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

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)

Now what kid growing up didn’t dream of having a hidden passageway in their house.  Damn near every episode of scooby doo had one, and just as many movies with spooky mansion were required to sport a hidden passageway.

I’d always thought it’d be great someday when I built a house that it would have a hidden passageway, but would probably be more of a do-it-yourself task than I was prepared to take on.

Fortunately, Creative Home Engineering of Tempe, Arizona has taken on the task of manufacturing different types of passageways, and thus saving ourselves from disastrous cabinets which would likely come off its hinges on the eighth use and landing squarely on our feet.  However, I believe it’s common knowledge that you can sustain acceptable balance with at least 7 toes.

Maybe you have that den/home office which has become so overgrown with clutter that it’s become an eyesore to all who walk past it.  Well, a hidden passageway would cover that up nicely.  More importantly, in these times where home invasion robberies are more and more frequent, the prospect of a more secure hiding space could be quite valuable.  Sure you’ve got that fire-proof safe, and it’s tucked in the closet somewhere, only to be quickly discovered.  But it’s so heavy!  Who could lift it?  Yeah, it’ll take a couple of people, they won’t press their ear against your safe and crack it right there.  They will lift it out, if not hook it up to the tow hook of the getaway car and drag it outside, load it up, and crack it open later.

From the pictures above, the quality of workmanship already looks better than the commercial door hinges I’d likely try to force onto my own passageway.  The picture below, I find very entertaining, as it reminds me of The Munsters, lacking of course, “spot”, the fire breathing dragon/monster/creature living under the stairs.  But instead, it’s a nice hiding spot in a split-level home.

From Creative Home Engineering (via BallerHouse)

Sony recently showcased their newest OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display.  The display boasts an 11 inch 960×540 pixel resolution screen, but most importantly a screen that is 0.3 mm thick.

Now, we all know there will be some will see the as both “Must Have”, and “Must have right now” and will shuck out major bucks to have a pretty, thin TV first.  But do yourself a favor, wait it out a bit.  Enjoy the giant LCD/Plasma you bought last christmas “for the family” (yourself) and have nicely affixed to your living room wall.  There’s still debate going on with which to get of those two “should I have a bright picture or better picture, or better picture and not so bright?”.  You can almost bet though, that by the time that battle has been won, OLED TV’s or possibly the next ‘big’ thing in TV’s will be available.  Right now, as it stands, LCD’s and Plasmas consume alot of energy.  Plasmas suck alot of energy, and LCD’s use a backlight as a source of their brightness.  The OLED screens, however generate their own light and are more energy efficient.  The downside right now of the OLED is that the organic materials used in manufacturing degrade and break down over time, rendering the picture diminished much sooner than the LCD/Plasma units on the market today.

But inevitably, you’ll be able to replace that bulky flat panel on the wall, which of course, replaced that giant plastic box you had sitting in an entertainment center with something that resembles the thickness of the posters on your kids’ walls.

From Engadget

There was a time, shortly after graduating college when the idea of just packing up the car one day and moving from sunny California to the east coast.  But what to do with all my stuff.  At the time I had a bulky desktop computer, alot of furniture, TV’s, and tons of junk.  Who’d want to move that?  No, sell it, give it, toss it in a dumpster if necessary.

Start over, start clean.  But that takes time, lotsa shopping, and lots of lost weekends searching for the next great coffee table.  Seems like this might be a good product for those brave enough to just go off the grid, leave in the middle of the night, take their clothes and pictures, and leave town with a full tank of gas.

Although it’s just a concept from the designers at Casulo, based out of Germany, it seems as though this would be a great product for those sending the kids off to college (not in furnished dormitory housing), or just someone who needs to relocate and have the basics until they’ve replenished their living environment piece by piece.

(From Casulo via eUpgrader)

Unsightly speaker wires are just expected for those in apartments but it’s understood as it’s a temporary home. But FlatWire has another option for those tenants/homeowners looking to clean up the mess of wires without punch holes in your walls. And perhaps even that’s not an option sometimes. Perhaps you have shared walls between condo units you don’t wanna pierce, wall cavities full of spray foam insulation, or as in the case of many high rise apartments, a concrete wall.

(During Installation)

(After FlatWire is applied to walls, finished, and repainted over)

But what about folding the wires 90 degrees, just fold it upon itself. My big concern about this would be the heat generated by electrical cables as it is, but it seems to be directed at speakers, and low-voltage lighting, not providing the juice to that 500 watt home theater receiver, so I can’t imagine the paint or wallpaper bubbling itself off the wall. Seems like this may be useful for some of us, but just make sure you remember where you ran the FlatWire, so you don’t go and drive a nail through it years later while hanging a painting.

You can order it off their site, but it’s a little steep. 37$ for 25 feet of the speaker wire, or a home theater package for 250, plus their special adhesive, tape, labor (mudding, sanding, repainting or wallpapering if you choose)

Or you could just just run a wire, and paint over that. Sounds terrible, but you know you’ve seen it done before…

FlatWire (via Lifehacker)

Lifehacker also has a great post of “10 ways to get cables under control”, a how-to guide to keeping those cables under control and out of sight.