HAVE A SOUND-PROOF ROOM;

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 738, 10 August 1929, Page 32

HAVE A SOUND-PROOF ROOM;

THE HOUSEWIFE'S NEED OF PEACE

In these days, tempers are apt to be frayed through constant indulgence on the part of some member of the family in wireless or the gramophone. It is a great thing, therefore, to have at least one room in the house to which you may retire in the happy knowledge that there you will enjoy a quiet spell.

If the room you wish to render soundless is above that in which the music is produced, a very thick hair felt beneath the carpet will do a lot toward deadening the noise. Even linoleum can be given an underlay that will achieve the same end, for a material which is specially suited to this purpose is now on the market. This bituminous sheeting is coated on both sides with granulated cork, which is a great sound absorber, since it reduces the vibrations that are the cause of the trouble. If the room, however, is below the music room, much may be done by fixing to the ceiling a layer of the sound-proof material which is composed of dried grasses stitched between layers of strong brown paper; below this apply a second ceiling of the ceiling-board, which any builder can supply. This, of course, means a certain outlay, but the nervous sufferer will probably consider it worth while to incur the expense, rather than put up with the infliction of undesired melody. In the case of a room immediately adjoining the music room a space in the dividing wall filled with some nonvibrating medium such as silicate cotton, will meet the difficulty.