The Home Crowd

This is going on the short list of “Things I want”. Quiet Solution’s soundproof drywall boasts that one 5/8″ sheet is acoustically equal to (8) layers of standard 5/8″ drywall. Not many of us have the square footage to spare by packing in an additional 5 inches of drywall to the interior of your homes. Also, don’t count on any of your doors functioning properly to account for that. That would never happen of course, as it would be simpler just to construct a masonry wall, than build up a mountain of gypsum.

photo credit: djweitzner

Seeing as how the average interior wall has an STC (Sound Transmission Class) value of about 34, good enough to separate your family but still hear their conversations through the wall. Partition common walls separating apartments, townhomes and condos are required to have and STC of 50. Which is good enough to keep your business your own, yet still allows your neighbors to share their musical tastes with you….like it or not. Most of Quiet Solutions’ QuietRock products sport an STC of at least 50. They have an interactive sound example page at their website which allows you to experience the contrasting STC values as if a garage band was playing in the next room.

The best possible soundproofing solution they currently have has an STC value of 80, which is meant for home theaters and can be reached by adding two layers of their 1 3/8″ to a stud wall. This assembly, I imagine, when used in master bedroom applications, will bring upon the end of the phrase “Stop it! You’ll wake the kids!”

HGTV’s “I want that!” showcases the QuietRock product in the video below

There are other uses of course. Making your home feel solid and quiet and every sound in it’s place can be appreciated by everyone in your household. Finally get that media room/home theater you’ve always wanted? Now keep it ramped up way beyond bedtime. Oh, and those neighbors you have? You know the ones, the ones who, at best buy, go straight for the stereo demos and their accompanying volume knobs until products drop from the shelves, and your sanity drops from sight? Yeah, treat your exterior walls.

The downside of course for this product is the price. Prices start at 40$ (volume purchase) for a 4′x8′ sheet, and only go up from there with higher rated products. Standard drywall is of course, considerably less, but to gain a comparable STC rating using a combination of standard drywall, resilient channels and other various products would bring the project budget closer to what you would have spent by just ordering soundproof drywall.

- Quiet Solutions’ Website

I’m not even sure where I came across this, likely saved from one of those e-mails that are forwarded again and again.  But it’s both hilarious and impressive.  Seems like there’s a couple of access points, likely from the garage and also that fake boulder in the yard.  I’m sure under one of the neighboring boulders, you’ll find a spare key to the house.  And what is that?  Is that a vault door?

And what a terrible choice for a garden.  No wonder they hid it underground, no flowers to speak of.  They must have hidden their “garden” to avoid their friends and neighbors laughing at them.  However, after the homeowner was put away, for what I’m certain would be an extremely long sentence, I’d love to see what happened to their subterranean getaway.  More than likely, it was filled in, but with a little proper reinforcement, I’m sure it could find another use.

• Home theater? (Crank up that movie as loud as you want, gophers can’t complain, if anything, they up and move away…. Double bonus!)
• Kids play room? (Oh no, not completely unsupervised, get one of those security cameras!  See anything hilarious?  Save and upload to Youtube)
• Guest room? (For unwanted guests!  And just to punctuate the point, keep a proper guest room in the house, with windows and proper ventilation and heating and such, yet dump your unwanted guest underground.  Next time, they’ll find a proper hotel.)

• Game room? (Oh no, not pinball and billiards, we’re talking archery, paintball, indoor shooting range.  You know?  All the fun things you’d do in your backyard if not for the neighbors having you arrested.)

Hmm… I’m not sure how they got caught, but I’d definitely be tipped off if someone happened to purchase 200 white buckets from the hardware store.

Well, not necessarily stickers like your kids deface your home with, but large solar panels perfect for flat-roofing applications. The Lumeta Power-ply 380 by DRI companies has released such a sticker, and quite a bit one at that.

Oh, and the kicker, they’re installed in less time than you take for your lunch hour.

- From Wired,

While the panels are lighter and easier to install than traditional tilt-it systems, the downside is that by sticking flat on the roof, they lose the optimal angle to the sun. Torres says that costs his company’s panels about five percent of their power production. As is, the panels claim peak power generation of 380 watts (pdf) in a “typical installation.”

Their promotional video also shows two installers putting together a six-panel grid in 34 minutes. They place the solar mat, plug in and ta-da! The panels have a low-profile slope to prevent pooling of rainwater.

