Case of Green Glue Noiseproofing Compound - 12 Tubes

The main point you need to know is that GG and an extra layer of drywall can help...but don't expect anything too dramatic from just that. My problem was noise coming from a downstairs bedroom (darn kids!) going through the ceiling and into the master bedroom. So, I went all in: 1. Rip out the existing drywall ceiling. This isn't terribly hard; cut the drywall tape along the corners with a utility knife, then start a hole somewhere with a drywall saw (or hammer if you feel like it) and start pulling sections down. 2. Screw strips of drywall to the underside of the exposed upstairs floor with a layer of GG in between. Building codes aside, I would suggest using as few screws as needed to solidly secure the panels. For ALL new drywall, use the heavier 5/8" sheets; mass is your friend. The floor will be normally be about 3/4" thick, so 1.25" drywall screws will work nicely for the first layer. 3. Add a second layer of GG'd strips of drywall to the underside of the floor. If you have the patience and ambition, run a bead of acoustic sealant around the edges (so none of the floor is exposed.) At this point you have two layers of drywall and two layers of GG clinging to the underside of the floor. For this layer, you'll need longer screws to reach the floor (such as 1.75") 4. Attach whisperclips (or other sound isolation clips) to the bottoms of the trusses or floor beams (to provide support for the new ceiling.) This will take some thought, taking into account that the furring channel (25 gauge, 7/8") should be placed two feet apart, with clips at the ends and every four feet in between. You'll also want to carefully position one of the steel channels where there will be a joint between sheets of drywall (so both sheets can be screwed onto it.) 5. Clip furring channel into the clips. I found it easiest to mark where I wanted the ends to be, screw those clips into place, then clip in the channel, and then add any additional clips. (The channel is flexible enough that you can pull it down enough to slip more clips on it.) A common frustration is where to get these steel channels; I found them at a regional home supply store (Menards), or some Home Depot stores carry them. You may have to mail-order them in the end. RESILIENT CHANNEL is NOT an alternative! (This is the stuff that has holes cut in it. You want the solid stuff for use with clips.) 6. Install a layer of insulation. You actually want open insulation (such as the cheap fiberglass rolls) rather than closed-cell foam. I went with thick R-19 faced rolls. 7. Screw the first layer of 5/8" drywall to the furring channel. Your 1.25" drywall screws will work for this. To hold the sheets of (fairly heavy) drywall in place while you work on them, you'll either want to rent a panel lift or have a couple of strapping young lads to take advantage of. ;-) 8. Seal the edges and any gaps with acoustic sealant. 9. Time for more GG! Now, the second layer of 5/8" sheetrock goes up! Goop up the backside of a sheet with a random pattern of GG, using around two tubes per 4'x8' sheet. If you wish you can increase the dose to about three tubes for a small additional gain in damping. The GG is fairly watery, and dispenses quite quickly and easily. These are the 'big' tubes; you'll need a large caulk gun (not the smaller size often used for caulking in bathrooms, etc.) Repeat until the entire second layer of drywall is up (with a layer of GG in between the layers.) 10. Seal significant gaps with acoustic sealant or expanding foam or such. Finish and texture as you normally would with drywall. Did it work? YES! Before, even normal conversational voices could often be heard between upstairs and downstairs bedrooms. Now, even with music at a 'high normal' volume (ie. about as loud as a sane person would want to listen to music for an extended period at) it remains dead silent in the other room. It was a lot of work (and all told, materials and tool costs ran close to a thousand dollars for about 170 sf of ceiling/floor) but I'm very pleased with the results! Now, it's hardly an absolute barrier to sound; loud noises (like somebody really rocking out with their stereo or loud yelling) can still penetrate. But normal noise is no more! A few closing thoughts... GG cures very slowly. It can still be tacky several weeks after being dispensed, so it's not surprising that it doesn't take full effect for weeks. It does generally easily wash clean with water, although if a film of it dries on your hands it can be hard to completely get rid of the tackiness. The smell is very mild and inoffensive. If you have ductwork running through the ceiling, consider making some soundproofing efforts there as well (such as by wrapping it with an adhesive mass loaded vinyl type product.) If there is a duct feeding into the room through the ceiling, the gap between it and the new ceiling can easily be filled with expanding foam insulation, and the grill simply screwed onto the new drywall. Light fixtures will need some consideration. Surface mounted fixtures can be easily removed; after feeding the wires through holes in the new ceiling, seal up any gaps with expanding foam or acoustic sealant. The light fixture itself can be secured to the ceiling with anchors and bolts (look around your local home store.) If you have recessed lighting, they need special attention; search for how to assemble a box around them to prevent sound transmission through the fixture. Good luck! It's not a small project, but if peace and quiet is important to you, there is definitely hope!

Quiet apartments are important to me. And I’ve made a number of them now. Green glue, decoupling clips, hat channel, insulation, and added mass are parts of a complete noise reducing system. Using green glue between layers of drywall, 4 layers of 5/8 drywall in all (2 under the floor and 2 hanging from hat channel attached to clips) as well as mineral wool insulation I’ve been able to reduce noise between up/down neighbors to next to nothing. I can play 80dB radio up or down and can’t hear it in the other. Impact noise is also reduced but to reduce it even more I’ve added additional tile board upstairs (more mass) with more green glue and rubber isolation mat under a floating floor. Now my lower bedrooms cannot hear upstairs neighbors walking about. Results are excellent. I’ve now rehabbed several old up/down duplexes making them livable and quiet for all my guests. Makes me happy.

