I originally wanted all interior walls to be covered with Quietrock 528 since it does everything: mold resistant, fire resistant, abuse resistant, and sound resistant.
Problem is, it's rather expensive. I've heard about one person quoted around $138 for each 4x8 board. Compare that to regular drywall at $5 for each 4x8 board. I figured that could increase the cost of my project by $3000, not including extra labor, special tools, and special caulk.
So then I rolled back the plan to just use 528 on the ceiling. The brick walls are not going to need noise reduction like the ceiling. Above the ceiling there will be fluffy fiberglass insulation (hardly any effect on sound), OSB sheathing, and metal roof. None of that dampens noise from exterior by much. And loud music from the inside could even cause OSB supported metal roof to rattle...not at all desireable!
I talked to Serious Materials (800-797-8159), the makers of QuietRock today, and they recommended their newest product, QuietRock EZ. They said "about 1/3 the price of QuietRock 528". Plus 528 requires a special tool to cut, whereas EZ can be snapped just like regular drywall, or even easier by design.
Checking the specs, the noise reduction properties seem virtually identical, and that was the important part. For the ceiling I don't need impact resistance. Mold resistance in a normally unconditioned airspace is probably not an issue. Impact resistance is not an issue for ceiling.
This looks doable now, though the closest dealer is in Austin, so I'm wondering about pickup-delivery costs. I'm thinking the additional ceiling cost would be around $600, and in the long run well worth the money.
Building Specialties
512-670-2774
Serious Materials also has "Serious Windows." I had been considering that for my house, might also be good for pool house. Their dealer is:
Soco Studio
512-970-5675
I was hoping to get quality Aluminum windows from Fleetwood or Milgard or local supplier. Goodness knows how much a Fleetwood window would cost, I think it's one of those "if you have to ask, you can't afford it"; their galleries show real mansions like in Bel Air, not McMansions. They sure look nice and read nice though.
The dealer for Fleetwood Windows in San Antonio is Progressive Solutions. It seems they are also the Milgard dealer (back in the old days, or maybe even now too when possible, Fleetwood doesn't or didn't allow their dealers to sell other high grade aluminum windows. Not that anyone claims anything else is competitive with the Fleetwood top lines like Everest 850, but Fleetwood nowadays has a big catalog including windows less expensive than their top lines).
Progressive Solutions
210-832-8040
I hate the very thought of throwaway vinyl windows, the current standard highly advantaged by Energy Star ratings. Sure, you save energy until they need replacement, then it takes lots of human energy to replace and embedded energy in the replacement product. And when replacement time comes, we may be living on catfood or wild grains, and may not be so easy to get a replacement window in those hard times. Vinyl (PVC) is in raw form an extremely brittle and almost useless polymer. The only thing that makes vinyl useable is "plasticizers", volatile organic chemicals which eventually vaporize or deteriorate chemically, especially when subjected to heat, exactly what it gets in extremes in window frame application. In contrast, polypropylene, polyethylene, and similar plastics may not even need plasticizers to be useable (though sometimes perversely get them anyway). Vinyl is OK for cars (which don't last forever anyway) and toys, but house windows? This has never made sense to me. Houses should be built of permanent materials, not throwaway materials, as if to last forever.
I also hate the very idea of wood which constantly needs repainting; always makes me think of windows that stick from expansion or too much accumulated old paint. Why use a product that requires annual maintenance which nobody does correctly anyway?
And I hate the tinfoil aluminum windows at lumber stores with terrible U factor. Fleetwood and Milgard offer "thermally broken" windows with energy star ratings (and some that don't but oh well).
Serious Windows makes fiberglass windows...that sounds OK. Fiberglass is basically silica, the same thing as glass. Here's the Serious Windows page wrt their fiberglass windows:
http://www.seriouswindows.com/residential/learn/understanding/advantages-of-fiberglass.html
They actually claim fiberglass lasts longer than aluminum; 80+ years with no maintenance. Plus energy savings and many other good features. They claim fiberglass is good up to 350 degrees.
