by Lori Cunningham
This article is a part of the series I am writing about the Pacifiic Coast Builders Conference I attended a couple of months ago. In this PCBC series, I cover different innovative home technology products. Today I’m going to write about something that does not have any technological features. In fact, some would consider this subject to be even boring. Before arriving to the 2010 PCBC Show, I was contacted by Roxul to meet with them about their products. As with most non-technological home product vendors, I turned them down. I was attending the Pacific Coast Builder’s Show to write about great technology products for the home. Roxul makes insulation for residential and commercial walls.
But Roxul saw it differently. They asked me to review the Safe’n'Sound product on their website, and see how it’s designed to keep noise out of the baby’s room and greatly diminish the sounds stemming from a TV room. I became intrigued as I know that with all of today’s great home technologies — like multi-room audio, surround sound, home theaters, the latest Xbox and Wii games, etc., knowing a little more about soundproofing a room is a valuable resource to homeowners.
I’ll be the first to admit that insulation is not a product I’ve thought a great deal about. Nonnetheless, while at the PCBC show, I met with representatives from Roxul. In the house we are building, we were scheduled to have insulation installed within one month at the time I met with Roxul. I have to say that I was impressed with what they had to say.
Roxul’s”Safe’n'Sound” product is made out of stone wool instead of the typical spun fiberglass insulation. Roxul uses basalt rock and recycled slag rock to spin a wool-like substance, similar to what you see with regular insulation, but that’s where the similarities stop.
- excellent sound absorbency
- water repellent
- fire resistant (can withstand temperatures up to 2150 degrees F)
- non-combustible
.jpg) |
| The density of the Roxul Safe’nSound versus regular insulation. |
- completely resistant to mold, mildew, bacteria growth, and rot
- highly energy efficient
- more than 40% of Safe’nSound is made from recycled content
- GreenGuard Air Quality certified
- easy to cut – can cut with a butter knife
- provides a tight fit between wall studs – won’t slump or settle in your walls over time
Ideal rooms, besides every room in the house, are attics, basements, kids’ rooms, kitchens, laundry rooms, etc. Kitchens are the number one area where home fires are started.A Homeowners Perspective
.jpg)
I arranged to review the Roxul Safe’n'Sound insulation in the home we’re building. I installed it between our 5.1 channel TV/Xbox bonus room and our master bedroom. To soundproof this room, our builder was going to put up normal installation and extra drywall; he was not aware of Roxul. I have a lot of confidence in the Roxul Safe’n'Sound product and feel that this will be a better solution. Once the house is built and we move in, I’ll give my review on how well it keeps the Rockband sounds from entering into our master bedroom.
If you have used Roxul, or other types of soundproofing, please leave a comment with your experience.
2010 PCBC Show: Home Technology Finds – Sound Proofing
