Simple steps during construction deliver the joys of peace.

There's a certain kind of mania that sets in during home renovations or new construction, and unless you resist it, you'll probably end up with a much noisier house than you bargained for.

Building sound-resistant construction features into walls and floors seems so insignificant in the heat of construction that it's easy to overlook. But completing the correct sound-dampening details at the right time won't cost much more, yet it adds enormous quiet value. After all, we all like a little peace and quiet.

Interior walls are the most likely area to need extra soundproofing features, and there are a couple of ways you can do this. My favourite starts with the use of staggered stud wall frames. Alternating 2x4 studs on each side of a wider 2x6 top and bottom plate eliminates the continuous extension of wood right through the wall frame that transmits sounds.

Add a layer of soundproofing fibreboard on each face of the structure, followed by 5/8-inch thick drywall and you've got a wall that's almost ready to block sound.

The other detail to keep in mind is proper sealing. The best soundproof walls in the world still let noise through if gaps exist around the edges. Acoustic caulking applied around the edges of drywall sheets before screwing them down lets your wall operate at full sound-blocking efficiency. Acoustic caulking is a thick, non-hardening sealant that comes in conventional caulking tubes. Tape and plaster the drywall joists after the board is up, and you'll get excellent soundproofing results.

Soundproofing floors is another area to remember, though the approach is different. One of the best options is the use of resilient channel underneath ceiling drywall. It's inexpensive lengths of trough-shaped, light-gauge sheet steel that's fastened at right angles to the bottom edges of floor joists. Drywall fastens to this metal, with screws anchored into the resilient channel only, not the wood of the floor frame. When the drywall is taped and painted, resilient channel boosts sound insulation values because it forms a virtually complete physical separation of the ceiling surface from the framework of the floor above.

Resilient channel is effective at preventing the transmission of high frequency noise such as voices and audio, but it's not as effective at stopping medium frequency impact sounds like footsteps and moving furniture. If you want that kind of performance, you need to know about a recycled product made especially for this job.

National Rubber Technologies is a Canadian firm that's the largest recycler of old tires in the country. It turns more than one million tires into recycled rubber products each year, including an acoustic floor insulation product called QuietDown ( 800-387-8501 ; nrtna.com).

It's a firm rubber underlay that's highly effective at reducing medium frequency noises from people walking. As hard-surface flooring is used to replace carpeting in more homes, impact sound resistance is becoming a bigger issue.

More than a few homeowners I've spoken with have been surprised by how much sound is transmitted to rooms below by hardwood or laminate instead of the old carpeting it replaced.

If you want to take reduction of voices, TV sounds and audio one step further, also consider lead sheeting. Canada Metal ( 800-665-1332 ; canadametal.com) sells rolls of thin lead sheeting especially for soundproofing purposes. A mere 1/64-inch-thick layer of the metal foil offers the same sound blocking effect as six inches of solid concrete. Once the lead is encapsulated behind wall or floor coverings, it's also completely safe.

Steve Maxwell is technical editor of Canadian Home Workshop magazine. Send homebuilding and renovation questions to stevemaxwell.ca. Letter volume sometimes prevents individual response.

Source Ottawa Citizen