Industrial Soundproofing FAQs

Industrial Machine Noise Control

Q:    We have two areas that are in need of sound proofing. The first will be a small room, approximately 12 ft x 15 ft and will host five noisy wire braiding machines. This room will not normally have occupants during machine operation. The second room is very large and hosts about 15 electronic test stands. Due to the room size we have what amounts to a giant echo chamber. We will have technicians in this room during equipment operation. We recently purchased some sound proofing material for our generator shop. To be very honest it is less than esthetically appealing and looks like a 5 year old installed it. We did the installation but there was no way to match the pattern from one tile to another. The two rooms mentioned above are in a brand new facility and will have a constant flow of visitors. It must look good. What can you offer in the way of sound-proofing materials to support our efforts?

A:    Without knowing the construction of the walls it's hard to give a 100% answer but I can give you some guidelines. Soundproofing the smaller room with the wire braiding machines shouldn't be a problem. Use Acoustic Vinyl Barrier nailed or screwed on the wall with a covering of drywall. This will soundproof the room. Soundproofing means that the sound will not go through the walls into another room. Here is one of our web pages which describes the material and includes more specific installation instructions:

www.soundprooffoam.com/quiet-barrier.html

From your description I think the larger room does not need soundproofing, I suspect you need to cut down on the noise within the room which is different. Assuming that, take a look at two materials we offer for absorbing sound and reducing echo.

The first is Echo Eliminator:

www.soundprooffoam.com/echo_eliminator.html

The second is called Sound Silencer:

www.soundprooffoam.com/sound_silencer.html

Both of these materials absorb a lot of sound, and have very good fire ratings. The Sound Silencer material has the advantage that it does not absorb liquids and can be easily cleaned. Either material can be glued directly to the wall or hung as a baffle.

The thing to remember is that soundproofing or sound blocking is used to reduce sound transmitted from one area or room to another and sound absorption is used to reduce noise within a room or area.