, the whole hour you have to live." After saying his peace, you hear him laughing at you for 15 seconds. So, can you get out of this, or is this a puzzle without the actual solution? H'm...

[Cheeky Monkey]

I don't think log construction, in and of itself even without openings could be made totally soundproof or airproof. I live in a log house, with windows and doors that I built myself. I can't speak about sound, but I believe I'm correct in saying that although some heat (air) loss occurs through the thickness of the solid log, as much or maybe more occurs as heated air travels along the length of the log through it's fibres/air pockets and out the ends of the log. Either way, air/sound will penetrate the wall. Perhaps application of proper soundproofing material can make it totally soundproof, but like I said, just the log itself will not make it so, IMO.

[littlewood]

This was helpful Cheeky Monkey, I mean, it makes sense.

[Mindcore]

I dunno, I guess if any part of this was reality, I have to think I could widdle thru the chinking with a pencil, which wouldn't be much more then a couple inches and then shove a page from the bible, or even the pencil thru the hole.

If you're saying you can get your voice outside of the building, it just says its a sealed cabin, doesnt say its soundproof

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

so does that mean that I could hear her screaming even better if the wall were made out of wood? And which wood?

Impossible to tell. Look, Transmission Loss through assemblies is a science. Thats why they test assemblies. A concrete wall is a ONE LEAF.....ONE Mass system. A residential wall, with a drywall leaf, an airgap(stud cavity), and another drywall leaf , is called a M_A M system, whch stands for MASS-AIR-MASS. IT is a TWO LEAF system. The BEST bang for the buck system is a TWO LEAF system with the two leafs seperated by a HERMETICALLY SEALED airgap, with one leaf physically DECOUPLED from the other. Your "log cabin" wall is a ONE LEAF system. At what frequency, and db profile it allows transmission to occur is impossible to determine without tests. This means, EVERY species normally associated with "log cabin" construction would have to be tested in a testing LAB as a WALL assembly, with a size, thickness, sealants(between logs), species, and log diameter, SPECIFIED BY A ASTM STANDARD. PERIOD. This would give you a rating. But since this is a ONE leaf system, designers who understand acoustical tests, would laugh. You see, since the weakest point would be where the logs touch, there must be a seal. It is THERE, that transmission would occur the easiest. Not the LOG.
fitZ

[gullfo]

also consider this - do you need sound proofing or acoustic treatment? if you're out in the woods and no one is bothered, and the noise levels outside are not a problem for your recording, then why bother soundproofing? otoh, if you need to make the log cabin sound good, then you'll want to do acoutic treatments that even out the room... if the bass is escaping from your cabin because of lack of soundproofing, then you won't need much in the way of bass traps... :-)