June 22, 2025 • 33 mins
Dean Sharp kicks off a brand-new show all about getting control of sound in your home. From air-sealing and decoupling techniques to insulation and sound masking, Dean breaks down practical strategies to manage noise and improve your home’s acoustic environment. He explores how noise isn’t just a nuisance—it can actually impact your health—and why thoughtful design makes all the difference. Whether you live in the city or the countryside, your soundscape matters.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeartRadio app. I'm Dean
Sharp the House Whisper. I design custom homes.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I build a few of them too, and every weekend
I sit here as your guide to better understanding that
place where you live. Our goal to take your ordinary
house and make it as much as possible and extraordinary home.
Today on the show, we're going to encounter something that
(00:34):
is not the easiest thing in the world to resolve,
but a really really important part of putting together the
ideal environment at home, and that is getting control of sound.
Getting control of sound. Now you notice I didn't just
say soundproofing, soundproofing your home, as if that was such
(00:56):
an easy thing to do, which it's not. Well, here's
the other aspect of this. The reason we are not
entitling this episode soundproofing is that soundproofing is an aspect
of heart of what we're trying to achieve by lowering
sound pollution or noise pollution as it enters your home
(01:20):
or your property. But it's not the goal. Soundproofing should
not be the goal it used to be, but that
has changed in recent years and why has it changed. Well,
it's changed because our scientific understanding of the role of
sound in our lives is evolving, is maturing, is changing.
(01:44):
Absolute utter silence, which is, of course what the goal
of soundproofing is, is no longer the goal of an
ideal human habitation. It's not what we are after. It
may be what we're after inside this studio because we
(02:04):
have a very specific task at hand and we want
complete control of the sound inside this room, but it
is not the ideal for human habitation. So more on
that as we roll out. We're going to take a
deep dive into getting control of sound in your home,
on your property, and that's going to involve a number
(02:26):
of different things. Soundproofing techniques. Absolutely, we'll talk about everything
from mineral wool to mass loaded vinyl, dual glaze windows,
double layered dry wall, block walls, tree cover, air ceiling.
Your home is a factor. And we're gonna also get
into the idea of decoupling. No, not getting rid of
(02:48):
your spouse or your life partner, not that kind of decoupling.
Decouple a is a concept that I want everybody who's
listening to me today to un understand, and it really
kind of grasp fully before we are done today, because
decoupling is one of the critical elements of getting control
(03:10):
of sound, of stopping noise pollution from getting from point
A to point b. We have to basically break the
bridges that that energy travels over so that it doesn't
get from point A to point B. Sound absorption is
going to be part of our conversation, and now a
huge part of our conversation will also be sound masking,
(03:32):
which is when you can't get rid of sounds that
are coming your way. But what we do is we
join them with other sounds, mask them, or blend them
with other sounds that change the way the human mind
perceives the sound, changes it literally from noise to something
that is stress reducing. Okay, so instead of stress inducing,
(03:58):
which is now the scientific definition of noise, we want
to change that sound into something that is stress reducing,
and so that's part of our goal. Anyway, So many
places to go today and we're going to do it all.
And of course also we'll be taking your calls as
(04:18):
we do, especially right smack dab in the center of
the show. The phone lines are open right now. Now
is your chance to give me a call. And of course,
when it comes to calls, it's all about you. It's
all about whatever's going on. I'm talking about sound control today.
You can call me on anything going on that's got
you scratching your head about your home. So, whether it
(04:40):
is a design question, an architectural question, a decore question,
a construction issue, a DIY concern, you name it, anything
you want to talk about regarding your home, that's what
your call can be about. The number to reach me
eight three to three, to ask Dean eight three three,
(05:01):
the numeral two and then you just spell out ask
Dean eight three three two, ask Dean. It's just that simple.
Producer Matt Toffler standing by. The phone lines are open.
We're ready for you right now. Let me introduce you
to our awesome team that brings you this show so
faithfully every week. Elmer, of course, is on the board.
(05:24):
Good morning, Elmer, Good morning Dean. How you doing, How
you doing, Bud? How you doing? Are you with me?
I'm doing good, yeah, you know, I'm up and uh yeah,
I'm just happy. So glad to be here. All right,
all right, that's good to hear, good to hear Elmer.
By the way, you know just for as little as
he comments, right, just mellow, chill. He's the guys manning everything.
(05:49):
He has got the board. I mean, he's in control
of everything. I am just the talking head here who
gets to share time with you thanks to you, all
of me. Maybe exactly, that's what I'm talking about, Laser guy. Uh.
We got producer Matt Toffler. I think I already mentioned
that Matt is awesome, and he's nowhere near Mike, but
(06:12):
he is on the phones. He's ready. That's who you're
gonna hear when you call in. And I know you're
going to call in. Uh eight three three two ask
Dean A three three the numeral two ask Dean. Matt
will tell you everything you need to know, and you
can listen to the show while you're sitting in the queue.
And of course, my buddy Eileen Gonzalez at the news desk,
(06:32):
Good morning, Eileen, Good morning Dean. How's it going today.
It's going pretty good.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
You know.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
It's the first weekend of summer, it's the first Sunday
of summer. It's beautiful Southern California weather. It's a great
day to bomb a foreign country. That is from what
I heard.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Right yeah, we're going on summer. Can we just can
we just enjoy a weekend?
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Every week. I'm not making any comments. I know it's something.
It's something. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what.
I tell you what we're at today. I got up
this morning, coffee, made my oat meal, dropped some blueberries
and bombed my oat meal with some blueberries. Lovely yum.
And uh, just sat down and spent a little time
(07:24):
with Tina and then sat down and and it was
just great. We've got a backpacking trip coming up, which
you know I should talk about on the other side
of the break, not to not to drag it out.
We're going up to a place where I have spent
so much time in my life, and I will. I mean,
it is my second home, the Eastern Sierra's. We're going up.
(07:45):
We're actually taking our granddaughter Olivia, who was eight, on
her very first she's been gone camping before, carneal car camping,
but no, this is her very first overnight too, overnight
full on backpacking. I mean, we're going to a place
you cannot get to with a car. You've got to
backpack it in and uh, and it's gonna be glory.
