Mike Raley’s Post

Hi everyone. I am looking for a job in the Acoustics field. Feel free to send me a direct message on LinkedIn if you know of or have any openings. Thank you all so much.

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TODAY! Continue your CEU progress this year with our exclusive 2-for-1 webinar! Attend "Better Design Through a Deeper Understanding of Acoustic Ratings" hosted by Mike Raley starting at 2:00 PM EST, and "Restoring STC Ratings Through Proper Firestopping" hosted by Tim Mattox starting at 3:00 PM EST. Register here: https://lnkd.in/dufnZG_s to help you better understand acoustics in construction today. #STC #webinar #CEU #Construction #Acoustic #AIA

Continue your CEU progress this year with our exclusive 2-for-1 webinar on April 25, 2024! Come attend "Better Design Through a Deeper Understanding of Acoustic Ratings" hosted by Mike Raley starting at 2:00 PM EST, and "Restoring STC Ratings Through Proper Firestopping" hosted by Tim Mattox starting at 3:00 PM EST. Make sure to register here: https://bit.ly/3TSWKHG to help you better understand acoustics in construction today. #STC #webinar #CEU #Construction

What the hail?! Is there a test for hail noise? Recently we had a customer ask for suggestions to mitigate the noise from hail. They are building a new house in Canada that sees frequent hailstorms and are concerned about the potential cacophony from hail falling on their metal roof. I grew up near Dallas, Texas where hailstorms are common. My 1st car purchase was discounted because it had significant hail damage. My parents got a new roof because of hail damage. Years ago, one of my good friends bought a brand-new house outside of Dallas, and not long after moving in, there was a big hailstorm. They say everything’s bigger in Texas, and that’s true for the hail too. The hail was so big that it punched through his roof, through the attic, through the drywall ceiling, and landed in his master bedroom. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but their house suffered significant water damage. With that in mind, I understand this customer’s concerns, but what’s the best solution? Their goal was to be able to sleep through a hailstorm. While understandable, that’s a hard one to address for two main reasons: First, are they sound-sensitive sleepers? As a kid, I often slept through thunderstorms, even with the added noise of rain and hail falling on the plastic patio cover outside my bedroom window. Of course, not everyone is a heavy sleeper; thus, it is difficult to determine how sensitive the customer might be. The second question is much more my forte: acoustical test data! There is an ISO standard for measuring rainfall noise; ISO 140-18 “Laboratory measurement of sound generated by rainfall on building elements.” That standard has been withdrawn, and it’s uncertain if the rainfall test has been incorporated into ISO 10140. Intertek in York, PA occasionally does rainfall noise tests in their floor/ceiling test chamber, and I’ve seen others present on testing for rain noise, but don’t recall seeing hail noise testing. A quick search turned up a 1997 ASA abstract by Russ Cooper of Jaffe Holden titled “Rain and hail simulation and sound isolation tests on a wood and metal roof assembly.” Those tests were done for a project in… you guessed it, Texas! For this customer, we’re limited to mitigation measures inside the house; ceiling isolation, airspace, and mass should work for noise from hail. The customer’s roof is made of SIP panels, so they need to create an airspace between the SIPs and the ceiling. Framing a secondary ceiling supported from the SIPs using PAC’s RSIC-DC04 or using our RSIC-SI-FF 3/8” springs to hang the ceiling from the SIPs would work. They will need to make sure that the SIPs can hold the point load of the DC04s and especially the springs. Blocking could be added to help distribute the load if necessary. Has anyone dealt with mitigating hail noise, and if so, what approaches have you taken? What worked? Is anyone aware of any tests for hail noise, whether they’re project-specific mockups or test standards? #hail #noise #construction

While it is our focus, PAC's products aren't just for isolating drywall. For instance, you can use the RSIC-U HD to isolate a tankless water heater. Last month while I was in Raleigh, NC having a grand time nerding out on acoustics at the NCAC conference, my wife was at home dealing with a clogged kitchen sink (sorry sweetie!). Monday after I returned from Raleigh a plumber came by to rescue us, and while he was working we got to talking. He asked what I do for work, I explained, and then we had the inevitable conversation about music and his home sound system (Dolby Atmos). At some point in the conversation, the topic of water heaters came up, and he mentioned that they often get customers who are unhappy with the amount of noise their tankless water heaters make. This is where the RSIC-U HD comes in. Tankless water heaters are typically mounted to a piece of plywood, and that plywood can be isolated from the supporting structure using the RSIC-U HD. You can create an isolated mount for the water heater in just a few simple steps. 1. Drill a large hole near each corner of the plywood. 2. Insert a RSIC-U HD into each hole and screw it to the plywood using the pre-drilled holes in the metal plate. 3. Fasten the plywood and RSIC-U HD assembly to the supporting structure by placing a screw through the metal ferrule of each RSIC-U HD. 4. Mount the water heater to the plywood using standard procedures. If you need additional load capacity for any reason you can just add more isolators. This approach also works for wall-mounted high-efficiency boilers. I had one at my house in Lancaster, PA that was mounted to plywood that was screwed directly to a CMU block wall in our basement. The mass of the CMU and the fact that lots of dirt backed it meant that the noise and vibration generated by the boiler were minimal, but it was still noticeable when the house was quiet. If I knew then what I know now I would have had the plumber isolate the plywood from the CMU with the RSIC-U HD. You can see what the plywood and RSIC-U HD assembly looks like in the pictures below. These were taken from some recent in-house testing where we investigated using this same assembly as an isolated backer for handrails and grab bars in conjunction with our RSIC-V clips. This same approach could isolate other noise sources like wall-mounted electrical equipment and even axe-throwing backboards. And yes, I know, rubber isolators probably aren't enough to fully isolate the heavy impacts of axes hitting the backboard, but it's an inexpensive and easy way to at least reduce the severity of the impacts, and it's been used successfully for this purpose in the past. #noisecontrol #acoustics #waterheater #plumbing #axethrowing

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