Iic Rating For Carpet

When evaluating flooring underlayment sound deadening and acoustical ratings are one of the things homeowners or hoa considers.

Iic rating for carpet.

Vinyl cork and rubber have a fairly high nrc rating with hardwood bamboo tile and stone at the bottom of the scale for sound absorption. So no 1 4 inch cork is not adequate on concrete. I hope this information was helpful for you. For multi family structures some codes require an iic of 50 or more when tested in the laboratory or 45 or more when tested in the field.

An iic rating 50 means that the flooring material has minimal sound absorption capabilities. Iic values can range from as low as 25 for lightweight residential construction with no floor covering to over 65 for commercial construction with carpet. Some condos prohibit hardwood flooring entirely to make sure noise transmission into lower units is not increased. The transmission of these sounds through floor ceiling assemblies such as those found in multi level homes and apartments will be inhibited by underlayments with higher iic and stc ratings.

The main test done by flooring industry is the impact insulation class iic ad sound transmission class stc. Carpet with an nrc rating of 40 50 is the most efficient absorptive material. More typical values fall between 35 and 55. The preferred level of performance for stc and iic is 60 57 f iic.

The highest rating is iic rating 65 which includes cork flooring and carpet. The iic rating measures impact sounds such as footfalls dropped objects etc. But when you compare products look beyond the number. The impact creates vibrations that travel through the flooring and produce sounds on the other side.

The f iic and f stc is conducted in the field where sound is not as controllable hence the 5 point difference. It all begins with how sound is generated and the medium it transfers through. The higher the rating the less sound gets through. A midrange level is iic rating 60 which includes some vinyl flooring as well as wood and laminate floors.

The subfloor ceiling assembly and presence of an underlayment during testing impact the rating from one manufacturer to. The impact insulation class iic rating is a measurement of sound transmission from the floor to a room beneath it. A f iic and f stc rating. The iic rating of a condo unit floor above another condo unit should be 75 or more to match what is provided by carpet and reasonably thick carpet padding.

An iic and stc rating will generally be 5 points higher than.