Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124 Page 125 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128 Page 129 Page 130 Page 131 Page 132 Page 133 Page 134 Page 135 Page 136 Page 137 Page 138 Page 139 Page 140Overthepast10years,multi-family construction has increased demand for hard surface flooring, wheth- er this be tile, stone, engineered wood, or vinyl plank. Unfortunately, these hard floor coverings accentu- ate sound vibrations, which lead to complaints from residents. When sound enters high-rise concrete structures, it travels through the con- crete as vibration and radiates into multiple units, disturbing occupants. Installing a high-performance acous- tical underlayment underneath the finished floor prevents these vibra- tions from entering the structure. This interstitial layer between the finished floor and concrete structure decouples the contact points, limit- ing excess impact noise or any other vibrations caused by the structure. The International Building Code (IBC) has mandated multi-family construction to meet certain levels of sound attenuation in two classes, sound transmission class (STC) and impact insulation class (IIC). These classes take care of airborne (STC) and impact (IIC) noise. Airborne noise includes loud music, yell- ing, singing, etc. Impact noise can be caused by activities like high heels, moving furniture, or dancing. Ratings are given to a floor-ceiling assembly when it has been tested in a third-party NVLAP accredited laboratory. Ratings mandated for minimum levels of sound control are STC/IIC 50 when tested in a laboratory and STC/IIC 45 when tested in the field. If these levels are not met, developers, architects, and contractors may be liable for the repairs needed to meet IBC and local building code requirements. TECHNICAL FEATURE ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Choosing the correct acoustical underlayment By Ryne Sternberg, business development engineer, Pliteq, Inc. Pliteq GenieMat™ RST is a flat, resilient, reduced sound transmission mat made from 94% recycled rubber content. 112 TileLetter | September 2016