Does anyone has STC rating for different thickness of clear acrylic sheets? I believe they are also called Plexiglass?
I am thinking of installing a 4' x 8' sheet on my warehouse ceiling skylight opening to cut down some noise from the outside, and at the same time preserve the exterior light coming in through the skylight.
The other option is to use vinyl noise barriers. Has anyone installed them on exposed ceilings without covering them up with drywall?
Thanks
Here are the STC ratings for Lexan (it is similar to clear acrylic but has a higer tensile strength). It's sold at the big box stores under the name Luctite.
snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote:
Thanks for your fast reply.
Do you know if this product is sold at stores such as Home Depot and Lowes?
The STC rating is really good. I wonder how much it is for a 4' x 8' sheet... :)
It is sold at both of those stores. The Luctite is more expensive then the acrylic. I recently both a 6 x 4 foot sheet of the Lexan for about $57. You can get cutters to cut it to the correct size for about $2.00 or you can have the store do it for you.
All the best, M.
snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote:
Just don't use a laser to cut lexan... It's heat resistant and with most tabletop laser cutters there isn't enough power to melt the stuff to cut it. Plus, it gives of some pretty nasty fumes...
You can cut polycarbonate (generic name for Lexan) with woodworking tools.
Mike
Lexan is too expensive for this application. You don't need that kind of strength, and using the next grade down (Crystalite?) will save significant money. Lucite is too brittle, though.
Two layers of plastic with an air gap (vented away from quiet area) will significantly reduce the noise over one sheet
Polycarbonate is not Lexan is not polycarbonate.
Well that would certainly be news to GE. They manufacture Lexan and sell it as polycarbonate.
The Luxen document says that for a quarter inch thick sheet, the STC is about 31. Does anyone have STC numbers for different thickness of acrylic sheets?
You are confused. Lexan is GE's trademark name for polycarbonate.
Well...yes, you're right... But true Lexan is different from what most people think of when they talk about polycarbonate. It has different properties than the "usual" less expensive stuff (and it's all expensive). Check out the wiki here:
I can't see anything on that wiki page that justifies your claim. Perhaps you could quote whatever it is that does.
Mike
OK, what *do* most people think of when they talk about polycarbonate? The wikipedia article doesn't address this.
Acrylic sheets... Most of the people ('round here at least) really mean acrylic. Could be that we're talking about regional language issues. They mean acrylic sheets, not polycarbonate, which is different stuff. They call it Lexan, but don't mean Lexan, they mean acrylic (from the Wiki: Lexan is similar to polymethyl methacrylate (Plexiglas/Lucite/Perspex) ? commonly described as Acrylic ? in appearance, but is far more durable, often to the point of being "bulletproof." Lexan is typically used in the aerospace industry for items such as aircraft canopies, windscreens and other windows, but can often be seen in household items, such as bottles, compact discs, and DVDs.).
Polycarbonate is often (at least here) confused with Plexiglas, which again, is a different product (as pointed out).
Nice, but in this thread, we were talking about acrylic and then someone suggested Lexan - which, as was pointed out, is polycarbonate. Then _you_ said Lexan isn't polycarbonate. Then you point us to a wiki page that shows that Lexan is polycarbonate. Stay focussed please.
Mike
Relax...
Yes.... LEXAN is polycarbonate, not ACRYLIC, which is PLEXIGLASS. There! Feel better?
I can add something to that. From the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (U.S.) comes the "Architectural Acoustics; Functional Requirements Design & Technology" design manual 1.03, dated May, 1985.
From page 27:
... Double-glazed units are no better [for sound insulation] than single-glazed if the air space is 1/2 inch or thinner. This is due to a resonance condition created by a close air coupling of the glass panes. This type of glass should be avoided near truck, train, or aircraft noise. A 2-inch (50mm) airspace between glass panes will provide better noise reduction.
*****Oddly enough, the manual doesn't talk about acrylic windows, something that should have been widely available in 1985.
The acrylic is much lighter than glass, of course, and may offer less "mass-resistance" to deaden sound. Or, it may have some other property that is better at absorbing sound--I don't have any data quick at hand for that. But you're probably not going to consider glass, under any circumstance, for an over-head application.
I would think that the larger air space between panes would apply to acrylic, as well, to attenuate accoustic coupling.
For the windows on my house, I simply installed double pane windows in pairs--one window set on the outside, and one on the inside, with mini-blinds in-between. I did all the "outside" windows first, and noticed quite an improvement over the original steel-framed casement windows. But when I put the "inside" window-sets in, the noise reduction was truly uncanny! Now, when there's a lot of traffic on the street, opening just the inside window changes the sound-level so much that it "feels" like opening a window in a normal house. Then, if also open the outside window the traffic noise blows my hair back (well, what hair I've got left to blow back!).
Any house that I buy and live in, that has excessive exterior noise, will get that treatment in a heart-beat!
I trimmed the inside window-sets with 1 x 4 white oak, and attached the trim with countersunk, electroplated (yellow, whatever it is) deck / drywall screws, and just let the heads show. I think it looks nice.
A practical point is that lexan is so flexible that, for windows of any size, you have to use say 6 mm. acrylic to replace
3 mm. glass -- which will weigh about the same and may well be more expensive.HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.