How does Green Glue Stack up against other Soundproofing Material?
Damping ability is a key factor in soundproofing. Damping can be measured, and not all damping systems are created equally. One method of testing damping factor is to strike a panel (or object at times) with an impact hammer, and utilize an oscilloscope to observe the decay. The faster the vibration decays, the higher the rate of damping.
Raw Drywall
Damping Factor: .006
This is the impulse response of a raw 5/8” firecode (type X) drywall panel. The extremely extended ringing is a result of the very poor damping inherent to this material. This poor internal damping leads to resonant problems in drywall constructions
Conventional Adhesives
Damping Factor: .032
Conventional adhesives such as normal drywall or subfloor adhesives do raise damping, and offer the added advantage of eliminating potential problems with a small air cavity between layers. All the test points we have taken with several brands of drywall or sub-floor adhesive report damping factor between .02 and .04. This is a good-case, and has damping of .032. The difference in damping between normal adhesives and raw drywall is not as large in real constructions.
Tar Paper
Damping Factor: .051
“Tar paper”, an asphalt based material, sandwiched between layers can also raise the damping of a wall (or floor). Typically, we see a little better damping with this construction. The damping is likely due to friction between surfaces, and not a viscoelastic effect. Damping tends to be non-linear in this assembly. Measured damping varies considerably, depending on construction variables. This figure is at the center of our data.
Engineered Damping Adhesives
Damping Factor: .10
Pre-damped boards are available from various sources, and exhibit distinctly improved performance relative to conventional materials. Damping factors between .09 and 0.12 are common.
Engineered Damped Boards
Damping Factor: .10
This is the impulse response of a raw 5/8” firecode (type X) drywall panel. The extremely extended ringing is a result of the very poor damping inherent to this material. This poor internal damping leads to resonant problems in drywall constructions
Green Glue
Damping Factor: 0.50+
Green Glue’s damping performance exceeds that of other materials by large margins. As you see here, it’s decay to zero is very fast. To ensure that this article accurately reflects the performance of Green Glue under a variety of conditions, we include several other examples immediately below.
70% Coverage of Green Glue
Damping Factor: ~.35
If money is tight, you can obtain as much as 70% of Green’s great performance with just 50% of the surface area covered.
Real World Green Glue Test 100% Coverage
Damping Factor: .0.50+
Just how tolerant is Green Glue in the real world?
These three graphs and the one graph above represent four different applicators, four different drywall sheets, and three different levels of application (ranging up to 50% deviation from the recommended amount).
Each of the data points, and the other few thousand that we have, are superior to anything else we’ve tested. They are also remarkably consistent over a variety of application conditions for a Constrained Layered Damping system (such systems tend to be thickness sensitive to a high degree).
About these tests:
Each data set shown taken with the same equipment/operator, etc. as you can see, initial vibration levels are equivalent in all specimen. Scale is the same on all graphs. Each graph is adjusted in time-length to reflect a very similar (or equal) number of cycles at the resonant frequency of the same in question - this allows maximum accuracy of visual comparisons. All data is believed to be accurate within the limits of a very good lab, and was taken/presented in good faith. Results may vary.