Green Glue instead of fiberglass insulation for soundproofing

Old School soundproofing still believes that batt insulation is a good soundproofing agent. There are some good sound batt insulations out there such as Roxul AFB and Bonded logic's bonded cotton insulation and they work well for both soundproofing and thermal protection, however no batt insulation is strong enough to stand alone as the sole soundproofing material in a wall ceiling or floor assembly. If you can afford a good batt insulation I always encourage it, but if you are soundproofing as ceiling and are not really concerned about the thermal aspects of the ceiling then I feel adding drywall pieces cut to fit perfectly into the joist cavities and screwed to the sub floor above would be much more effective than any batt insulation. Now to super charge this application I recommend that before you screw the pieces of drywall to the sub floor you apply Green Glue sound dampening compound to the back of the drywall pieces prior to screwing them to the bottom of the sub floor. Green Glue is a visco elastic damping compound that is taking the soundproofing industry by storm. It comes in caulk tubes and is applied using a large quart size caulk gun. Basically you would cut the pieces of drywall to fit snuggly between the joist cavities. You would the liberally apply the Green Glue to the backside of the cut drywall and then screw it to the bottom of the sub floor. The Green Glue will be sandwiched between the drywall and the bottom of the sub floor. The tighter you screw the drywall down, the better the soundproofing will be. In essence, the pieces of drywall sporting the Green Glue in their backsides with become a most effective sound dampening system that will dampen the impact noise from above long before it is able to be transmitted into the joists and ultimately into the ceiling below. Now, is more better in this case? Absolutely, if you are able to double or triple the Green Glued layer of drywall you will indeed increase the dampening ability of the drywall and the sub floor and add greatly to the soundproofing endeavor. Once you have installed your layers of Green Glued drywall pieces into the joist cavities, now would be a good time to install your sound or thermal batt insulation. Now for our finished drywall ceiling, I recommend that we spend the money for 2 layers of 5/8" drywall. You will screw in your first layer of drywall directly to the ceiling joists. Now your second layer will be installed directly over top of the first layer however, you guessed it, I recommend that you apply 3 tubes of Green Glue to each 4' X 8' sheet of drywall that you put up. Once you have finished with the double drywall using the Green Glue, you should immediately detect a lack of annoying noise coming from the people above. You have soundproofed your ceiling and your neighbors don't even have a clue that there was a problem there. How awesome is that? Read more about Green Glue and soundproofing walls, ceilings and floors in subsequent articles, for now this is Dr. Bob....Out!!!

Dr. Bob O. Soundproofing America, Inc. Senior Technical Director Soundproofing Expert to The New York Times, The San Francisco Herald Examiner, The San Diego Union Tribune, and the Charlotte Observer Ph (877) 530-0139 Toll free Fax (347) 721-9079 E-mail: Dr.bob@soundproofingamerica.com Website: http://www.soundproofingamerica.com

Roofing Nail Guns

Roofing nail guns are some of the more extreme of DIY tools and are often reserved only for the professional contractor. If you are putting together a small chest of draws or a book case you only really need the effective and affordable services of a standard hammer but if you are attaching a roof to a 2 story house it could take you weeks to put a few nails in. Roofing nail guns take the burden out of this chore and make your job much quicker and much simpler so whether you are an amateur or a professional you should bear in mind that you won’t get far without using roofing nail guns.

Why bother with roofing nail guns?

Roofing nail guns fire nails into wood or any other material they are specifically designed for meaning it takes a fraction of a second to ‘hammer’ in one nail. This takes away the hard work and the time normally involved in hammering large mounts of nails. While they are extremely useful they can also be quite dangerous if not treated properly.

Spring loaded roofing nail guns.

Spring loaded roofing nail guns are the simplest and most affordable nail guns that you can buy. They are really quite simple in their ingenuity and they use some very high tensile springs to fire the nails out of the chamber and into the wood. Crude maybe, but highly effective definitely! These roofing nail guns do still use a little electric power to pull back the springs to such an extent that means they will effectively fire with enough pace to lodge into the piece of wood.