(08:07):
I'll tell you a little bit more about it on
the other side of the break.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
It's just no bathrooms, right, just tent camping, you know
what I mean. Anyway, I live lots of memories that'll
be great. Oh my gosh. And this is a gorgeous
first hike for her. It is stunning, stunning. Anyway, I'll
tell everybody about it a little on the other side
of the break. Sitting across the table from me, my
(08:31):
better half, my backpacking companion, my design partner, my best
buddy in all the world, Tina is here. What's the
plan today? You're smoking from chicken. There's your elephant. We
saw a great elephant video this morning, baby elephant who
was tried to charge a Safari van and slipped and
rolled over onage. It's very cute. Today is Dodger Day.
(08:54):
Today's Dodger Day. After the show is pitching one o'clock game. Yes,
very show. Hey, starting again, yep, right, it's great. So
we're gonna watch the game. You're smoking some chicken, some chicken.
We're gonna go through our backpacking checklist. Yep. We might
have to make a trip to Arii later, or we
are gonna have to make a trip at some point
to get to pick out our food, our freeze dried
(09:18):
ad water food. It's gonna be great anyway. We're kind
of in that groove, all right, everybody. Here's the thing,
getting control of sound on your home other than telling
you where I'm going backpacking. That's what we're talking about
on the show today, and we will do it.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Hey follow us on social media. It's just a suggestion.
I'm not telling you you have to, but it's a suggestion.
We're fun. We don't annoy you on social media, but
that way you can keep up with little things that
happen here and there. We haven't been doing a lot
of it lately, I'm being honest with you. Life has
been very busy, very busy, a lot of stuff going on,
but it does happen, and when it happens, you don't
(10:04):
want to miss it. We're on all the usual suspects, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X,
Home with Dean, same handle for them all. And also
I say this from time to time if your home
is in need of some personal house Whisperer Designed. Attention.
Why because design matters most? Yes it does. You can
book an in home design console, not with the not
(10:26):
with some person from our firm. I'm talking about me
and the tea showing up at your house staring at
the problem with you. All you have to do is
go to house Whisperer dot Design for more information on
that house Whisperer dot Design. Okay, one more time. We've
got the phone lines open. We're going to be going
(10:48):
to the calls in a little while. Uh, eight three
three two, ask Dean. Is the number to reach me?
Eight three to three the numeral two, ask dean. Uh.
And yes, we are going backpacking. We're very excited. We're
going to a little a place, a little trail called
Little Lakes Valley. It's in the eastern Sierra. The trailhead
(11:10):
is about it's about halfway in between Bishop and Mammoth.
And the trailhead starts at ten thousand feet. Oh yeah, yeah, No.
When I go backpacking, I want to get some serious elevation.
And we start at ten thousand feet we will end
up a little over eleven thousand square feet and the
entire path, the entire trail getting to where we're going
(11:35):
square I said, square feet. Oh my gosh, I am adorable.
I cannot even I can't even get get houses out
of the brain. I can't square feet. No, eleven thousand
feet in elevation above Zea level. Nothing. But I think
there are seven if I counted right, there are seven
pristine alpine lakes and meadows, just all of it. I mean,
(11:59):
it is, Tina. You should post maybe we'll post a
pick of just one of the shots so people can
see the hellscape that we will have to endure to get.
It is just it is literally my version of Evan,
That's what it is. So yes, that was darcasm. Anyway,
we're doing that, and we're very excited about that. It's
(12:20):
going to be great. A little bit of fishing catch
and release only. But those trout in those lakes have
been under ice. It's just now thought out, so they've
been under ice for months. So even an idiotic, unskilled
fisherman like myself, you know, you have to work hard
not to get a bite. They are so hungry to
munch on anything. And Livy is going to have a blast.
(12:43):
So anyway, yeah, that's what's coming up. And so I'm
pretty jazzed about it. Okay, let's get control of sound
in your home noise. Noise used to be a word
like weed, weeds. And here I'll explain what I mean
(13:03):
by that. Exactly what a weed is is entirely subjective.
Did you know that people are always surprised Some people
are surprised to hear this. Weed is not a scientific classification.
There is no such thing in the world of botany
as a weed. Okay. It is not a classification of plant.
Any plant growing where a human doesn't want it to
(13:27):
be is a weed. Okay. So weed is a subjective term. Right,
So we talk about weeds in our yards, But when
we look on the hillsides around us, in the open spaces,
they're open grasslands, they're natural grasses. But in our yards,
that's a weed coming right out of the middle of
(13:49):
my lawn. So you understand what I'm saying. It's a
subjective term. Weed is entirely a term, a subjective to
human perspective of plants not showing up where we are,
showing up where we don't want them to be. So
that's weeds. And I said, noise used to be used
(14:09):
to be a word like weeds. So until recently, fairly
recently a couple you know, about a fifteen years or so,
noise was also considered to be something solely defined by
the ear of the beholder, right. And I've heard this
my whole life. I've heard folks say, you know, I
grew up in New York City and urban environment. I
(14:31):
can't sleep without the sound of traffic in the background.
I get that. I get some people just love it.
And when Tina and I go to a place like
Manhattan or Brooklyn, we love the sounds of the city.
It's just energizing to be there, to be in it,
and to be a part of it for a while,
for a while. And so I understand that, but I
(14:55):
want everybody to understand this too. The research continues, and
now noise is no longer considered a subjective thing. It's
not a it's not simply like weed, a sound that
you don't want to hear at a certain time. Okay,
Noise used to be considered you know, what's noise to
(15:16):
one person may be music to another. But that is
no longer the case. A growing body of research on
the harmful effects of noise pollution on human health has
actually led the American Public Health Association in twenty twenty one,
i'd said these were recent changes to change the definition
of noise from used to be unwanted sound that's entirely subjective.
(15:40):
Now we haven't eliminated that part. It's unwanted and or
harmful sound. And that's because our new understanding of noise
also reaches far beyond loud sounds causing hearing damage. Chronic noise,
even at very low levels, can cause psychological stress, sleep disruption.
(16:02):
It contributes this is now proven to cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease,
metabolic disturbances, exacerbation of psychological disorders, and premature mortality. Premature death.