So I guess I'll check them out too.
Problem is, it's rather expensive. I've heard about one person quoted around $138 for each 4x8 board. Compare that to regular drywall at $5 for each 4x8 board. I figured that could increase the cost of my project by $3000, not including extra labor, special tools, and special caulk.
So then I rolled back the plan to just use 528 on the ceiling. The brick walls are not going to need noise reduction like the ceiling. Above the ceiling there will be fluffy fiberglass insulation (hardly any effect on sound), OSB sheathing, and metal roof. None of that dampens noise from exterior by much. And loud music from the inside could even cause OSB supported metal roof to rattle...not at all desireable!
I talked to Serious Materials (800-797-8159), the makers of QuietRock today, and they recommended their newest product, QuietRock EZ. They said "about 1/3 the price of QuietRock 528". Plus 528 requires a special tool to cut, whereas EZ can be snapped just like regular drywall, or even easier by design.
Checking the specs, the noise reduction properties seem virtually identical, and that was the important part. For the ceiling I don't need impact resistance. Mold resistance in a normally unconditioned airspace is probably not an issue. Impact resistance is not an issue for ceiling.
This looks doable now, though the closest dealer is in Austin, so I'm wondering about pickup-delivery costs. I'm thinking the additional ceiling cost would be around $600, and in the long run well worth the money.
Building Specialties
512-670-2774
Serious Materials also has "Serious Windows." I had been considering that for my house, might also be good for pool house. Their dealer is:
Soco Studio
512-970-5675
I was hoping to get quality Aluminum windows from Fleetwood or Milgard or local supplier. Goodness knows how much a Fleetwood window would cost, I think it's one of those "if you have to ask, you can't afford it"; their galleries show real mansions like in Bel Air, not McMansions. They sure look nice and read nice though.
The dealer for Fleetwood Windows in San Antonio is Progressive Solutions. It seems they are also the Milgard dealer (back in the old days, or maybe even now too when possible, Fleetwood doesn't or didn't allow their dealers to sell other high grade aluminum windows. Not that anyone claims anything else is competitive with the Fleetwood top lines like Everest 850, but Fleetwood nowadays has a big catalog including windows less expensive than their top lines).
Progressive Solutions
210-832-8040
I hate the very thought of throwaway vinyl windows, the current standard highly advantaged by Energy Star ratings. Sure, you save energy until they need replacement, then it takes lots of human energy to replace and embedded energy in the replacement product. And when replacement time comes, we may be living on catfood or wild grains, and may not be so easy to get a replacement window in those hard times. Vinyl (PVC) is in raw form an extremely brittle and almost useless polymer. The only thing that makes vinyl useable is "plasticizers", volatile organic chemicals which eventually vaporize or deteriorate chemically, especially when subjected to heat, exactly what it gets in extremes in window frame application. In contrast, polypropylene, polyethylene, and similar plastics may not even need plasticizers to be useable (though sometimes perversely get them anyway). Vinyl is OK for cars (which don't last forever anyway) and toys, but house windows? This has never made sense to me. Houses should be built of permanent materials, not throwaway materials, as if to last forever.
I also hate the very idea of wood which constantly needs repainting; always makes me think of windows that stick from expansion or too much accumulated old paint. Why use a product that requires annual maintenance which nobody does correctly anyway?
And I hate the tinfoil aluminum windows at lumber stores with terrible U factor. Fleetwood and Milgard offer "thermally broken" windows with energy star ratings (and some that don't but oh well).
Serious Windows makes fiberglass windows...that sounds OK. Fiberglass is basically silica, the same thing as glass. Here's the Serious Windows page wrt their fiberglass windows:
http://www.seriouswindows.com/residential/learn/understanding/advantages-of-fiberglass.html
They actually claim fiberglass lasts longer than aluminum; 80+ years with no maintenance. Plus energy savings and many other good features. They claim fiberglass is good up to 350 degrees.
So I guess I'll check them out too.
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