Insulation


  #1  
Old 01-03-14, 07:00 AM
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Insulation

Hey DIY crew

I'm looking into, well, past looking into and starting to finish my basement. Obviously we are going to insulate the exterior walls along the foundation, but I'm looking for opinions on insulation the interior walls between rooms. There will only be one bedroom in the basement, a large family room, mechanical room, office/toy room, and a bathroom.

I'm thinking this in more of sound proofing terms than holding heat since they are interior walls. It obviously wouldn't cost much more to insulate the two interior walls that finish framing in the bedroom, but I'm looking for your opinions on the other rooms.

Thanks!
 
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Old 01-03-14, 07:11 AM
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I like to leave interior wall un-insulated unless there is a specific reason to insulate. It is much easier to pull wires in the future through empty wall cavities.

Once you decide or not to insulate the bedroom walls you also need to consider the airflow if you have forced air HVAC and other ways noise can enter the room. Hollow core doors don't do much to block sound so I'd opt for solid core. Are there any drain pipes passing through the walls of the bedroom? If so you can run those sections with cast iron which is quieter. Airflow can more problematic. If you have HVAC registers in the room the air must also be allowed to get to the cold air return. A separate return can be run to the bedroom or commonly the door is cut a couple inches short so it can pass under the door, which kills much of the door's sound blocking. You can install offset grates in a empty wall cavity to let the air out... again hurting the sound blocking.
 
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Old 01-03-14, 08:33 AM
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There are no drain pipes passing through the wall, nor will there be when we finish it. We have baseboard heat (boiler system), so forced air isn't an issue. I appreciate your input and ideas though, it was a little harder look into what I'm thinking about doing versus my quick thoughts here and there between work!
 
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Old 01-03-14, 10:42 AM
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It's easier to regulate temperature across the whole basement if there's no insulation in the walls.

You could do it for sound but I've never seen it make enough difference to matter.
 
 

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