Noise interferes with cognition and learning, and it contributes to
(16:25):
behavior problems and reduces achievement and productivity in adults and children. Right,
and so now we have a different perspective on noise.
There is such a thing as noise, and noise is
stress period physical psychological stress. And now the question is
(16:49):
how do we fill our lives with sound but not noise.
The idea of a noiseless place, it's been embedded in
our vernacular. We know this. It's like we say Oh,
I just want to live on a house on a
quiet tree line street. There's only so much we can
do to protect ourselves from noise pollution in public, but
(17:10):
that need not be the case when we're at home.
And so that is the basis of where we go
from here, and we will continue.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Dean Sharp, the house whisper here for you at your service.
We're going to be going to the phones in just
a couple of bits. So here's the number to reach me,
eight three three two Ask Dean eight three three the
numeral to ask Dean. Producer Matt Toffler standing by to
take your call, tell you everything you need to do,
(17:48):
and you can listen to the show while you are
in the queue. All right, let's return to our conversation
about getting control of sound now. I said, today's episode
is not entitled sound proofing because getting control of sound
is more than that, and it's also not ultimately soundproofing,
(18:10):
but just changing the way that sound comes in and
through our homes and our property. But nevertheless, we are
going to start with techniques of soundproofing because if we
want to lower noise pollution and the way that it
enters our home. Then we've got to talk about techniques
of soundproofing. First thing you need to know, the biggest,
(18:32):
most important thing you need to know. Don't call me
or email me and say, hey, Dean, what's the one
thing I need to do to sound prove my house,
because there is not one single thing that we can do.
Maybe in the future, maybe maybe in the future, somebody
will figure out the one thing that you can do,
some new technology that doesn't currently exist. But the fact
(18:54):
of the matter is right here in this early part
of the twenty first century. Soundproofing is a layering game.
It is a piece of layer after layer after layer,
like you know, like peeling an onion. We've got to
add this, that and the other thing in order to
achieve soundproofing. I'll give you an example of the studio
(19:17):
that I'm sitting in right now. The studio is first
built out of double wall construction, two walls fully insulated
with an air gap in between them, and then on
top of that, there's a layer of one or two
layers of sound sound reducing dry wall set on resilient
(19:37):
channels to isolate the vibration as they come through. Even
the glass itself as we look out from one area
of the studio to the next, is double paned, double
layered glass, and so on and so forth, and so
you see, it's a layering effect in order to achieve soundproofing.
And again sound proofing not exactly what we're after. Sound reduction,
(20:01):
noise reduction more specifically, so first step insulation. Of course,
there's no better way to take the first hit out
of sound that's entering your home than to look at
the envelope of your home. And by envelope I mean
the roofline and the exterior walls, and that includes windows
and doors. We want insulating to be our first I
(20:27):
guess layer of attack, okay, or first layer of defense. Insulation.
Insulation is essentially, in terms of sound, about putting levels
of mass, mass, just stuff, thickness of stuff that inhibit
an energy wave passing through them. And let's be real clear,
(20:51):
this is an energy game. Sound is energy. It's energy
that's moving through a medium. It moves through through air,
it moves through the air around us. It is an
energy wave. And the best way to imagine it when
I say wave, is like waves that you see on
the ocean, or better yet, maybe waves that you see
(21:13):
on a you know, on a lake. When you throw
a rock into a lake and you see those rings
of waveform around the rock, that is very, very much
indicative of how sound travels through the air. Of course,
it's invisible when it travels through the air. We don't
see the air rippling around us, but it is nevertheless
(21:35):
what's happening. That's energy traveling through a medium. Okay, So
insulation is about taking mass and forcing that energy to
pass through mass, and as it does, it's weakened. Some
of it is dampened, some of it is absorbed, some
of it is deflected and diffused. And so the more
(21:59):
insulation the better. When it comes to insulation in the
outside walls of your house, if you are doing a
major remodel or you're deciding to upgrade or change, I'll
tell you right now, old fiberglass insulation is not the
best or sound proofing a house. Now. Having it there
as opposed to hollow walls way way better than nothing.
(22:21):
But if we are talking about optimal, we want more mass.
We want thicker insulation, and I don't mean thicker in
terms of depth. I just mean more dense, more density
of insulation. So optimal right now would be either open
cell foam that gets sprayed on. That's something that a
lot of people don't have in their budget to pay for,
(22:43):
or as far as putting bats in outside exterior walls.
In between the studs bat insulation, we recommend it always
go for either mineral wool or some form of denim.
But on exterior walls, I usually do mineral wool. And yes,
by fiberglass insulation can have the same r value as
(23:03):
far as heat and cold energy thermal energy, but mineral
wool is so much more dense in its structure it
always has a better sound energy insulating value. So mineral
wool what used to be called rock wool, I think
it's still I don't know if they've changed their name
from rozel to rock wool or from rock wool to roxel. Anyway,
(23:28):
we're looking for mineral wool insulation. The other nice thing
about mineral wool insulation is that it's better in terms
than fiberglass in terms of pests, it's better in terms
of moisture. It's just better insulation in my opinion, So
mineral wool in the walls or denim shredded denim insulation
(23:48):
excellent for sound control, and definitely denim is an option
inside the house internal walls. And that's the other thing
that I want to say and stress to you when
it comes to insulating a house. There's only so much,
like I said, that you can do to insulate from
sound the exterior walls, right, And of course there are
(24:09):
rooms in your home, important rooms that have a an
exposure to an exterior wall, but the rest of the
sound that's happening inside your house has to travel through
interior walls to get to that room. And so I
always recommend it's just a few dollars more, honestly, just
and I'm not exaggerating, it's just a few dollars more
(24:31):
in your remodeling budget. Any new wall that you build
inside your house, interior wall, any new wall insulated with
don't worry about thermal insulation, insulated with sound rated insulation.
And the makers of mineral wool insulation not only make
the thermal insulation for the exterior envelope, but they make
(24:51):
well I'm thinking of like safe and sound that's literally
a brand name of mineral wool insulation. It doesn't have
a They don't worry about it being highest rated thermal
insulation because it's for interior walls, but it has fantastic
sound insulation qualities for interior walls, because if sound had
(25:12):
in the smaller the home, the more important this is.
