Homasote/QuietBrace Alternative?

You can us ceiling tiles, they work as well or 1/2 buildrite which may or may or be oil impregnated either way it works plus you can use 3/4 inch pink foam. All will cut down on noise

hay guy

I used the quitebrace from home depot. Just asking : did you ask for any sales help to find it? It is not located in my HD where one my think to look for it. It was in the roofing area???? thought that was weird.

 

I'm straining to see that sound choice board nomenclature. That price is close to QB as well as the thickness.

 

Good luck. Want to see some of those BIG BOYS running

 

Larry

 

 

Before I found it, I did ask a guy if they had Homesote.  He had never heard of it.  I told him I wanted it for sound deadening for my trains.  He said they had foam, and that his friend used to be into trains too.

Suggest that you contact a professional building supply place in your area.  Or, contact Homasote and ask for dealers in your area.

 

That other sound deadening product that you saw is considerably less expensive than Homasote - I'm not familiar with it, and am curious about its properties.  Since building materials are a highly competitive commodity, I'm assuming that there's a good reason why that product is so much cheaper than Homasote.

 

Purpose and use of foam and ceiling tiles is completely different than Homasote.  I'm not saying that they're bad or inappropriate - just very different.  

Here is a link to their website that explains more about the product:

 

Link to SoundChoice  opens in a new window.

 

Link to QuietBrace product.

 

Link to Homasote brochure.

 

It appears that Homasote is somewhat better at sound absorption than SoundChoice, but much depends on the construction technique for the ratings.   SoundChoice looks like a reasonable alternative when Homasote is not available.

When I built my layout, I found many ideas and opinions on the forum.  I went with Homasote for noise but found out  it is also excellent for holding small screws for securing operating accessories, track, etc.  If you try one of the others, make sure you check the strength factor too.  I found my homasote at a building supply place.

Sinclair,

Homosote is the better choice by far. When working with it one must remember that it is quite heavy. Extra precautions must be taken when cutting it to size. This is due to amount of dust generated.

Another choice would be Sound Board. This is installed on apartment walls under the sheetrock. It is far lighter than Homosote, however, it creates the same high levels of dust when cut. Also, depending on your type of finish work you might need light foam to form your levels of scenery. I might should add that most HD carry the product under different names. I hope this is helpful. 

Sinclair

 

    All of the suggestions have been good and mine is just one more from experience. I have fastrack that has been accused of being noisy. It sure is on plywood and running at 100mph! With homasote only under the track and some foam window seal cut to fit inside, it is very quiet. I run very slow freight trains with legacy and have no sound issues. You only need the road bed for sound control. The rest of the layout can be anything else you find.

 

Ray

if you are looking for quiet it will be found mostly by adjusting the room acoustics and a small amount by covering the benchwork.  just by looking at the tile floor I can see that the room itself is not going to absorb much noise. a carpet remnant placed on the floor under the layout and a heavy fabric skirting around the layout will help very much. the more sound absorbing items you can place in the room the better you will be. the homosote will do very little when the rest of the room is an echo chamber.

JohnS,

Good Call! I noticed the lack luster appearance as well. Your observations are, spot on.

There have been MANY threads on this topic; i.e., Homasote and QuietBrace.

 

I used Homasote for 30 years (HO), and then, when I started in O-Gauge, I could not find Homasote, so I started using QB from HD. Back then (2009) it was around $7/sheet.

 

When I built my present layout (2011) I did not even bother to look for Homasote. I actually liked QB better, and even at the $9/sheet cost then (2011), it was a lot less than the Homasote I had finally found. IIRC, I used about 30 sheets of QB for my current layout, and it is perfect. I painted the first four sheets (my wife did), but then realized that it would be covered with terrain, ballast, mountains, etc., so I left it black.

 

The black coating can stain your hands and clothes if you rub the uncut edges of the QB sheets, which are a bit harder as well. I cut the QB with a utility knife (as I used to cut the Homasote) and this results in no dust.

 

If you look at the link for my layout, below, there are several pictures that show the QB at various stages of installation. Oh, for curved cuts, I used knife-edge blade on a jigsaw.

 

Good luck!

 

Alex

I kind of like some of the noise and when you add some scenery to the layout that will also help quiet things down a bit

I wonder if Homosote is really necessary? I went to the expense of using 5/8 Plywood, and 1/2 Homesote, 1/4 Cork Roadbed under Atlas-O and Ross Track. Yes, it's very quiet.

I am re-examining the thoughts of Quiet, spending the extra money for Quiet, after visiting a friend in Memphis Tennessee Saturday. He had a really huge layout, built on a 

carpeted floor in his upstairs bonus room. It was a solid 2 by 4 framework with a 3/4 thick

Plywood top. His track, Ross and Gargraves was attached to the table. When he started up a 10 car Passenger train, pulled by a Large MTH Steamer, all you could hear was the engine sounds, absolutely No Vibration....Quiet, nice, and very Realistic.  

I think if you are running older Tin Plate trains on tubular track, that would be noisy. I think if you are running the New Generation of Command Control Trains with all the Sounds, you can save the money for Sound deadening material...Think about what you will be operating.... There is nothing wrong with a Wee Bit of Noise.  Happy Railroading.