Solenoid roofing nail guns.

Solenoid roofing nail guns are powered using electromagnetic polarization. When you pull the trigger the polarization in the gun reverses repelling the nail away from the mechanism and into the wood. This is a highly useful technique and is used in many different types of machinery and tools so are proven to work over long periods of time. There are very few pieces that are likely to break and leave you with powerless roofing nail guns, this durability is a distinct advantage over the relatively fast wearing spring loaded roofing nail guns.

Pneumatic roofing nail guns.

The most popular and widely used type of roofing nail guns are compressed or pneumatic nail guns. By compressing air in a standard air compressor it can gather huge amounts of power. In pneumatic roofing hammer drills the pressure is used to initially hold the hammer in place so that the nail is not fired but when you pull the trigger this opens a passageway that lets the compressed air out and dispels the nail at great speed. These are the most popular form of roofing nail guns because they only need an air compressor to run. Air compressors can be powered through a number of different means and you do not need to plug pneumatic roofing nail guns into the mains power. This cuts down and cost and makes it reliable and much more convenient, not to mention safe when it starts to drizzle.

As Northern Virginia Roofing Contractors, Roofer911.com takes great pride in maintaining customer satisfaction for all types of new roof installation and roof repair work for residential and commercial roofing accounts. Does your website need more exposure to the search engines? Add Your Site Today to our free directory.

Why Metal Roofing Is The New King Of Roofing Materials

AESTHETICS
Metal roofing has the most aesthetic variety of any roofing material and can come in almost any color and be stamped in a variety of shapes and designs such as cedar shakes, tile shingles and other traditional styles.

50 YEAR WARRANTY
Many metal roofing manufacturers provide a 50 year or lifetime warranty on their products. Metal roofs have lifespans of 2 - 3 times longer than traditional asphalt roofs and are virtually indestructible. A longer lifetime can actually save you money over having to replace an asphalt roof 2 or 3 times in the same period of time.

WINDSTORM PROTECTION
Many metal roofs are guaranteed to withstand winds of 120 miles per hour, and are a perfect roofing solution for coastal areas and other areas susceptible to windstorms and hurricanes. Almost 80% of all metal roofing installations are homeowners having to replace a damaged roof and are upgrading to a stronger roofing systems.

HAILSTORM PROTECTION
Metal roofing is also very durable against hailstorms and other severe forms of weather. Many metal roofing manufacturers have earned Class-4 hail-resistive ratings which is the highest hailstorm rating a roofing product can receive.

ENERGY EFFICIENT
Metal roofs are energy efficient because most are coated with special reflective paints that reduce the temperature of the roof.

COOLS YOUR HOUSE IN SUMMER
In addition, most metal roofing installations have an air channel below them which allows natural ventilation to further dissipate heat and to prevent direct radiation of the heat into the housing structure.

FREE TAX CREDIT
Many metal roofing products will qualify for a $500 energy tax credit which you can claim with the IRS.

EARTH FRIENDLY
Aluminum metal roofing is often made from recycled aluminum cans and is considered a recycled product and can help reduce our impact on the earth’s natural resources.

LIGHTWEIGHT
Metal roofing is one of the lightest roofing materials available in the marketplace and usually do not require roof brace and rafter reinforcing like tile and concrete roofs. In earthquake zones sleeping under a lighter roofing system can give you greater peace of mind.

MAINTENANCE FREE
Metal roofing is virtually maintenance free. There is really nothing you have to do to maintain this roof.

FIRE RESISTIVE
Metal roofing is considered to be a fire retardant material and can help lessen the chance of fires spreading when burning embers land on the roofing surface. Several home insurance companies will give a premium discount to homeowners that have a class-4 rated metal roof as it reduces your risk of fire, wind and hail damage.

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S.A. Smith is a freelance writer, contributor, and editor of the Steel Metal Roofing information portal which reports on the latest metal roofing construction news and developments in the steel and metal roofing industry.