And I'll tell you I live in a small home.
So the fact that when I'm back in my bedroom
and the reality is my living room, my family room,
where the party could be happening, is is literally, as
the crow flies, you know, less than fifty feet away
from from you know, the primary suite. The fact of
(25:35):
the matter is that every wall in between my bedroom
and the family room has interior insulation in it. And
by the time I'm back in my bedroom, you know,
the family room might as well be, you know, quite
a ways away, further than it is because it's quiet.
So layer by layer, hit by hit, this is a
(25:58):
game of layers, and I can't stress that enough. All right,
we will continue, but right now.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Welcome home. Thanks for joining us on the program. It
truly is a privilege to spend time with you on
the weekends on a Sunday morning, the first Sunday of
summer twenty twenty five. And to think that you have
allowed us into your home, that you've allowed me a
voice in your life on such an important day. I
(26:35):
know how important the weekends are to you. I just
want to thank you for that and tell you that
I have no intention of abusing that gift whatsoever. I
want to take full advantage. I want to show up.
I want to earn my keep, all right, And today
we are doing that by way of having a conversation
about controlling sound. Hopefully the sound you're hearing coming out
(26:57):
of my voice is not the sound that you want
out of your house. Easy enough, just to just, you know,
pick up your smart device or walk over the radio
and just turn off the power. See problem solved. I've
already given you quality advice. But as far as the
rest of the stuff is concerned, we're trying to figure
out how to control sounds, specifically noise as it rolls
(27:19):
into our lives. We got to cut that down because
we have now learned that noise is not a subjective thing.
It's not one person prefers it. Oh, you know, this
sound is a noise to them, and to another person,
it's sweet, sweet music. There is such a thing and
this is driven I think by evolutionary biology. There is
(27:40):
such a thing as noise and objective reality when it
comes to the way a human brain, uh and human
emotions perceive sound. There is such a thing as noise,
and it is noise that does damage to us. And
it's noise that we want to reduce, chain mask, convert,
(28:01):
and so on. And when it comes to our home,
we've got better control over that than we do out
in public. Obviously, in public, you know, you pop in
your noise canceling headphones and do your best. But at home,
you're in charge. You're in control. That's why we're having
that conversation. Also coming up just by the way, right
after the next break, we are going to the phones.
(28:23):
It is time top of the ten o'clock hour. And
so in case you haven't given me a call yet,
the number to reach me eight three three two. Ask
dean A three three the numeral two, then you just
spell out ask dean. Okay, we're talking soundproofing at the moment.
I've talked to you about insulation. Okay. Insulation is adding
(28:44):
mass to a wall or to a ceiling line or
to a roofline in order to make it more difficult
for the energy that is sound, and sound is energy.
Don't forget that, because that's the critical part of understanding
how to deal with it. That it is energy that
moves through a medium, and the medium being air. Okay,
And yes, sound moves through all sorts of medium. Sound
(29:07):
moves faster in water than it does in air. We'll
have this conversation a little bit further on. Because water
is a better conductor of energy than air. Did you
know that? Well, you should know. You do know that.
You know that if I plug in a toaster right
next to you and push the buttons down to toast something,
(29:32):
that you will not get electrocuted. Why because there's energy
happening all through their electrical energy. But electrical energy just
jumping across the air over to where you are. No, No,
not going to happen, So you're free to toast your toast. However, classically,
the classic movie murder scene, if you're in the bathtub
(29:54):
filled with water and I drop the toaster into the bathtub,
then guess what you're going to feel it. Water is
a better conductor of energy than air. As a result,
sound travels faster through water than it does through air,
and just fun fact, fun fact. Okay, I'll get into
(30:15):
that a little bit more later, hopefully, But air is
the medium that sound travels through in our normal lives,
and so shutting down air air ceiling a house is
a critical factor. No amount of think of your house
like a boat, and the exterior of your house like
a boat. No amount of thick hulled walls, super insulated
(30:38):
walls are going to change the or keep out sound
if we've opened a window and we're just letting air
flow inside, because whatever sound is out there is going
to move through that air and gonna get into you. Okay.
So airflow is a critical part of getting control of
sound as well insulation on the walls, and there are
(31:01):
a number of ways we can do it. We've already
talked about various types of what you would consider what
you think of when I say the word insulation, mineral denim, insulation,
spray foam insulation. By the way, when it comes to
spray foam, open cell meaning the foamy stuff with lots
of air pockets in it better than closed cell with
(31:23):
no air pockets in it. So the big foamy insulation
better because there's more it takes more for the energy
to make it through the more dense insulation, which is
better for thermal reduction. You know, eat and cold energy
is actually a better bridge of energy across it without
all the open cells inside. So mass loaded vinyl is
(31:47):
something that gets discussed a lot. It is a material
that it's about an eighth of an inch to a
quarter of an inch thick. It is super heavy. I
swear if you pick it up you think that you're
carrying a lead block. That's because there's a tremendous amount
of material and mass in it. Adding a sheet of
mass loaded vinyl over a wall can be another significant,
(32:10):
significant layer. But I want to warn you about the
fact that mass loaded vinyl it's expensive. Also, the way
it gets displayed or demonstrated very very effective. But it
is not the silver bullet that it would appear in
those YouTube demonstrations that you see. And I'll explain why.
(32:31):
In fact, I'm going to explain why right on the
other side of the brake, and then we're going to
the phone, So don't go anywhere. I will tell you all.
And maybe during the break you should check out a
YouTube video on mass loaded vinyl, and then you'll see
look for one where a guy's got a speaker inside
a box that's covered in mass loaded vinyl and he's
(32:52):
just sitting there talking to you, and then he's like, oh,
and by the way, this speaker is going full blast,
and he picks up the box and it's blaring, and
then he puts the box over it and it's silent.
