Materials
Sound-Absorbing Materials
Porous absorbers, dense barriers, and resilient layers behave very differently. A look at what each material does and where it belongs.
Read the guideResidential Acoustics · Canada
Quieter rooms start with how sound moves through them.
North Harvest Co collects practical reading on reducing unwanted noise in homes: which materials absorb sound, how walls and floors are treated, and why room layout changes what you hear.
Three core topics
Where home noise control actually happens
Most residential noise problems trace back to three areas. Each guide below focuses on one, with concrete examples and the trade-offs that matter in everyday living spaces.
Treatments
Wall & Floor Treatments
From decoupled stud walls to floating floors, the assemblies that block sound between rooms and between dwelling units.
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Room Layout
Room Layout & Sound
Furniture placement, ceiling height, and hard versus soft surfaces decide how a room sounds before any panel is installed.
Read the guideHow to read these guides
Two measurements you will see repeatedly
STC — airborne sound
Sound Transmission Class rates how well an assembly blocks airborne noise such as voices or music. A higher number means more reduction across the tested frequency range. The rating method is defined by ASTM E413.
IIC — impact sound
Impact Insulation Class rates how well a floor and ceiling assembly resists footstep and impact noise from above. It is the metric that matters most for multi-unit buildings and second-storey rooms.
absorption -> reduces reflections inside one room (NRC)
isolation -> reduces sound passing between rooms (STC / IIC)
these are different goals and need different solutions
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