Stucco wall as 1 leaf in 2 leaf MSM system?

RicRox · 2nd February 2012

Hi all,

Been lurking here for years and found an AMAZING amount of info with the search button so i never posted myself. But this time I couldn't find any threads for my question, so I'm finally posting. Since I'm a newbie, I apologize in advance if I do or say something wrong.

Anyways. I'm in the planning stages of building my own little project studio in the the 3rd bay of a 3 car garage. I'm looking to do a double wall but I'm not sure how to handle the 1 existing exterior wall. The other 3 walls I'm building/ modifying and (I think) I know what to do.

This 1 wall in question is a stucco-sided, wood framed, on a single family house in Southern California (if anybody is familiar with this type of construction). I am not sure if this can be considered 1 leaf in a 2 leaf system. Is the wall airtight and massive enough to provide one side, and I just need to build another wall to the inside of that? Or is this type of wall too porous and/or not not enough mass to count.

I've heard conflicting sides. One is that it's a sealed and airtight wall for weather purposes and has enough mass, so it will will work. I've also heard that it's sealed for water coming in from outside and down, however air is easily able to escape going outward and up, because of drainage board built into the interior of the wall. And that if you try to seal the drainage board you can have moisture problems (not that I'm sure how to anyways).

If this exterior wall does not work for my purposes, can I add drywall to the inside surface of the exterior wall to create my first useable leaf, and disregard the rest of the exterior portion of that wall.

I don't want to assume the wall is sufficient when it's not and have leaks to the outside, negating the isolation of my 2 wall system. And I don't want to assume it's insufficient and finish the inside of the exterior wall with drywall, only to make a 3 leaf system when I add my interior wall.

Hopefully one of you fine people can help me out!

I hope my question is clear enough. Let me know if I can further clarify, or if more info is needed.

Rick

BriHar · 2nd February 2012

Why not play some music or tones in the bay of the garage in question and listen on the other side of the wall. Or even better, take some measurements with an SPL meter, in and out, that will tell you what the existing attenuation is and give a fairly good indication.

RicRox · 4th February 2012

Thanks for the response.
I have not yet tested with an spl meter. And I think that's a good idea for checking how much of a TL I need to aim for, and then to check my results later. But I do already know that I need to isolate it to some degree. My question has to do more with how to actually deal with that exterior wall than whether or not I need to treat it.

My question is whether that wall should be counted as a 1 half of a 2 leaf system or not.

2nd February 2012	#1
RicRox Gear interested Joined: Feb 2012 Posts: 2 Thread Starter	Stucco wall as 1 leaf in 2 leaf MSM system? Hi all, Been lurking here for years and found an AMAZING amount of info with the search button so i never posted myself. But this time I couldn't find any threads for my question, so I'm finally posting. Since I'm a newbie, I apologize in advance if I do or say something wrong. Anyways. I'm in the planning stages of building my own little project studio in the the 3rd bay of a 3 car garage. I'm looking to do a double wall but I'm not sure how to handle the 1 existing exterior wall. The other 3 walls I'm building/ modifying and (I think) I know what to do. This 1 wall in question is a stucco-sided, wood framed, on a single family house in Southern California (if anybody is familiar with this type of construction). I am not sure if this can be considered 1 leaf in a 2 leaf system. Is the wall airtight and massive enough to provide one side, and I just need to build another wall to the inside of that? Or is this type of wall too porous and/or not not enough mass to count. I've heard conflicting sides. One is that it's a sealed and airtight wall for weather purposes and has enough mass, so it will will work. I've also heard that it's sealed for water coming in from outside and down, however air is easily able to escape going outward and up, because of drainage board built into the interior of the wall. And that if you try to seal the drainage board you can have moisture problems (not that I'm sure how to anyways). If this exterior wall does not work for my purposes, can I add drywall to the inside surface of the exterior wall to create my first useable leaf, and disregard the rest of the exterior portion of that wall. I don't want to assume the wall is sufficient when it's not and have leaks to the outside, negating the isolation of my 2 wall system. And I don't want to assume it's insufficient and finish the inside of the exterior wall with drywall, only to make a 3 leaf system when I add my interior wall. Hopefully one of you fine people can help me out! I hope my question is clear enough. Let me know if I can further clarify, or if more info is needed. Rick

2nd February 2012	#2
BriHar Gear maniac Joined: Oct 2011 Location: Winterthur Switzerland Posts: 188	Why not play some music or tones in the bay of the garage in question and listen on the other side of the wall. Or even better, take some measurements with an SPL meter, in and out, that will tell you what the existing attenuation is and give a fairly good indication. __________________ No trees were killed in the sending of this message. However a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.

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4th February 2012	#3
RicRox Gear interested Joined: Feb 2012 Posts: 2 Thread Starter	Thanks for the response. I have not yet tested with an spl meter. And I think that's a good idea for checking how much of a TL I need to aim for, and then to check my results later. But I do already know that I need to isolate it to some degree. My question has to do more with how to actually deal with that exterior wall than whether or not I need to treat it. My question is whether that wall should be counted as a 1 half of a 2 leaf system or not.