It has been 3.25 years now and it still talks to me.   I'm not worried about it falling down or anything. 

The noise seems to originate in the direction of where the big glulams tie together in the wye shaped buckets that I had made.   Maybe I should get up in the attic and see if I can reset the mounting hardware and see if it makes a difference.

Since I started monitoring this site I've noticed people mention poor sound reduction yet someone listed "quiet" as a benefit on this thread. So which is it and what is it that makes a difference if anything but personal opinion? Is it design? Furnishings/floor coverings? Foam type? Panel skin? Spline design? Sealants used? Cladding?

In my opinion having lived in a few sip homes over the years it has some to do with spline design (a solid stud spline will transfer sound much more than a osb or foam spline) Also it depends on installation quality. I have inspected sip homes at rough in stage and found corner joints with large gaps in them with no sealant. This is a direct sound opening to the outside with only siding and drywall between. This does not happen a lot hopefully but is a factor which you would think is a no brainer. It all depends on your installer. You can buy the best panel ever made but if its installed incorrectly its useless for what is was intended for.

Greentree/pdk,
I am one on here that has 'complained' about sound transfer through the panel. The panels are of high quality. The splines I used were insulated splines with OSB. I have no studs in my panel walls. The sound, particularly low frequency sound, transfers quite easily. You can hear wind blowing, people talking, cars running, etc. I don't believe this is due to the panels or SIPs but more due to my ignorance/inexperience at the time of building the house. Several posters on here have suggested fur out a wall on the inside of the panel to create a dead space and thus reduce noise. Another way is using 'Acousti-blok' or a similar product to reduce noise. I wish I had done more research before constrution.
Btw, I am happy with the SIP home so this is just a minor issue to me.

My experience has been that the noise reduction by SIP framing is quite impressive. I don't have a spectrum analyzer or some sophisticated sound frequency analysis equipment, but I can share through my experience my theory...

1. Solid members that connect the outside surface to the interior surface make it easier for sound waves to intrude into living quarters. The more you have, then the more noise infiltration you'll likely have.

2. Windows contribute quite a bit to sound infiltration. The more windows you have the more sound infiltration that you will likely have.

3. The more you minimize on the first two, and maximize SIPs usage... the more noise reduction that you will likely have. Not to mention minimal thermal bridging, hence better insulation value.

By no means am I suggesting walls with no windows. I'm certain if I were to replace my double pane windows with triple pane windows, the sound reduction would be even greater. I believe it is all about design, planning and forethought.

From my personal experience, the panels by themselves reduce a lot of the outside noises. It doesn't totally soundproof all sound frequencies. It would be interesting if somebody would do a comparison between conventional framing and SIP framing. In a heartbeat, I'd put my money on SIPs having the better outcome.

I'm working on design considerations for my next house. It'll be a passive solar design utilizing SIP walls and roofs. Being that my south facing wall will have a lot of windows, I will select my property keeping in mind a quiet south side (not something like a heavy traffic street, noisy school yard or anything else likely to be noisy). On all other sides of the house, I will likely go with triple pane windows

This is just basing it on my personal experience. Without sound detection/measurement equipment, my viewpoint would be little more than just a theory that I'm very comfortable with.

I'm building my SIP house right now, and I have noticed already the "drum effect" that has been mentioned before in this forum, even though I don't even have the roof in place. The theory has to do with frequencies of sound, the higher ones getting blocked out by the tightness of the structure and thickness of the foam, the low ones however bounce on the panels like a drum and persist as a rumbling noise.

The best answer seems to be to fir out the walls on the inside, isolating the interior space from the panels by a dead air space. Also a high mass exterior finish is supposed to help, brick for example or stucco, which absorb the sound waves before they reach the panels.

Sorry if I have botched the science, but I hope I'm getting the idea across.

Jelly

any house has a hollow sound while under construction, as you add  1-1/2  furring, drywall and other finishes (carpet,etc.) it will get quieter.


I have found that a 4" panel is a little quieter than a conventional frame wall , but a 6" is dramatically quieter

Oh I'm not worried. I'm sure it will be quiet (especially if I ever get a roof on it!).

I think the drum sound is pretty cool - makes me think about the whole skin acting together to transfer loads.

Jelly,

A contractor I know puts construction adhesive on top of the walls and beams before he seats the roof panels. This really unifies the structure and stops the roof panel sliding on top of the wall during expansion and contraction cycles. His 3,500sf + house barely makes a noise and it is a steel panel project.

Another possible cause of popping noises... I live in a SIP house (of course) and hear the popping noises as well. It only occurs on one particular exterior wall. I found the source. It is the Certainteed fiber cement lap siding. It is shrinking FAST. The full length 12' sections have shrunk 3/8" to 1/2" in less then 2 years. The fasteners are pulling out, planks breaking in half and creating large gaps between planks. The rest of the house has Hardee Plank installed and have no popping and no siding issues. OK, you're asking why a different manufacturer on one wall.. Simple, the supplier ran out of HP and I had to finish the job. The only way to tell a difference in appearance "WAS" to get close and scrutinize it. Almost two years later the difference is obvious from 200 feet. The gaps, cracks and curling up at edges are clearly visible on the Certainteed wall. I'm replacing all of the Certainteed with HP right away.