No word on pricing yet, but with the current push of solar power technology, it seems only natural that the prices, will also follow suit and come down in time. Those guys in the video set down a grid of 6 panels that seemed to plug in without any trouble. Perhaps, with the easy connectivity, you may be able to get a starter pack of a few panels, then later on buy additional panels. That might bring solar power within reach to many.

Of course, most of us don’t have flat roofs, but perhaps in the future they’ll develop products which fit in seamlessly with the standard asphalt shingle roof. Yeah, of course you still have several black rectangles on your roof, but it’s still an improvement of the current generation of blocky panels elevated off your roof by some sort of erector set.

(From Wired)

In a great article by Neha Grey at Divine Caroline, Neha compares what your home buck gets you here vs. abroad. Below you have a French Chateau, which $500,000 would get you a quarter ownership or that same 500K would get you a very plain home in L.A. suburb downey.

Hmm, Downey or France? I’m familiar with both. Downey is a decent place, very dull, the people are rude, and the food is terrible. France matches all these qualities plus some.

That first pic reminds me of every Bond villain or any supervillain from the movies though. All had exquisite palatial estates in far off exotic countries. Now that I know what these evil geniuses paid for their homes, I’m less likely to believe that they weren’t so much criminal masterminds as they were disgruntled office workers who cashed out their 401K’s and moved overseas.

The depressing facts (6 more eye opening and hair pulling examples) from Divine Caroline.

This week, with the devastation that was caused by the cyclone in Myanmar (Burma), we’re all reminded of Katrina and every destructive hurricane we’ve ever seen.  Looking at pictures though, and the reports of 120 mph winds, the wreckage is quite similar to U.S. tornadoes and hurricanes.  While many of this storms victims lived in poorly constructed shacks, many of us here in the states who reside in high-wind prone areas have grown to accept wind-proofing their homes.  Whether it be storm shutters, roll-up protective metal screens, or just a mad dash down to the hardware store to get enough plywood to cover your windows/doors.

I saw this Q&A article by Norman Becker P.E. from Popular Mechanics, Norman is asked about Fabric screens used for wind protection.  He points to Armor Screen, a company from Riviera Beach, FL as a vendor of these screens which are rated to withstand the stringent Florida wind load requirements, large missile impact as well as 276 mph winds.

(Image credit: flying-chilli.com)

They boast quick set up times, yet I imagine that after seeing some of Armor Screen’s photos ‘as-installed’, that the actual illustration above.  Could you imagine stepping on that eyehook bolt popping out of your hardscape in your bare feet?  Ouch!  Granted, given enough room between screen and window (22 inches they say), the screen could allow enough deflection that you could possibly save that window in a hurricane or tornado adjacent.  I say adjacent of course, because if a tornado is headed for your living room, you’ll find refuge in your basement, and be damn pleased if it doesn’t strip you of your soiled undergarments by the time it’s left.

And saving the windows is great, and can save you some repair bills.  But the true intention of this product is to keep projectiles and debris from breaching the interior of your home and keeping you and your family safe.

Take this home above for example.  That screen’s on tight.  Any projectiles that hit it WILL bust out the window behind.  But take into account that in winds that are slamming against your home at 120 mph WILL be able to launch some of those cobblestones from the planter like kid hurling eggs at their least favorite teacher’s house.  Oh, and those pavers in the driveway?  Yeah, they pop out too.  Not what you want coming through the window.  Not only will that red-dyed chunk of concrete come in, but so will the glass, and glass blown through a funnel-like orifice in your home at that speed is also quite dangerous.

Looks like a great product though.  If they only had this fireproof and able to tarp over an entire home for the fire areas here in California.

Oh, and if this isn’t in your budget, and you’re going the old route of placing plywood over your doors and windows, do as the romans do and place it on the exterior!

(Q&A Popular Mechanics article here, and Armor Screen site)

Frenchman Gerard Brion has spent the last 15 years re-creating the city of lights in his garden using junk, such as scrap wood, concrete blocks, and tin cans.

And apparently from the picture above, he has a great affection for congested traffic. Looks more like the ‘city of headlights’!

According to the Sun UK, Gerard is 29, which meant he began his hobby at 14 years of age?? Wow. I did see the picture of him on their article, and he looks damn near 45. Also, he probably still lives at home if he began this in his adolescence , but it’s a fun pic of him posing with the Eiffel tower within a terrific accomplishment (Not pictured: Wife, social life, disgruntled parents due to tourists in their yard)

How is this relevant? I’m filing it under “Landscaping”

More pics here at Linternaute, and a short article, but great slideshow at The Sun UK. (And yes, I do believe that is a spider-man action figure atop the Eiffel Tower on the main pic at The Sun article)