What do many homeowners want to hear after a long day at work? Perhaps it's the sound of nothing.

In the age of talking appliances, chiming pagers and musical cell phones, Americans tend to savor their quiet times above all. The problem is, most homes are not built for quiet.

At the recent The International Builders Show in Atlanta, numerous products intended to make lives quieter were showcased, including noise-deadening wallboard and structural insulated panel construction, triple-paned glass, gurgling fountains and serenity-inducing pools, tubs and spas.

Bob O'Neil, regional manager for Arcade Insulation in northern California, says that installing noise-abating products can be most cost-effective during a home's construction, although production homebuilders do not routinely build interior walls containing any kind of noise abatement materials.

"Only about 30 percent of the homebuilders I know offer sound attenuating blankets in interior walls as standard, pre-priced options for their homebuyers," says O'Neil. "The ones that do find that many of their homebuyers want it and are willing to pay extra."

O'Neil encourages homebuyers to special-request pricing for this from their homebuilders if no one covers the topic with them at the builder's design center. Lining interior walls with a 3 1/2 - inch noise abatement blanket, made of fiberglass or rock wool will do just as good a job as the thicker varieties, making them a better value, according to O'Neil.

For those who need to "mask" annoying sounds in their homes, such as street noises or air conditioners, indoor and outdoor fountains and waterfalls have become popular, lending some serenity-inducing elements to home life.

Homeowners who wish to have their homes treated to attenuate noise can take steps to do so, but not without some analysis and expense, according to Soundproofing.com. According to the site:

• Twenty-five percent of a room should have some absorbent material to reduce noise. Noise reducing elements can be in the form of furniture and/or carpeting.

• Soundboard can be installed between ceiling rafters with recycled padding for an overlay, or inexpensive acoustical ceiling panels can be used.

• If floor squeaks drive you crazy, you can install triangular wood strips between the flooring and joists.

• Windows can be sound-blocked with the addition of double or triple panes of glass, changing to vinyl window frames, applying shutters or even hanging heavy curtains or drapery

Soundproofing.com also offers Quieting: a Practical Guide to Noise Control a now out-of-print EPA manual for consumers who wish to make their homes quieter.

Published: March 6, 2001

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