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. 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. The highest rating is iic rating 65 which includes cork flooring and carpet. 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.

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. The impact insulation class iic rating is a measurement of sound transmission from the floor to a room beneath it. The subfloor ceiling assembly and presence of an underlayment during testing impact the rating from one manufacturer to. An iic and stc rating will generally be 5 points higher than.

An iic rating 50 means that the flooring material has minimal sound absorption capabilities. The iic rating is the determined by using a standard tapping machine with five steel faced hammers to strike a test floor material generating sounds between 125 hz 4000 hz. It all begins with how sound is generated and the medium it transfers through. The impact creates vibrations that travel through the flooring and produce sounds on the other side.

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. More typical values fall between 35 and 55. Some condos prohibit hardwood flooring entirely to make sure noise transmission into lower units is not increased. The iic rating measures impact sounds such as footfalls dropped objects etc.

The main test done by flooring industry is the impact insulation class iic ad sound transmission class stc. But when you compare products look beyond the number. The top layer of flooring is only the tip of the iceberg for flooring sound transmission. I hope this information was helpful for you.

So no 1 4 inch cork is not adequate on concrete. A midrange level is iic rating 60 which includes some vinyl flooring as well as wood and laminate floors. A f iic and f stc rating. Carpet with an nrc rating of 40 50 is the most efficient absorptive material.

The higher the rating the less sound gets through.