Glass or rock wool

L

LeadPaint

New member
Just moved in with my girlfriend and acoustics here are horrible, it's like I'm in a bathroom all the time. I want to treat the walls with slabs of mineral wool, cover them with thin fabric and mount them in such a way that there is some space between the slabs and the wall. A local DIY store has glass wool in 4.5cm / 1.7" and 8cm / 3.15" slabs and rock wool in 4.5cm slabs. Don't know whether these are thick enough, but I could put two slabs together.
Which material is most suitable, glass or rock wool?
 
And read a bit further. Fiberglass insulation is usually best for open spaces. Like filling a wall or ceiling then covering with a cloth. Rockwool or the more expensive Owens Corning 703 or 705 for corner traps or absorption panels. Even that is debated. The size of your room, and how much space you are willing/able to lose comes into play here as well.
 
Go for the rockwool and double up the slab thickness. Build wood frames so you can staple. Harbor Freight & Tools has a small stapler (with 1000s of staples included) for about $8.
 
mjbphotos said:
Go for the rockwool and double up the slab thickness. Build wood frames so you can staple. Harbor Freight & Tools has a small stapler (with 1000s of staples included) for about $8.
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I'm not sure there is a Harbor Freight in that side of the world. :(

Dood is not from round here...

Go with what you have available LP. Just make sure to research what is best for the situation.
 
Jens Eklund said:
Both can work. It's the flow resistivity in conjunction with depth that determines what is best suited for a given scenario and need: Multi-layer Absorber Calculator
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This is way too complicated for me :p

jimmys69 said:
And read a bit further. Fiberglass insulation is usually best for open spaces. Like filling a wall or ceiling then covering with a cloth. Rockwool or the more expensive Owens Corning 703 or 705 for corner traps or absorption panels. Even that is debated. The size of your room, and how much space you are willing/able to lose comes into play here as well.
Click to expand...
mjbphotos said:
Go for the rockwool and double up the slab thickness. Build wood frames so you can staple. Harbor Freight & Tools has a small stapler (with 1000s of staples included) for about $8.
Click to expand...
The Rockwool for sale in my local DIY store has a density of 46kg/m3 or 2.9lb/ft3, I guess that's a bit light but I hope it's good enough. Can't find any such information about the glass wool.

jimmys69 said:
I'm not sure there is a Harbor Freight in that side of the world. :(

Dood is not from round here...

Go with what you have available LP. Just make sure to research what is best for the situation.
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This side of the world lacks those stores indeed, but I just found they sell staple guns here for only €10 anyway, so going with a wooden frame and staple the fabric is doable. I thought those things were much more expensive.
 
LeadPaint said:
This is way too complicated for me :p



The Rockwool for sale in my local DIY store has a density of 46kg/m3 or 2.9lb/ft3, I guess that's a bit light but I hope it's good enough. Can't find any such information about the glass wool.


This side of the world lacks those stores indeed, but I just found they sell staple guns here for only €10 anyway, so going with a wooden frame and staple the fabric is doable. I thought those things were much more expensive.
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You guys have an OBI (I think, they are in Germany for sure), they would have what you need. It should be a heavy duty stapler. Just to be clear.
 
DM60 said:
You guys have an OBI (I think, they are in Germany for sure), they would have what you need. It should be a heavy duty stapler. Just to be clear.
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Do you think I should keep looking for a heavier rock wool, is that why you suggest an OBI? I don't live too far from Germany, so it's a possibility.
 
LeadPaint said:
Do you think I should keep looking for a heavier rock wool, is that why you suggest an OBI? I don't live too far from Germany, so it's a possibility.
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That was for the type of stapler. Since there are the types that is for paper and that is not what they are talking about. Go to a home improvement store to get the stapler. I though OBI was a European Chain.

The rock wool, that question is a bit more complex. But thickness matters, but also how far you place them away from the wall, where, etc matters. Don't over think it. Look to get bass traps to control the lower end and treat the upper end as required.

What I have read here (I'm not an expert and I too am learning) is, controlling the bass is the most problematic, highs are easy to control and easy to over control. Do the lows, by treating the corners from top to bottom, side to side. For the highs place at reflective points. Go from there. If you have issues still with the sound, than make the adjustment. You can always reuse the rock wool is you need to correct. So, you won't waste it no matter what.

The main thing as I understand, it is hard to over do the bass traps. Too much is usually not too much.
 
DM60 said:
That was for the type of stapler. Since there are the types that is for paper and that is not what they are talking about. Go to a home improvement store to get the stapler. I though OBI was a European Chain.

The rock wool, that question is a bit more complex. But thickness matters, but also how far you place them away from the wall, where, etc matters. Don't over think it. Look to get bass traps to control the lower end and treat the upper end as required.

What I have read here (I'm not an expert and I too am learning) is, controlling the bass is the most problematic, highs are easy to control and easy to over control. Do the lows, by treating the corners from top to bottom, side to side. For the highs place at reflective points. Go from there. If you have issues still with the sound, than make the adjustment. You can always reuse the rock wool is you need to correct. So, you won't waste it no matter what.

The main thing as I understand, it is hard to over do the bass traps. Too much is usually not too much.
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Thanks for your response. OBI is an European chain indeed but they aren't the Netherlands. We have other chains, probably pretty much the same.

The €10 stapler I mentioned is a staple gun, not an office type stapler.

You mention treating the corners. I was actually thinking to start with the walls, because first of all I want to get rid of the bathroom like reverberation I have here. If I make 9cm / 3.5" thick absorbers, with some space between the slabs and the walls, wouldn't that be somewhat full range, also absorbing quite a bit of mid and high frequencies?
 
LeadPaint said:
Thanks for your response. OBI is an European chain indeed but they aren't the Netherlands. We have other chains, probably pretty much the same.

The €10 stapler I mentioned is a staple gun, not an office type stapler.

You mention treating the corners. I was actually thinking to start with the walls, because first of all I want to get rid of the bathroom like reverberation I have here. If I make 9cm / 3.5" thick absorbers, with some space between the slabs and the walls, wouldn't that be somewhat full range, also absorbing quite a bit of mid and high frequencies?
Click to expand...

You can to start there and work it out. Make a few, listen, add more, add less. But, and you will hear/read this from the experts around here, your sub frequencies will be a problem. My layman's understanding is, since the subs have so much energy, they are the hardest to reduce.

Maybe low issues will show up to you after your highs have been tamed.
 
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