# Quiet Rock 545



## SlimPickins

Any of you other lucky dogs worked with this stuff? Yikes!

I'm doing some soundproofing for a previous client who was unhappy with the Green Glue/2nd layer of 5/8".

I priced out rubber clips and the Quiet Rock, and on the QR bid I added in a Festool TS-75, a track, a spark arrestor for my vacuum, and a steel cutting blade (total for the tools alone was $1255). The kicker is that the units are finished, and there is no way to get rock up to the second story(where all of the sheets need to go) other than a boom truck , so I need to cut the sheets in the finished units (hence the vacuum and special saw). In the end, for 4 units, the QR and the clip application were almost identical.....including the tools, and my 45% discount on an overstock of the QR.

This stuff is a beast......208 lbs. per sheet, 1 layer of 1/4" rock, 1 layer of 1/16th" steel, 2 more layers of 1/4" rock, 1 layer of 1/4" HardieBoard and a final layer of 1/4" rock. Holy moses....it's heavy, and a beast to cut. It took me damn near an hour to cut and hang one sheet (rip it to width, cut out the outlet with a drill bit and then a jigsaw, and notch for the existing trim). I had to use 3" screws because we are laminating over existing 5/8"....but I'll tell you what......tap on the existing wall, and then on the Quiet Rock, it's night and day. Seems like it's going to do the trick, if it doesn't kill me first. I only hung one as a test drive today, Wednesday I'll finish the hanging.........or it'll finish me.:whistling2:


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## Mountain Man

Ya that stuff is definately nasty to work with!!


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## SlimPickins

Mountain Man said:


> Ya that stuff is definately nasty to work with!!


And.......it's THX certified! :laughing:


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## saskataper

So that's what I need to do to get a track saw, thanks slim!


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## Philma Crevices

Grats on getting another toy, i mean tool, out of the deal :yes:


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## SlimPickins

saskataper said:


> So that's what I need to do to get a track saw, thanks slim!


Unfortunately, I already have a track saw so buying this one just to cut drywall is a touch painful, I'd much rather have a domino! But, there was no way in hell I was going to use my TS-55 on drywall, as well as the fact that they don't make steel cutting blades for the 55.

Dust extraction on the drywall isn't perfect, I'd say 2-5% of the dust makes it into the air. There's still a little cloud in the air when the cut is finished, but nothing like what you get without it. I'm a little nervous about the next unit, which is a live-in....


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## Ted White

Quiet Rock and the other 4 manufacturers of pre-damped drywall are simply layers of drywall or cement board and a damping compound. THX or not.

Not sure what sort of scenario you have going on there, but if there's no plan, simply adding more mass will only get you so far.


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## SlimPickins

Ted White said:


> Quiet Rock and the other 4 manufacturers of pre-damped drywall are simply layers of drywall or cement board and a damping compound. THX or not.
> 
> Not sure what sort of scenario you have going on there, but if there's no plan, simply adding more mass will only get you so far.


Hiya Ted, good to see you back in here.

The scenario in this case is an underbuilt assembly that is causing the developers some headaches. In reality, it's a super-poor design from the ground up. We're looking at a simple 2x4 wall between townhouse units (duplexes) with a garage below on the main floors and bedrooms on the upper floors. In the first unit, we simply laminated another layer of 5/8" with Green Glue in between. It was not very effective. I could still hear the cuckoo clock next door.

I started doing more research, and when I found the 545 I asked my supply house about it. They were sitting on a small pile of it (enough to do my 4 units) and were offering a substantial discount. After hemming and hawing, and doing some price comparisons between the more extensive options, we decided to run a test with the 545 (by the way, the THX bit was tongue in cheek). The reason we went with the 545 was because we could get away without doing any demolition. Rubber clips and hat channel were another option, but for now the 545 is the cheapest of the "high" end options. For the rubber clips to be effective, we need to remove the existing drywall (to avoid the potential of a triple leaf effect......which I learned from you:thumbsup.

I finished hanging the rock today, and I must say, my initial impression is to be be very impressed. Yes, it's a lot of mass, so that helps, but it even canceled out the echo in the rooms. This was confirmed by a friend of mine who showed up when one room was hung, and the other was not. I think, for this scenario, we might have found a tolerable solution. All told, even with the high initial cost of this first unit, we're running pretty competitive numbers with _most _other methods.

I've had a conversation with them concerning the unfinished units on site, and suggested they build some extra walls for decoupling and added insulation. The cost will then be much cheaper because we can use the double layer on both sides with Green Glue, and framing costs are minimal for the single story units.

All told, this _seems_ to be the best method in this application...with the exception of the enormous toll on my body:laughing: I'm waiting for the neighbors to make some noise so I can truly gauge what we've accomplished, but there's a very noticeable difference thus far. I don't like the material, but I _am_ happy with the results.


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## SlimPickins

In the middle of hanging another one of these units.

Developer, who lives next door, asks when I'm taking a lunch so the grandbabies can take a nap. I don't take lunches, but I should have said "Well, as soon as I'm done it's going to be really quiet....maybe they can take a nap then?" :laughing:

Instead, here I am twiddling my thumbs on the interwebs. I'm getting faster at hanging the stuff, but I sure wish I was stronger


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## joepro0000

Use a grinder or a skill saw. Very tough to cut that quiet rock. Its more labor intensive, and the test show that green glue with 2 layers works more effectively.


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