Compare exterior and interior finishing materials. Any drywall cracks? In my case no. The panels are solid. If they are moving, it is not enough to have caused any drywall cracks what-so-ever.

John
PanelStar Custom Homes

Just to be clear the sound transfer from noises outside the home to the interior are minimal.  Sounds of a chainsaw, lawnmower etc. are much much less than my last stick built home in comparison.   When it rains real hard the 11" roof panels do a good job of sound dampening in my opinion.  

This has been my experience as well wall noise is same as conventional, 6" roof is quieter that conventional, it hard to hear even a hard rain, we never hear wind
, even in minimal hurricane winds.
I have noticed in other SIP homes I have built with 6" walls , they are exceptionally quiet. My next personal build will be done with 6" walls and 8" roof.

Regarding sound in an SIP house, I stayed in a straw bale house with an SIP roof, metal sheets top and bottom of a PU foam. There was an unusual June thunderstorm pattern, every 20 or 30 minutes all night long the thunderboomers drifted over us.

The SIP roof panels radiated the sound of rain drops and small hail stones right through into the living space. The dogs were terrified, and the people were near there. It was like being in a drum set for 10 or 15 minutes, then it would be quiet and dripping for 20 or 30 minutes, then the Gene Kruppa solo would start back up.

Very strange. I plan to use PU SIPs for the roof, but put lathes down and sheet metal on the lathes. I hope it's a little quieter than the house I visited last summer!

Anyone else been in a storm with metal SIP roof?

JR

JeffD, is there are preferred brand or type of construction adhesive? There are so many different ingredients - I wonder which is best for steel panels?

Jelly,

He used Liquid Nails general purpose construction adhesive. I think any construction type adhesive will work. A mastic type adhesive will work as well. The panels are most likely to be clean, but if you are using break-metal wall or beam caps, make sure they are oil free.

JR,

I live in a metal SIP home here in Tampa, Florida. It has 6" steel skin SIP roof structure with a metal roofing over metal furring channels on the top of the SIPs. The inside of the house is vaulted and the underside of the panel is just painted.

During moderate to heavy rain storms I can barely have an audible conversation inside my home. There is this "rushing" "white noise" sound that basically drowns out most forms of communication.

What I have learned from this when I first built my home back in '96 is that metal construction in general is very reverberant. This means vibration is very easily transmitted though metal structural members and surfaces. If one is going to build with these material on must find ways to dampen the transmittal of the vibration/sound. This is done by isolating and adding mass to the structure. I have found that asphalt shingles and a self-adhering bituminous roll underlayment, applied over the metal SIPs do a great job of absorbing the energy of the falling rain. Also, if one furrs-out the underside of the roof SIPs and applies drywall, this adds a sound absorbing air space and some mass to the roof/ceiling assembly. If you are using a metal roof finish I highly recommend any self-adhering bituminous roll underlayment. This alone, I have found, does a great job of absorbing the energy of the falling rain.

JeffD, do you think the self-adhering bituminous underlayment goes farther than just plain roofing felt in absorbing the noise? I've got a 5v crimp roof planned to go directly on to 4 inch metal panels with just 30 lb felt in between, but I can switch gears if it would make a big difference.

Jelly,

I am not sure the 30lb felt will work the way you want it to. What you are looking for is a slip sheet to isolate the metal roofing from the metal SIP and some sound deadening qualities. You will get the sound deadening but the potential high roof surface temperatures will melt the felt and it could bond the two surfaces together. For your application I would recommend a self-adhering bituminous underlayment with a high temperature top sheet for the following reasons:

A) It will properly seal your roof long term
B) The underlayment is self healing which will keep any SIP surface penetrations leak free
C) It will deaden sound and vibration transmission
D) It will act as a slip sheet allowing the two metal surfaces to move freely during expansion and contraction cycles and finally
E) It will provide a surface with traction for the roofers who will be working on the roof. The added cost is an inexpensive "insurance policy" over the lifetime of the home.

You may also want to consider some type of sheathing between a metal SIP roof panel and standing seam metal roof. I've heard that the metal roof clips will telegraph up through the roof. One fix I heard of was using something like 3/4" R-Max sheathing to support the standing seam roof beyond the clip locations. I would think this would also help dampen the sound. I was thinking of using a peel and stick underlayment covered by R-Max sheets (with cutouts for the standing seam clip locations).

Besides it not meeting code, the lack of drywall is the source of your noise, a furred airspace is also helpful.
the direct drywall contact on OSB is also the source for noise transfer, the reason why I always recommend furring instead of wire chases.