What's wrong with that in the real world. We'll talk
about that right on the other side of the break,
and we're going to the phones. Your Home with Dean Sharp,
the House Whisperer on KFI. This has been Home with
(33:14):
Dean Sharp, the House Whisperer. Tune into the live broadcast
on KFI AM six forty every Saturday morning from six
to eight Pacific time and every Sunday morning from nine
to noon Pacific time, or anytime on demand on the
iHeartRadio app
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeartRadio app. I'm Dean
Sharp the House Whisper. I design custom homes.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I build a few of them too, and every weekend
I sit here as your guide to better understanding that
place where you live. Our goal to take your ordinary
house and make it as much as possible and extraordinary home.
Today on the show, we're going to encounter something that
(00:34):
is not the easiest thing in the world to resolve,
but a really really important part of putting together the
ideal environment at home, and that is getting control of sound.
Getting control of sound. Now you notice I didn't just
say soundproofing, soundproofing your home, as if that was such
(00:56):
an easy thing to do, which it's not. Well, here's
the other aspect of this. The reason we are not
entitling this episode soundproofing is that soundproofing is an aspect
of heart of what we're trying to achieve by lowering
sound pollution or noise pollution as it enters your home
(01:20):
or your property. But it's not the goal. Soundproofing should
not be the goal it used to be, but that
has changed in recent years and why has it changed. Well,
it's changed because our scientific understanding of the role of
sound in our lives is evolving, is maturing, is changing.
(01:44):
Absolute utter silence, which is, of course what the goal
of soundproofing is, is no longer the goal of an
ideal human habitation. It's not what we are after. It
may be what we're after inside this studio because we
(02:04):
have a very specific task at hand and we want
complete control of the sound inside this room, but it
is not the ideal for human habitation. So more on
that as we roll out. We're going to take a
deep dive into getting control of sound in your home,
on your property, and that's going to involve a number
(02:26):
of different things. Soundproofing techniques. Absolutely, we'll talk about everything
from mineral wool to mass loaded vinyl, dual glaze windows,
double layered dry wall, block walls, tree cover, air ceiling.
Your home is a factor. And we're gonna also get
into the idea of decoupling. No, not getting rid of
(02:48):
your spouse or your life partner, not that kind of decoupling.
Decouple a is a concept that I want everybody who's
listening to me today to un understand, and it really
kind of grasp fully before we are done today, because
decoupling is one of the critical elements of getting control
(03:10):
of sound, of stopping noise pollution from getting from point
A to point b. We have to basically break the
bridges that that energy travels over so that it doesn't
get from point A to point B. Sound absorption is
going to be part of our conversation, and now a
huge part of our conversation will also be sound masking,
(03:32):
which is when you can't get rid of sounds that
are coming your way. But what we do is we
join them with other sounds, mask them, or blend them
with other sounds that change the way the human mind
perceives the sound, changes it literally from noise to something
that is stress reducing. Okay, so instead of stress inducing,
(03:58):
which is now the scientific definition of noise, we want
to change that sound into something that is stress reducing,
and so that's part of our goal. Anyway, So many
places to go today and we're going to do it all.
And of course also we'll be taking your calls as
(04:18):
we do, especially right smack dab in the center of
the show. The phone lines are open right now. Now
is your chance to give me a call. And of course,
when it comes to calls, it's all about you. It's
all about whatever's going on. I'm talking about sound control today.
You can call me on anything going on that's got
you scratching your head about your home. So, whether it
(04:40):
is a design question, an architectural question, a decore question,
a construction issue, a DIY concern, you name it, anything
you want to talk about regarding your home, that's what
your call can be about. The number to reach me
eight three to three, to ask Dean eight three three,
(05:01):
the numeral two and then you just spell out ask
Dean eight three three two, ask Dean. It's just that simple.
Producer Matt Toffler standing by. The phone lines are open.
We're ready for you right now. Let me introduce you
to our awesome team that brings you this show so
faithfully every week. Elmer, of course, is on the board.
(05:24):
Good morning, Elmer, Good morning Dean. How you doing, How
you doing, Bud? How you doing? Are you with me?
I'm doing good, yeah, you know, I'm up and uh yeah,
I'm just happy. So glad to be here. All right,
all right, that's good to hear, good to hear Elmer.
By the way, you know just for as little as
he comments, right, just mellow, chill. He's the guys manning everything.
(05:49):
He has got the board. I mean, he's in control
of everything. I am just the talking head here who
gets to share time with you thanks to you, all
of me. Maybe exactly, that's what I'm talking about, Laser guy. Uh.
We got producer Matt Toffler. I think I already mentioned
that Matt is awesome, and he's nowhere near Mike, but
(06:12):
he is on the phones. He's ready. That's who you're
gonna hear when you call in. And I know you're
going to call in. Uh eight three three two ask
Dean A three three the numeral two ask Dean. Matt
will tell you everything you need to know, and you
can listen to the show while you're sitting in the queue.
And of course, my buddy Eileen Gonzalez at the news desk,
(06:32):
Good morning, Eileen, Good morning Dean. How's it going today.
It's going pretty good.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
You know.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
It's the first weekend of summer, it's the first Sunday
of summer. It's beautiful Southern California weather. It's a great
day to bomb a foreign country. That is from what
I heard.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Right yeah, we're going on summer. Can we just can
we just enjoy a weekend?
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Every week. I'm not making any comments. I know it's something.
It's something. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what.
I tell you what we're at today. I got up
this morning, coffee, made my oat meal, dropped some blueberries
and bombed my oat meal with some blueberries. Lovely yum.
And uh, just sat down and spent a little time
(07:24):
with Tina and then sat down and and it was
just great. We've got a backpacking trip coming up, which
you know I should talk about on the other side
of the break, not to not to drag it out.
We're going up to a place where I have spent
so much time in my life, and I will. I mean,
it is my second home, the Eastern Sierra's. We're going up.
(07:45):
We're actually taking our granddaughter Olivia, who was eight, on
her very first she's been gone camping before, carneal car camping,
but no, this is her very first overnight too, overnight
full on backpacking. I mean, we're going to a place
you cannot get to with a car. You've got to
backpack it in and uh, and it's gonna be glory.
