House Insulation

shawn said:
It makes a lot less of a difference than you'd think. In order to get any benefit, you need to putty pad the receptacle boxes, avoid back to back penetrations, caulk the GWB to the floor sheathing, etc. And you're only going to see an STC jump of a few points (34 to38??? Assuming mineral fiber). For the work involved, you'll get better results by adding a second layer of GWB to one side of the wall and/or using resilient channels on one side. But I don't trust the average GWB contractor to correctly install the resilient channels. Even if they do, the home owner will come in and hang a TV or some shelves and couple the GWB to the studs, ruining the assembly.

Edit: if you want to make a big difference in sound privacy, buy solid core doors.
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I know we've talked about this before, and I know what the science says.

So this is pure anecdotal. I have a long wall in our family room opposite our Tv and sound bar. The back side of that wall is split master, and office. Master interior wall is insulated, office wall is not.

With TV on at normal nightly volume I can sit in he office and hear every word like I'm in the family room.in the master by contrast I hear nothing.

Sound is such a fickle calculation that absolute rules are difficult. Different frequency ranges will have different attenuating properties and different perceptions. That's why things like cheap DB meters are useless as they have a limited measurement range .

Then you get into conversations about sound stage and projection elevation. So for example sound seeping through a 21" aff rep box will be lesshysically intrusive than sound projecting through at ear height .
 
We insulated interior partitions on all bedrooms and bathrooms, unless it backed up to a closet area. Same as @Ron above, it SEEMS to make a difference. At least more muffled. So a noise somebody makes that might have woke you up, might be softened enough to not be a problem.

I tend to stay up late watching TV, so as part of the intentional design I have two doors between the den and MBR (pass thru dressing room and by walk-in closets)
 
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