Door Negotiations

Good News!  Eric Pollard of Sound Isolation Store has agreed to check out other options than MDF as the core of a regular IsoDoor.  Both he and I agree that the IsoDoor Basic would probably deliver disappointing performance.*  It's not much more massive than the hollow core doors I already have.  I could use a regular IsoDoor for both Queen's and King's rooms, yielding excellent acoustic separation and excellent isolation from the living room stereo.  I personally feel this is one of the more important home upgrades, especially for people like me with weird hours and audiophile habits, and a friend with pets.  My friend doesn't think I should spend so much money (even though I haven't begun to admit how much this will actually cost).

(*What almost predictably led Eric to this conclusion was my confession that I was attaching the new door to a wall with 5 layers of drywall, green glue, and whisper clips.  That is a 65 STC door assembly, and would not be a good match for a 29 STC door.)

I've found something that may just be the ticket.  Purebond Hardwood from Columbia Forest Products.  This uses soy based adhesives exclusively.  No formaldehyde or isocyanate based adhesives.  Soy adhesives are also used in milk cartons because of their safety.

Wonder of wonders this premium product is sold at Home Depot, and they may be the best place to find it.  After finding this out I went down to the closest Home Depot store, and there it was, a beautiful piece of Red Oak plywood with Purebond.

I carefully smelled it 3 times.  It had very little smell, but from what I could tell it had a slight milk carton smell.  Not bad at all.  Meanwhile, other stacks of plywood went from barely tolerable to totally unacceptable in smell.