(08:07):
I'll tell you a little bit more about it on
the other side of the break.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
It's just no bathrooms, right, just tent camping, you know
what I mean. Anyway, I live lots of memories that'll
be great. Oh my gosh. And this is a gorgeous
first hike for her. It is stunning, stunning. Anyway, I'll
tell everybody about it a little on the other side
of the break. Sitting across the table from me, my
(08:31):
better half, my backpacking companion, my design partner, my best
buddy in all the world, Tina is here. What's the
plan today? You're smoking from chicken. There's your elephant. We
saw a great elephant video this morning, baby elephant who
was tried to charge a Safari van and slipped and
rolled over onage. It's very cute. Today is Dodger Day.
(08:54):
Today's Dodger Day. After the show is pitching one o'clock game. Yes,
very show. Hey, starting again, yep, right, it's great. So
we're gonna watch the game. You're smoking some chicken, some chicken.
We're gonna go through our backpacking checklist. Yep. We might
have to make a trip to Arii later, or we
are gonna have to make a trip at some point
to get to pick out our food, our freeze dried
(09:18):
ad water food. It's gonna be great anyway. We're kind
of in that groove, all right, everybody. Here's the thing,
getting control of sound on your home other than telling
you where I'm going backpacking. That's what we're talking about
on the show today, and we will do it.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Hey follow us on social media. It's just a suggestion.
I'm not telling you you have to, but it's a suggestion.
We're fun. We don't annoy you on social media, but
that way you can keep up with little things that
happen here and there. We haven't been doing a lot
of it lately, I'm being honest with you. Life has
been very busy, very busy, a lot of stuff going on,
but it does happen, and when it happens, you don't
(10:04):
want to miss it. We're on all the usual suspects, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X,
Home with Dean, same handle for them all. And also
I say this from time to time if your home
is in need of some personal house Whisperer Designed. Attention.
Why because design matters most? Yes it does. You can
book an in home design console, not with the not
(10:26):
with some person from our firm. I'm talking about me
and the tea showing up at your house staring at
the problem with you. All you have to do is
go to house Whisperer dot Design for more information on
that house Whisperer dot Design. Okay, one more time. We've
got the phone lines open. We're going to be going
(10:48):
to the calls in a little while. Uh, eight three
three two, ask Dean. Is the number to reach me?
Eight three to three the numeral two, ask dean. Uh.
And yes, we are going backpacking. We're very excited. We're
going to a little a place, a little trail called
Little Lakes Valley. It's in the eastern Sierra. The trailhead
(11:10):
is about it's about halfway in between Bishop and Mammoth.
And the trailhead starts at ten thousand feet. Oh yeah, yeah, No.
When I go backpacking, I want to get some serious elevation.
And we start at ten thousand feet we will end
up a little over eleven thousand square feet and the
entire path, the entire trail getting to where we're going
(11:35):
square I said, square feet. Oh my gosh, I am adorable.
I cannot even I can't even get get houses out
of the brain. I can't square feet. No, eleven thousand
feet in elevation above Zea level. Nothing. But I think
there are seven if I counted right, there are seven
pristine alpine lakes and meadows, just all of it. I mean,
(11:59):
it is, Tina. You should post maybe we'll post a
pick of just one of the shots so people can
see the hellscape that we will have to endure to get.
It is just it is literally my version of Evan,
That's what it is. So yes, that was darcasm. Anyway,
we're doing that, and we're very excited about that. It's
(12:20):
going to be great. A little bit of fishing catch
and release only. But those trout in those lakes have
been under ice. It's just now thought out, so they've
been under ice for months. So even an idiotic, unskilled
fisherman like myself, you know, you have to work hard
not to get a bite. They are so hungry to
munch on anything. And Livy is going to have a blast.
(12:43):
So anyway, yeah, that's what's coming up. And so I'm
pretty jazzed about it. Okay, let's get control of sound
in your home noise. Noise used to be a word
like weed, weeds. And here I'll explain what I mean
(13:03):
by that. Exactly what a weed is is entirely subjective.
Did you know that people are always surprised Some people
are surprised to hear this. Weed is not a scientific classification.
There is no such thing in the world of botany
as a weed. Okay. It is not a classification of plant.
Any plant growing where a human doesn't want it to
(13:27):
be is a weed. Okay. So weed is a subjective term. Right,
So we talk about weeds in our yards, But when
we look on the hillsides around us, in the open spaces,
they're open grasslands, they're natural grasses. But in our yards,
that's a weed coming right out of the middle of
(13:49):
my lawn. So you understand what I'm saying. It's a
subjective term. Weed is entirely a term, a subjective to
human perspective of plants not showing up where we are,
showing up where we don't want them to be. So
that's weeds. And I said, noise used to be used
(14:09):
to be a word like weeds. So until recently, fairly
recently a couple you know, about a fifteen years or so,
noise was also considered to be something solely defined by
the ear of the beholder, right. And I've heard this
my whole life. I've heard folks say, you know, I
grew up in New York City and urban environment. I
(14:31):
can't sleep without the sound of traffic in the background.
I get that. I get some people just love it.
And when Tina and I go to a place like
Manhattan or Brooklyn, we love the sounds of the city.
It's just energizing to be there, to be in it,
and to be a part of it for a while,
for a while. And so I understand that, but I
(14:55):
want everybody to understand this too. The research continues, and
now noise is no longer considered a subjective thing. It's
not a it's not simply like weed, a sound that
you don't want to hear at a certain time. Okay,
Noise used to be considered you know, what's noise to
(15:16):
one person may be music to another. But that is
no longer the case. A growing body of research on
the harmful effects of noise pollution on human health has
actually led the American Public Health Association in twenty twenty one,
i'd said these were recent changes to change the definition
of noise from used to be unwanted sound that's entirely subjective.
(15:40):
Now we haven't eliminated that part. It's unwanted and or
harmful sound. And that's because our new understanding of noise
also reaches far beyond loud sounds causing hearing damage. Chronic noise,
even at very low levels, can cause psychological stress, sleep disruption.
(16:02):
It contributes this is now proven to cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease,
metabolic disturbances, exacerbation of psychological disorders, and premature mortality. Premature death.
Noise interferes with cognition and learning, and it contributes to
(16:25):
behavior problems and reduces achievement and productivity in adults and children. Right,
and so now we have a different perspective on noise.