Sinclair, Not sure where you live in Arizona, but in less than 3 minutes i Googled Homasote and found over 5 dealers within a 10 mile radius of Phoenix. Same for Tucson, and two up in Flagstaff. Did you ask the managers in the stores you visited or just some minimum wage employee who may or may not have had a clue about what you were asking for?

jackson

I'm not familiar with the QuietBrace brand or the "Sound Choice" product from HD. What I use, and our toy train museum also uses, is some generic sound insulating board that we buy at Lowe's. It's probably similar to the "Sound Choice." It's cheap and holds screws pretty well. It's really dirty to work with. I got around that by priming both sides before I cut and installed it. I also cleaned it up with a shop vacuum before I primed it. The best way to cut it is with a knife or a saber saw. 

 

I am in Tucson. The last time I was out looking for sound board, HD here did not carry the "Sound Choice" product and the guy in the lumber department looked at me like I had just landed from Mars when I asked for sound insulating board. Lowe's was no problem, the sound board was easy to find and the lumber guy knew what and where it was. 

But if you notice that's for Homex 300 which is joint expansion filler for concrete, not 440 SoundBarrier.  Now that is for me in east Mesa.  If I open it up to 100 miles, now 2 places in PHX show up, both of which are a drive for whomever I'd ask with a truck to go get it.  HD is a lot closer, and I want it mainly to hold Atlas track screws without the screws going into the plywood.  I've done FasTrack on carpet covered plywood a couple of inches off of the ground in a carpeted room full of books along the walls and that was way too loud to be acceptable.  And I know that it's an empty tiled room, but I also know that I can quiet the trains and it'll be fine.  Under the layout will be used for storage as I don't have a garage, so all those boxes of things most people keep in one will go under the layout.  It was going to be even higher due to that, but I had to bring it down so that my 2 year old could still see things while standing on a chair.

Seems we can never do enough to control unwanted sound.  But generally speaking, I tend to agree that Homasote (or an equivalent product) is not the be-all / end-all solution all by itself.  Better to think of it as "part" of the solution.  I've seen surprisingly quiet layouts without it, and some noisier-than-expected layouts with it.  So it's more a matter of thinking "big picture".

 

David

FYI: HD lists homasote as 440 Sound board SKU#206136.

And I have been thinking of the big picture.  That room is empty now, but it will not stay that way.  I've got to get the big thing in first, the train table, then the rest will be filled in.

But it's "sold in stores only" and no HD in 100 miles of Mesa has it.  So no buy online and ship to store option.

 

I did get a quote from one of those PHX lumber yards, nearly $40 a sheet.  So due to price alone, I'm going to get the Sound Choice stuff since I can get what I need for the whole thing for the same price as one sheet of Homasote.  Some say why skimp when you buy an expensive locomotive, and I say because I rather run my trains now then wait the several months it'll take to save for the Homasote instead of for more track to finish my layout.

 

Thanks for the help.

This may not be an answer to your question but it could help in the overall 

solution. I use 3/4 cabinet grade plywood and I have been experimenting with

fastening the plywood to my benchwork. Long story short, I took foam window

seal (1/4H-1/2W-17ft long) and placed it on top of my benchwork everywhere

the plywood would make contact. This made a huge difference in the resonance

of the plywood reducing the noise. I used about 20 screws per 4X8 sheet of

plywood. You may still want to use something on top, but this is worth a try.

It took me 2 packs of window seal on a 4X8 section and cost me about $5 for

the 2 packs.

Dynamat like they use in hot rods

Okay, an update.  I went with the cheaper priced stuff at HD, using Liquid Nail for paneling to glue it to the plywood.  I then put green felt on top.  And as a test, I put a loop of FasTrack on it and ran my Big Boy at full speed.  The sound is way better.  I can actually talk and be heard.  So I know once I get my Atlas track on cork down it'll be perfect.

 

 

 

The photos loaded backwards, and I'm feeling too lazy to correct the order.  You see it as it currently sits, with the loop of FasTrack and my VL BB pulling reefers, and the middle full of my LEGO trains.  No reason to let that middle sit empty while I wait for Atlas to get more track made.  Then you see my 2 year old inspecting the BB as it goes around on it's 1st lap on the new table.  He's lately become obsessed with bells.  He loves to poke them to make them swing and when he plays with the trains he turns the bell on and leaves it on as the locomotive goes around and around.  I think I'll add the Lionel VL PRR 0-8-8-0 to my wish list to see what he thinks about seeing the bell swing with the sound.  The last image is the table as soon as the felt got put on.  And here's the requested video of my BB running.

 

Nice!

 

I always like to see those BB running. Looking good. It's nice  when a plan comes together.

 

Sinclair

 

When you get your fancy track. Shoot me a e-mail if you are going to get rid of that FT 0-72 circle. I got a plan for Christmas and have a bunch of straight just will eventually need a  0-72 circle.

 

Have fun!!!!!

 

Larry

I'm glad you liked the video.  As for the O72 FT, it stays with all the other FT I own.  It's for carpet running in the other rooms.  There are times when you just have to pull out all the track you can and run trains up and down the hall and through the bedrooms to annoy the wife and cats, but to the joy of the kids.

Ha Sinclair

That's exactly what I'm planning at Christmas time. I just haven't' told her or the dog. Keep em guessing  as much as I can.

 

Larry