foam rubber sheeting

[winentucker]

Hi there
I have found some rolls of foam rubber soundproofing sheeting that comes in 42 metre rolls made by St Regis in France. These rolls were made in 1985 but have never been used. I want to soundproof 4 bedrooms all next to each other in a bed and breakfast construction and this looks pretty good. BUT I don't want to waste my time wallpapering the walls with this stuff only to find it doesn't work.
Can anybody assist me? I have searched the company online and found no reference, likewise I have searched foam rubber wall sound insulation without sucess. The cost of this foam is $4.20 Australian per square metre (sq. yard).
Many thanks
Jeff

[Randy S]

we would need more information...

photo / weight per sqft. / thickness.
when you say foam rubber I would assume some type of a closed cell? is that correct?

[winentucker]

Thanks Randy
I will take some photos and send them to you, along with other data.
Cheers
Jeff

[winentucker]

Hi Randy
I am attaching 2 photos and will send the other two in a following post. The rubber sheeting has a rubber "feel" to it, soft and slightly sticky if you draw your hand across it. The colour is a light blue, it is smooth on the reverse side (see brand name photo) and has a linear pattern on the facing side which appears to me to replicate wallpaper as it is decorative. I guess the intention was to wallpaper a room with it and deaden the sound. I estimate the thickness to be about 2mm and the weight of the whole 42 m x 1m roll is 32 kilos. The stocktake date on the cardboard drum in which it came was 1975, I bought this from a salvage yard - the salesman told me he was told it was rubber sound proofing. I can't think of anything else I can tell you. Any thoughts?
Cheers
Jeff

[winentucker]

here is another photo

[winentucker]

here is the final photo showing "wallpaper"

[Randy S]

unfortunately, I too could not find any information on the internet. Its characteristics resemble 1/2 lb. product which normally is not worth your effort.. Can you get material that has a better mass value to use? the heavier it is the better off you are reducing noise.
Can you get a product like cement board out there?
 

[johnbergstromslc]

Yeah, I tried to find info on it and failed.  It's not soundproofing material though, I think it's just wallcovering.  If you glue it directly to the wall, it won't do squat....

[winentucker]

Thanks Randy and John
Over the weekend I did some serious digging online and found that Sommer, the brandname on the sheeting, was a specialist in France in floor soundproofing. They were taken over by a company called Tarkett Proffesionals who still manufacture soundproof materials in specialist areas. I have written to their Australian office asking for technical data if the have any available, seems like the take over was around 1974/5 so I might be pushing it. No reply as yet.
It does indicate that this is a sound proofing product though, and I was planning to use it adhered to a SIPS (structurally insulated panels - see R-Control sips panels USA) wall separating a row of 4 bedrooms and then covering it with an MDF 4mm thick sheet which I would use instead of gyprock or fibre cement board (all of which are available Randy). The SIPS panels have a good sound insulating quality to them as they are an osb sandwich with eps between them and I was wanting to just reduce the possibility of knock acoustics from a blow on a wall travelling thru it.
Any thoughts? Forget it and start again? I was, prior to locating this sheeting, going to use Green Glue for the same job. If I did would I need to apply it to both sides of the wall? Or will sound be stopped from either direction as it hits the Green Glue? I was going to do the same to hollow core internal bedroom doors - ie. put 4mm MDF sheet on either side of the door using Green Glue to stop sound tranmission thru the doors - would that work?
I really appreciate your help.
Kind regards
Jeff

[Randy S]

Ok, in order to reduce structural impact or footfall/banging you MUST decouple from the structure.clips and channel / RC-1 or new framing ..with out doing this step you will not achieve a descent reduction.
After you have decoupled than Mass is put in the equation, the heavier it is the better off you are for blocking sound...I prefer cement board over OSB but it has been used in many projects.
Green glue is a dampening compound and the last principle we apply in a system, so look at like the icing on a cake after you have applied the main 3 principles... decouple / mass / absorption.

For the door...dont even waste your time trying to soundproof a hollow door just go replace it with a solid core door and seal it up with weather striping and door sweep.

[johnbergstromslc]

If you got the stuff for free, go ahead and use it - it couldn't hurt.  Just don't expect a fantastic improvement.  As I said before, it's likely it won't do squat...

[winentucker]

Hi Randy and John
I really appreciate the time you took to help me. I will take your advice and do it the right way from the start.
Kind regards
Jeff

[Randy S]

Feel free to give us a call direct if you have any questions during your install if you need to.
We are here to help.

Randy S.

1-888-942-7723 ext 104