There is such a thing as noise, and noise is
stress period physical psychological stress. And now the question is
(16:49):
how do we fill our lives with sound but not noise.
The idea of a noiseless place, it's been embedded in
our vernacular. We know this. It's like we say Oh,
I just want to live on a house on a
quiet tree line street. There's only so much we can
do to protect ourselves from noise pollution in public, but
(17:10):
that need not be the case when we're at home.
And so that is the basis of where we go
from here, and we will continue.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Dean Sharp, the house whisper here for you at your service.
We're going to be going to the phones in just
a couple of bits. So here's the number to reach me,
eight three three two Ask Dean eight three three the
numeral to ask Dean. Producer Matt Toffler standing by to
take your call, tell you everything you need to do,
(17:48):
and you can listen to the show while you are
in the queue. All right, let's return to our conversation
about getting control of sound now. I said, today's episode
is not entitled sound proofing because getting control of sound
is more than that, and it's also not ultimately soundproofing,
(18:10):
but just changing the way that sound comes in and
through our homes and our property. But nevertheless, we are
going to start with techniques of soundproofing because if we
want to lower noise pollution and the way that it
enters our home. Then we've got to talk about techniques
of soundproofing. First thing you need to know, the biggest,
(18:32):
most important thing you need to know. Don't call me
or email me and say, hey, Dean, what's the one
thing I need to do to sound prove my house,
because there is not one single thing that we can do.
Maybe in the future, maybe maybe in the future, somebody
will figure out the one thing that you can do,
some new technology that doesn't currently exist. But the fact
(18:54):
of the matter is right here in this early part
of the twenty first century. Soundproofing is a layering game.
It is a piece of layer after layer after layer,
like you know, like peeling an onion. We've got to
add this, that and the other thing in order to
achieve soundproofing. I'll give you an example of the studio
(19:17):
that I'm sitting in right now. The studio is first
built out of double wall construction, two walls fully insulated
with an air gap in between them, and then on
top of that, there's a layer of one or two
layers of sound sound reducing dry wall set on resilient
(19:37):
channels to isolate the vibration as they come through. Even
the glass itself as we look out from one area
of the studio to the next, is double paned, double
layered glass, and so on and so forth, and so
you see, it's a layering effect in order to achieve soundproofing.
And again sound proofing not exactly what we're after. Sound reduction,
(20:01):
noise reduction more specifically, so first step insulation. Of course,
there's no better way to take the first hit out
of sound that's entering your home than to look at
the envelope of your home. And by envelope I mean
the roofline and the exterior walls, and that includes windows
and doors. We want insulating to be our first I
(20:27):
guess layer of attack, okay, or first layer of defense. Insulation.
Insulation is essentially, in terms of sound, about putting levels
of mass, mass, just stuff, thickness of stuff that inhibit
an energy wave passing through them. And let's be real clear,
(20:51):
this is an energy game. Sound is energy. It's energy
that's moving through a medium. It moves through through air,
it moves through the air around us. It is an
energy wave. And the best way to imagine it when
I say wave, is like waves that you see on
the ocean, or better yet, maybe waves that you see
(21:13):
on a you know, on a lake. When you throw
a rock into a lake and you see those rings
of waveform around the rock, that is very, very much
indicative of how sound travels through the air. Of course,
it's invisible when it travels through the air. We don't
see the air rippling around us, but it is nevertheless
(21:35):
what's happening. That's energy traveling through a medium. Okay, So
insulation is about taking mass and forcing that energy to
pass through mass, and as it does, it's weakened. Some
of it is dampened, some of it is absorbed, some
of it is deflected and diffused. And so the more
(21:59):
insulation the better. When it comes to insulation in the
outside walls of your house, if you are doing a
major remodel or you're deciding to upgrade or change, I'll
tell you right now, old fiberglass insulation is not the
best or sound proofing a house. Now. Having it there
as opposed to hollow walls way way better than nothing.
(22:21):
But if we are talking about optimal, we want more mass.
We want thicker insulation, and I don't mean thicker in
terms of depth. I just mean more dense, more density
of insulation. So optimal right now would be either open
cell foam that gets sprayed on. That's something that a
lot of people don't have in their budget to pay for,
(22:43):
or as far as putting bats in outside exterior walls.
In between the studs bat insulation, we recommend it always
go for either mineral wool or some form of denim.
But on exterior walls, I usually do mineral wool. And yes,
by fiberglass insulation can have the same r value as
(23:03):
far as heat and cold energy thermal energy, but mineral
wool is so much more dense in its structure it
always has a better sound energy insulating value. So mineral
wool what used to be called rock wool, I think
it's still I don't know if they've changed their name
from rozel to rock wool or from rock wool to roxel. Anyway,
(23:28):
we're looking for mineral wool insulation. The other nice thing
about mineral wool insulation is that it's better in terms
than fiberglass in terms of pests, it's better in terms
of moisture. It's just better insulation in my opinion, So
mineral wool in the walls or denim shredded denim insulation
(23:48):
excellent for sound control, and definitely denim is an option
inside the house internal walls. And that's the other thing
that I want to say and stress to you when
it comes to insulating a house. There's only so much,
like I said, that you can do to insulate from
sound the exterior walls, right, And of course there are
(24:09):
rooms in your home, important rooms that have a an
exposure to an exterior wall, but the rest of the
sound that's happening inside your house has to travel through
interior walls to get to that room. And so I
always recommend it's just a few dollars more, honestly, just
and I'm not exaggerating, it's just a few dollars more
(24:31):
in your remodeling budget. Any new wall that you build
inside your house, interior wall, any new wall insulated with
don't worry about thermal insulation, insulated with sound rated insulation.
And the makers of mineral wool insulation not only make
the thermal insulation for the exterior envelope, but they make
(24:51):
well I'm thinking of like safe and sound that's literally
a brand name of mineral wool insulation. It doesn't have
a They don't worry about it being highest rated thermal
insulation because it's for interior walls, but it has fantastic
sound insulation qualities for interior walls, because if sound had
(25:12):
in the smaller the home, the more important this is.
And I'll tell you I live in a small home.
