no John...1/4?

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terrible_buddhi

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Found a place to get 60 duro 1/4 inch neoprene...is this acceptable? I know we usually call for 1/2 inch to float floors...is is ok to double up?
 
Sure, just contact cement the two pieces together. The weight won't let it go far, but gluing to the bottom of the floor joist won't hurt either.

Not sure when John's site will return, just emailed him and Peter... Steve
 
Had NOT seen that, cool link Keith - (it is keith, right? I'm horrible with names, too much other crap floating around in there) If you want to save some, you could get a bucket load of those 1/8" thick, 40 duro 4" squares for 11 cents each, glue 4 together with contact cement for each pad, and just put them a bit closer together to compensate for the slightly softer rubber (like about 2 feet x 16" or thereabouts) including the glue, you'd be looking at about 20 cents per square foot for floating, pretty reasonable.

Actually, just figured pricing per 4" square based on their 1/4" stuff and it's about the same, less gluing but more cutting, and you could put them further apart (60 duro instead of 40) - I'd go with the 1/4", it would actually be cheaper and better... Steve
 
hey knight...shot you a pm on johns site, but figured I would try here too...

I got the 1/4 60 dur. neoprene in...what spacing should I use on it? (is it necessary to double it)

Tips for cutting it?
 
Here's something you might have laying around. I bought it at the Home Depot but you can get it at many other places as well.
 

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actually it will be easier for you to cut it up in pieces .... 1/2" duro60 is haaaaaaaaard to cut!
 
its only 1/4 60 duro (not that it makes it EASY to cut) But is a box cutter a good idea?
 
the other thing is, do I need to glue it together to make 1/2 inch...or is 1/4 inch going to be ok...then...what spacing to they need to be on the boards?
 
Terrible, I usually clamp the stuff between two straight boards and cut it with a razor knife, takes a couple or three passes. It helps to keep the blade sharp, and to put a little downward pressure on the part of the rubber that's sticking out between the boards, this puts tension on it and allows the blade to cut deeper. Don't EVER put your fingers AHEAD of the blade's direction of cut when applying this downward pressure though - some guitar chords take all TEN fingers to play right :=)

You'll want to double up the 1/4" for floors, you don't ever want it to "bottom out" - I'd use ordinary contact cement, and glue the two pieces of rubber together and to the bottoms of the joists.

Spacing is another story - depends on a combination of whether joists are on edge or flat, what size the joists are, and how much weight (total, including any walls that are floated on top of the floor) - I posted a way to determine all this (case by case basis) on John's site some time back -

http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=839&start=0

Casenpoint, I've seen those, but didn't check to see if they spec the durometer hardness or not. I've also seen posts where people have used cut up horse mats - those 4' x 6' x 1" thick mats you can get at tack shops and farm supply places - I have one of those I cut in two for anti-fatique mats in front of a couple of workbenches, but I feel like they're maybe too thick for floating floors. Too much thickness, and you take the risk of resonance making things WORSE instead of better.

I've talked to Jeff Szymanski, head acoustics engineer of Auralex about their "U-boats" - they are made of EPDM rubber, which he stated has longer life than Neoprene (about 10 years for neoprene, around 25 or more for EPDM) - If I remember correctly, the Duro was the same (60) but their site doesn't go into spacing other than to list one size fits all.

I haven't gotten an answer back from him on how that's possible, I'm thinking at this point that it's a matter of product liability - they may be more concerned with structural failure through too high a point loading than they are about acoustic performance. Not sure. That's the cool thing about life - as long as there's more of it left, there's more to learn...

Anyway, check out that link above - I doubt I've learned much more on that particular subject since, but I may have missed something... Steve
 
so would making the pucks about 2.5 inches be about right? Then Joise Space at 24" OC, and a puck @ every 24".
 
That spacing should work OK - BTW, I didn't suggest a "box cutter", but a "razor knife" - maybe "utility knife" would be a better term. I'm talking about the heavy duty home-owner utility knives that use a trapezoidal shaped razor blade and have a full-size, thicker handle. Stanley is one brand of these.

I've tried the "box cutter" lightweight sleeve-type standar razor blade holders, and you're right - they're NOT up to the job... Steve
 
I actually meant the same thing...sort of generic term to me :)
 
Yeah, me too til I tried doing some heavier duty jobs with the thin handle and the blades pulling halfway out or breaking off - that's why I clarified that. Didn't want anyone getting hurt trying to use those wimpy ones for this particular job... Steve
 
I actually bought a really nice one some time back when I was doing insulation in my house...a poor knife like that is not only dangerous...they just plain suck to work with.
 
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