Wood Frame Building Noise

Wood frame construction by its nature can present noise control challenges.

Wood frame building noise.

In both cases if the floor finish is hard i e tile hardwood or the like footstep impacts will clearly be transmitted to. Although it is common to add noise barriers within light wood frame assemblies e g batt insulation in a floor cavity this method is much less common in mass timber assemblies. Wood frame construction is one of the most widely used methods to build residential commercial and industrial buildings. This is a catch up since most european union and several north american jurisdictions including british columbia already allow six storey wood frame.

However there is a clear difference in the nature and extent of the problem in these two constructions. Wood has low thermal mass. As mentioned earlier mass is a necessary part of noise control. Footstep or impact noise is observed both in buildings of concrete construction and wood frame construction.

While gypsum concrete is often added to wood frame assemblies one can expect an obvious drop off in airborne noise control when compared with the mass of a six inch. Wood frames are not only very economical to build but are also resistant to extreme climatic variations and offer residents a high degree of comfort. On january 1 2015 wood frame construction became even more attractive when changes to the ontario building code obc raised the limit from four to six storeys for wood frame buildings. That said several acoustically tested mass timber floor assemblies include wood sleepers on top of the panels and noise barriers such as sand or batt insulation.