drywall alternatives for wall

[dr_penner]

Hi, everyone.

I am soon to be putting up the inside layers of drywall on my wall frames. The framing is staggered stud design that has 2 layers of 5/8" drywall on the outside.

I would like to have the inside layers be: one layer of drywall and one layer of something else. The principle I'm appealing to is that dissimilar materials will limit the transmission of sound thru the wall.

The question is "what other material?"

Some options that I have heard of:
1) MDF (seems too heavy in the store)
2) Celotex soundboard
3) ???

What should I consider?

Kurt Penner

 

[John Sayers]

You could sandwich a layer of fibreboard in between a 5/8" and 1/2" sheets of drywall.

cheers
JOhn

 

[Doug H]

There's this green flaky stuff called sonopan that's pretty cheap. I used it to build baffles because it was accessible. It's supposed to be a decent sound insulator, but it's more for general construction than audio applications I think. May be worth a look.

 

[dr_penner]

John,

I hate to show my ignorance but what exactly is fiberboard? I mean MDF is medium density fiberboard but it feels like extremely dense heavy wood. There's also this stuff that my father-in-law calls "buffalo board" that feels like rough cardboard and can be broken easily with a sharp object. Tends to shred and leave a powder in the air. Seems very similar to that Celotex Soundstop to me. Any variations on "fiberboard" out there?

Kurt Penner

You could sandwich a layer of fibreboard in between a 5/8" and 1/2" sheets of drywall.

cheers
JOhn

 

[laptoppop]

In the context of reducing sound transmission, heavy is good. More mass means more sound reduction. I believe a layer of MDF combined with a layer of gypsum wallboard will give you much better isolation than two layers of gypsum.

-lee-