Spraying Rockwool Insulation bLack?

[lmmcams]

Hi peeps, sounds crazy I know, but has any ever tried painting Rockwool? The fluffy side I am talking about. Building a music room and have a very high ceiling I need to treat with sound absorbsion, and 300mm of rockwool w ould work very well, the only thing is it's not going to be easy to hold up or cover in a black attractive fabric. So was wondering if I glued the pap er side of some rockwool to the ceiling and just sprayed it black it wouldn 't look half bad.

Any body had any experience of such a crazy idea?

Ta

Steve

[tabbypurr]

The fluffy side I am talking about. Building a music room and have a ver y high ceiling I need to treat with sound absorbsion, and 300mm of rockwool would work very well, the only thing is it's not going to be easy to hold up or cover in a black attractive fabric. So was wondering if I glued the p aper side of some rockwool to the ceiling and just sprayed it black it woul dn't look half bad.

I suspect it would look half bad. But try it, spray cans are only £1 a t poundland.

NT

[Brian Reay]

I'd worry about fibres 'dropping' on you and getting in your lungs. The fibres are very irritating.

There are products which contain the rockwool in a 'bag', silver from memory, designed to be rolled into place in the loft etc.

They would probably be better fibre wise and may be visually acceptable.

[Tim Watts]

No, because I would not want exposed rockwool over my head shedding glass fibres down onto me!

Cover it or use something else.

[Brian Gaff]

Probably better to dye it first in panels I'd suggest. Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Actually this is fine for temperature insulation but he is after acoustic absorbtion, and the shiny out covering would not be much good for that. This is why dying might be better as it would impregnate the stuff and hopefull stop the detaching of fibres.

I'm sure that speciic products exist for this job though. Brian

[The Natural Philosopher]

cover it with loose weave acoustically transparent black speaker fabric.

BTW you do know that thermal insulators are not necessarily good absorbers of sound, which is why no on covers sound booths with rockwool.

[Graeme]

In message , Brian Gaff writes

Egg boxes are the traditional answer :-)

[The Natural Philosopher]

low density fibre board is a pretty good sound absorber.

But first of all understand the nature of the problem

[damduck-egg]

Like something made from a mineral rather than glass? Could use Rockwool , the clue is in the name.

G.Harman

[The Natural Philosopher]

Rockwool is equally dangerous.

Far more so than asbestos

[Robin]

Did you really mean rockwool rather than, say, plutonium? If so please point to evidence of the risks and explain why rockwool is nevertheless sold freely in the UK and other states with the only advice being to wear a simple face mask and overalls, plus eye protection if using overhead?

[The Natural Philosopher]

Asbestos (most of it) is far less dangerous than you think too.

Its a case of stupid catch-all legislation.

>

[newshound]

That would be my solution. That said, a good spray with black paint should bond loose fibres quite effectively and address one of the issues raised elsewhere.

Yes but 300 mm should be quite effective, I suspect. Is it *also* there for thermal insulation? If so, quite a cheap and elegant fix.

Do you *mean* a music room, or a recording studio? Would you want a music room to be acoustically "dead"?

[tabbypurr]

Rockwool & fibreglass fibres dissolve in the lungs, asbestos doesn't.

NT

[Robin]

Unless you are a mind-reader you have no idea how dangerous I think asbestos to be.

But you are right that I would far more happily cut and fit rockwool than any form of asbestos. I base that on the published research and reviews thereof by folk like the IARC and HSE.

So I repeat, please point me to evidence of dangers from rockwool.

[Robin]

I know that (for most forms - and generally rockwool more readily than glass) but TNP seems to know of other dangers.

[The Natural Philosopher]

That depend entirely on what they are made from.

Personally I think the classifications are bollocks.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Glass fibre nearly killed me. Asbestos never has.

[Robin]

I am sorry about your experience with glass fibre. IIRC some rare kinds are known to be dangerous. Do you know what kind it was that caused you harm?

But I don't see how that bears on rockwool sold for general use in the UK which requires, as I said, only the most basic of protection even for those working with it day after day.