I've been applying this to all the components of my flooring job. Haven't finished the job yet to determine performance, but it sure is nice to work with: flows super easy, hardly any odour even when heated, and comes off your hands with a wet wipe. However, it doesn't firm up very quickly, so it stays sticky for days and it's 2x more expensive than the other stuff.

We live upstairs in a 2 family house and have had tenants for 5+ years downstairs. We could always hear what's going on downstairs, hear the tenant's alarm clock, etc. We also had a tenant move out because they felt our tv was too loud - it wasn't that loud but you can imagine how bad the soundproofing was between floors. We used the Green Glue Noiseproofing Sealant and Green Glue Noiseproofing Compound together. We sheetrocked over the existing 1/2" sheetrock with 5/8" sheetrock in the downstairs living room and used the both the sealant and compound in that room. We ripped out the ceiling in the bedroom downstairs, insulated with Roxul sound proof insulation, put up 5/8" sheetrock, used the green glue sealant and compound then put another piece of 5/8" sheetrock over that. We are overall satisfied with the results. Nothing will stop hearing our footsteps upstairs, we have hardwood floors upstairs and we are NOT getting carpet. The footsteps are not as loud. The voices do not carry like they used to and we can sometimes hear the tenants downstairs (my dad and his wife) but we have no idea what they are saying. We used to be able to hear the conversations loud and clear. I can tell they are watching tv but I cannot tell what show they are watching, used to be able to hear every word of what the tenant was watching. So it really does work. Nothing is 100% soundproof. I am a doctor of audiology (hearing disorders) and I have taught classes on hearing for many years. Even a soundproof booth is not 100% soundproof. SO if you expect to completely soundproof between floors and/or rooms, you will be disappointed. If you are realistic with your expectations, you will be very satisfied with this product.

I live in a condo with a thin common wall with no insulation in between. I'm pretty sure my neighbor switched to tile floors from carpet because suddenly one day I could everything going on next doors. They have 2 small dogs and the barking was incessant when they were away. I could hear drawers being closed, muffled conversations and the low bass vibrations from a TV. I researched ways to soundproof and thought green glue was ideal for my situation since all the noise was coming from a single wall and not from many sources. I bought the thick 5/8 in drywall sheets and used 2 tubes per panel as directed. The noise was muffled almost immediately and after about 2 weeks of curing time I would swear my neighbors moved out. I always hear the dogs when I'm out front going to my car but I never hear them through the common wall. I was skeptical at first but I thought it was worth the risk and I'm very glad I made this purchase. If these tubes were half the price I would do other walls in my house but unfortunately the price is too steep for anything but the most important areas. The only tricky part of the installation was extending the electrical outlets to the new depth but Home Depot sells outlet extenders specifically for projects like these. I used the noiseproofing sealant around the outlets and to accommodate a an uneven cut I had to make because of the brick backwall. Since I didn't have a clean seam, I thought it would be important to seal the gap. I don't know if the sealant is necessary in most circumstances but I think it probably helped my situation a little bit more than using the green glue alone. I'm VERY impressed with this product.

Yes- Green glue seems to help with sound dampening. It's some cool stuff and is pretty easy to work with. However, know this going in: A tube of this stuff doesn't go very far at all. Before you know it, the tube is empty and you're grabbing another tube. One tube doesn't adequately cover one 4x8 sheet of drywall, you really need more. Green glue says as much- they recommend 2 tubes per sheet. That would all be acceptable if the stuff wasn't so darn expensive. Just my opinion.

I havent seen a bad review here from anyone who has a clue. 1. This is neither caulk nor silicone. 2. RTFM: do your research before getting into a complicated project like sound dampening. These people writing bad reviews obviously have not. 3. Sound isolation is a VERY expensive project. If you balk at the $20 to buy a bigger caulk gun then this project is clearly NOT for you. Thats a drop in the bucket. If you think one tube of liquid and one more layer of sheetrock will turn your bedroom into a recording studio, think again. Im looking at you; dude who thought he could use one tube for a whole wall. 4. At the minimum you will need: 2 tubes of Green Glue per piece of sheetrock, two sheetrock layers, caulking (doesnt necessarily have to be specialized soundproofing caulk, but I would recommend it) and rockwool insulation. For optimum results without breaking the bank, buy different sheetrock thicknesses for each layer. This helps to isolate more sound frequencies. Stagger the sheetrock layers so the seams dont match up. 5. If you really want results youll need: Whisper clips with channeling, a quality brand of rockwool insulation, 3 Green Glue tubes per sheet, 2 layers of drywall/sheetrock (absolutely NOT plywood) in different thicknesses, and Green Glue soundproofing caulk (caulk EVERYTHING, top plate, bottom plate, between sheetrock seams). This is as close to complete soundproofing as you can get in an already existing structure.

We bought a town house that had a common wall with our master bedroom backing up to our neighbor's master bedroom. We could hear talking, the TV and music through the existing wall - not good. Solution: I purchased 5 sheets of QuietRock and 12 tubes of Green Glue. I applied 2-1/2 tubes of Green Glue to the back of each sheet of QuietRock and then attached the QuietRock to the existing drywall with 2-1/2" drywall screws. We finished the job by sealing the perimeter with QuietSeal. We tapped and bedded the QuietRock, textured and then painted. Results: SILENCE - we no longer hear our neighbor; no talking, no music, no TV! Personally I think the greatest benefit to blocking the sound transfer is the application of the Green Glue. Plano, TX