So the fact that when I'm back in my bedroom
and the reality is my living room, my family room,
where the party could be happening, is is literally, as
the crow flies, you know, less than fifty feet away
from from you know, the primary suite. The fact of
(25:35):
the matter is that every wall in between my bedroom
and the family room has interior insulation in it. And
by the time I'm back in my bedroom, you know,
the family room might as well be, you know, quite
a ways away, further than it is because it's quiet.
So layer by layer, hit by hit, this is a
(25:58):
game of layers, and I can't stress that enough. All right,
we will continue, but right now.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Welcome home. Thanks for joining us on the program. It
truly is a privilege to spend time with you on
the weekends on a Sunday morning, the first Sunday of
summer twenty twenty five. And to think that you have
allowed us into your home, that you've allowed me a
voice in your life on such an important day. I
(26:35):
know how important the weekends are to you. I just
want to thank you for that and tell you that
I have no intention of abusing that gift whatsoever. I
want to take full advantage. I want to show up.
I want to earn my keep, all right, And today
we are doing that by way of having a conversation
about controlling sound. Hopefully the sound you're hearing coming out
(26:57):
of my voice is not the sound that you want
out of your house. Easy enough, just to just, you know,
pick up your smart device or walk over the radio
and just turn off the power. See problem solved. I've
already given you quality advice. But as far as the
rest of the stuff is concerned, we're trying to figure
out how to control sounds, specifically noise as it rolls
(27:19):
into our lives. We got to cut that down because
we have now learned that noise is not a subjective thing.
It's not one person prefers it. Oh, you know, this
sound is a noise to them, and to another person,
it's sweet, sweet music. There is such a thing and
this is driven I think by evolutionary biology. There is
(27:40):
such a thing as noise and objective reality when it
comes to the way a human brain, uh and human
emotions perceive sound. There is such a thing as noise,
and it is noise that does damage to us. And
it's noise that we want to reduce, chain mask, convert,
(28:01):
and so on. And when it comes to our home,
we've got better control over that than we do out
in public. Obviously, in public, you know, you pop in
your noise canceling headphones and do your best. But at home,
you're in charge. You're in control. That's why we're having
that conversation. Also coming up just by the way, right
after the next break, we are going to the phones.
(28:23):
It is time top of the ten o'clock hour. And
so in case you haven't given me a call yet,
the number to reach me eight three three two. Ask
dean A three three the numeral two, then you just
spell out ask dean. Okay, we're talking soundproofing at the moment.
I've talked to you about insulation. Okay. Insulation is adding
(28:44):
mass to a wall or to a ceiling line or
to a roofline in order to make it more difficult
for the energy that is sound, and sound is energy.
Don't forget that, because that's the critical part of understanding
how to deal with it. That it is energy that
moves through a medium, and the medium being air. Okay,
And yes, sound moves through all sorts of medium. Sound
(29:07):
moves faster in water than it does in air. We'll
have this conversation a little bit further on. Because water
is a better conductor of energy than air. Did you
know that? Well, you should know. You do know that.
You know that if I plug in a toaster right
next to you and push the buttons down to toast something,
(29:32):
that you will not get electrocuted. Why because there's energy
happening all through their electrical energy. But electrical energy just
jumping across the air over to where you are. No, No,
not going to happen, So you're free to toast your toast. However, classically,
the classic movie murder scene, if you're in the bathtub
(29:54):
filled with water and I drop the toaster into the bathtub,
then guess what you're going to feel it. Water is
a better conductor of energy than air. As a result,
sound travels faster through water than it does through air,
and just fun fact, fun fact. Okay, I'll get into
(30:15):
that a little bit more later, hopefully, But air is
the medium that sound travels through in our normal lives,
and so shutting down air air ceiling a house is
a critical factor. No amount of think of your house
like a boat, and the exterior of your house like
a boat. No amount of thick hulled walls, super insulated
(30:38):
walls are going to change the or keep out sound
if we've opened a window and we're just letting air
flow inside, because whatever sound is out there is going
to move through that air and gonna get into you. Okay.
So airflow is a critical part of getting control of
sound as well insulation on the walls, and there are
(31:01):
a number of ways we can do it. We've already
talked about various types of what you would consider what
you think of when I say the word insulation, mineral denim, insulation,
spray foam insulation. By the way, when it comes to
spray foam, open cell meaning the foamy stuff with lots
of air pockets in it better than closed cell with
(31:23):
no air pockets in it. So the big foamy insulation
better because there's more it takes more for the energy
to make it through the more dense insulation, which is
better for thermal reduction. You know, eat and cold energy
is actually a better bridge of energy across it without
all the open cells inside. So mass loaded vinyl is
(31:47):
something that gets discussed a lot. It is a material
that it's about an eighth of an inch to a
quarter of an inch thick. It is super heavy. I
swear if you pick it up you think that you're
carrying a lead block. That's because there's a tremendous amount
of material and mass in it. Adding a sheet of
mass loaded vinyl over a wall can be another significant,
(32:10):
significant layer. But I want to warn you about the
fact that mass loaded vinyl it's expensive. Also, the way
it gets displayed or demonstrated very very effective. But it
is not the silver bullet that it would appear in
those YouTube demonstrations that you see. And I'll explain why.
(32:31):
In fact, I'm going to explain why right on the
other side of the brake, and then we're going to
the phone, So don't go anywhere. I will tell you all.
And maybe during the break you should check out a
YouTube video on mass loaded vinyl, and then you'll see
look for one where a guy's got a speaker inside
a box that's covered in mass loaded vinyl and he's
(32:52):
just sitting there talking to you, and then he's like, oh,
and by the way, this speaker is going full blast,
and he picks up the box and it's blaring, and
then he puts the box over it and it's silent.
What's wrong with that in the real world. We'll talk
about that right on the other side of the break,
and we're going to the phones. Your Home with Dean Sharp,
the House Whisperer on KFI. This has been Home with
(33:14):
Dean Sharp, the House Whisperer. Tune into the live broadcast
on KFI AM six forty every Saturday morning from six
to eight Pacific time and every Sunday morning from nine
to noon Pacific time, or anytime on demand on the
iHeartRadio app
Home with Dean Sharp News
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