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COOPERATOR.COM THE COOPERATOR — JANUARY 2019 21 TENANT STORAGE SOLUTIONS Serving The New York Area For Over 20 Years. WireCrafters.com | 800-808-1860 | info@WireCrafters.com CONTACT YOUR NEW YORK OFFICE 800-808-1860 Welded Wire Lockers The Bike Stackerhe Bike Stacker T ® The Wall Rider • Single or double tier • Industrial grade construction • Installation service available • Solid 16 GA sheet metal lockers also available • Staggered, formed bike trays hold any style bike upright • Tear drop tire slot (pat. pending) • Made of 1/8” steel angle and 14 GA steel formed channel • Heavy-duty 11 GA steel • Vinyl sleeve protects wheel rim • Installs easily...with two 1/2” round holes for wall mounting • Includes security cable The Wall Rider • Heavy-duty 11 GA steel ® had high ceilings. They also used lots of have some level of flexibility or resiliency concrete fill, which is like rubble, so it’s to it, and has to have a complete seal. You pretty quiet. There are many layers.” Kevin White, Owner of Brooklyn In- sulation and Soundproofing, which has offices in New York, New Jersey, and transmission between apartments are of- Florida, says: “The old buildings were ten single studs and back-to-back elec- soundproofed by density. Everything trical outlets, which do little to reduce back in the day was built solid, and ex- tremely dense. The denser the floor or Though strongly cautioned against by wall, the harder it is for that sound to architects, developers will often ignore transmit through.” Mid-Century Change From the late 1960s onward, “build- ers went for lighter-weight materials like ing materials are used within the initial sheetrock and studs, so you have much construction, and some installed after. more sound trans- fer,” Boddewyn says. This has led to more issues with both air- borne and structural noise. And according to Marsh, the level of noise in a build- ing “has to do with math. And developers aren’t using math in their projects. They build as they do be- cause they can – it’s all about the cost of the materials. A lot of developers on less high-end projects won’t put the expen- sive materials in.” Consequently, “there’s according to Gaynor, will not prevent a poor quality of sound control.” White agrees. “We see how fast devel- opers are putting up new buildings, and other. Schnitta agrees, but cautions that “a with soundproofing it’s about quality, not thick poured concrete floor itself is great quantity,” he says. “We see cheap materi- als that aren’t installed correctly in new enough, it will be terrible for footfall,” or units, and sometimes they don’t do any- thing to decouple the floors, which is bad such as dropped articles. She explains for impact transmission.” The proliferation of glass buildings or Impact Insulation Class. “Many old over the past two decades has made the buildings were not subject to this require- problem even more acute. Glass does not ment. The requirement to cover 80 per- act as a sound reduction agent in any way. cent of your floor with carpet was enacted Many new buildings are constructed with to account for this, but if it’s not the right shared walls between units, as well as be- tween units and common areas, which lem. There is a special carpet pad called adds to the likelihood of airborne sound Vibramat that is very effective for this. It infiltration, as well as structural trans- mission. Solutions So back to the cup and the string. Dr. Bonnie Schnitta, President and Owner of SoundSense, an acoustical consulting and engineering company with offices in Long Island and Manhattan, says: “If we’re talking about a wall, a floor, or a ceiling, there are certain things that improve or are successful in inhibiting sound. The criteria are that it has to be dense, must can have the best wall in the world, but if it’s got a hole in it, it’s not going to work.” The culprits when it comes to sound or interrupt the flow of unwanted noise. these pitfalls for the sake of saving a bit on construction costs. Marsh adds that “some soundproof- The easy ones are after construc- tion – things like carpeting and cur- tains. Resilient underlayment is used in floor con- struction to reduce sound conduction. It might be foam or fiber. It could also be roof felting, cork or rubber.” Bedrock for s ou n dp r o o f i n g between floors is a 9-inch-thick poured concrete floor. Anything else, sound – particularly structural sound – from transferring from one floor to an- for stopping sound, but if it’s not thick anything else with an impact on the floor, that in New York there is a required ‘IIC,’ carpet or padding, it won’t solve the prob- raises IIC by 20 percent.” Schnitta explains there are many other sound-stopping options today. In new buildings, she recommends loaded vinyl as a means to reduce sound transference through studs. “It’s impregnated with non-toxic metals, and it’s dense to add flexibility,” she says. “This doesn’t contain lead—remember lead walls!—which they used to use. This vinyl has a better trans- “More innovative sound control products have been patented in the last few years than ever before. Before where there wasn’t a solution; now we have one.” —Bonnie Schnitta continued on page 24 A. Michael Tyler REALTY CORPORATION Celebrating Our 40th Anniversary Leading the Property Management Industry in Innovation and Management of New York Condos & Co-ops for over 40 Years Boards Receive Monthly Reports Online & Much More Call To Inquire How You Can Benefit From Our Expertise as a Leading NYC Property Management Firm Irwin H. Cohen Chief Executive Officer Jay M. Cohen VP & Director of Operations •Tel: 877.641.5900 • Fax: 877.641.5780 •Email: info@amtrealtyny.com •Website: www.amtrealtyny.com 122 East 42nd St., Suite 1700, New York, NY 10168