carpeting over Cinder block walls.
cutawooda
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
Local YMCA has terrible echo in one of there aerobic rooms. Local Music company want big dollars to attach 16×12 roll of carpet on the cinder block walls.( they want $1500) Could it be that hard? The Y isnt looking for a piece of art. Im thinking tapcons and washers and liquid nails…..and 6 guys!
You could even do a 2×4 frame on to the cindr block and attach the carpet to the frame.
Replies
Certainly attaching carpet can't be that hard . (I suppose they may be using some special type of "carpet", though.
I'd suggest attaching it loosely so that there's some air space behind to further dampen sound, but it must be supported well enough to not sag over time.
Make a frame out of 1x4 and stretch the carpet over it. Hang it on the wall like a giant picture canvas.
Flamability
Being a commercial building, you may need to meet flamability ratings to put carpet on a wall. The flame spread will be much different on a vertical wall than layed horizontally on the floor. I know a freind had to deal with this a number of years ago when building a night club.
Good point!
Your figures give a price of less than $8 / sq. ft. For an installed job, that looks reasonable.
Two words
Carpet Squares
You might even want to look into the interlocking sponge floor tiles that look like oversized puzzle pieces. They sell them in bright colors if thats your thing (for kids playrooms) and in basic blah for utility rooms in basement etc.
Cork tiles would work too and could be used to hang stuff on such as pictures of fat people for inspiration.
cussnu..we are cut from the same cloth...your last sentence had me rolling.
I would do it for far cheaper than that. 2x4s on cinder block..no prob..Boom! Get some cheap rental carpet, Boom! couple of guys to help me at the top and start stapling..boom! let gavity stetch it down, we stretch it sideways..boom! finish it off with some simpson screws Boom!.. trim the carpet to fit..Va Va Boom!
Just had a few beers...I will not be sending them an estimate.
you 2 quack me up..............thanks!
you might want to think about giving your keys to someone.
Carpet would hold dust and probably start to mold. Over a block wall, I would treat it like a basement foundation and start with foam insulation panels.
Standard foam is not very good at absorbing sound. And unless one is careful about the type of foam used it's a serious fire hazard.
Noise attenuation
The rooms are loud becasue the large flat, and hard walls reflect sound. You are not dealing with transmission, but with reverberation.
You shouldn't need to cover the entire wall, just break up the large flat area, with small areas that don't reflect.
You can accomplish this several ways.
I did a pumping station once, by attaching old modular office partitions to the wall. The colors clashed with the gray concrete, but it cut the reverberation almost entirely.
Acoustic ceiling panels could be glued to the wall in a checker board pattern.
One of the others responded about building fabric covered frames and hanging them. It is a little more complicated than that. You build the frame with peg board, of just 1/4-inch plywood as the back, lay in fiberglass bat, and cover that with hardware cloth, then some 1/2-inch polyester batting, and attach an acousticly transparent fabric such as burlap over the top. These panels can be hung vertically or horizontally from the ceiling if you have high ceilings so they dont get hit.