Textured ceiling?

[Earfull]

I'm having the drywall done now in my HT room and the guy said that a textured ceiling will help a little for acoustics.

Any opinions on this?

 

[JohnA]

I'm having the drywall done now in my HT room and the guy said that a textured ceiling will help a little for acoustics.

Any opinions on this?

Ha, Ha, Ha.....oh. sorry, that was funny....Go with a smooth finish, painting a textured finish is a pain. And it won't help.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Actually, yes

Actually, it does help. It acts to absorb the reflections and quiets the room. A textured ceiling acts more like an anechoic chamber than a flat ceiling does, unless you are using acoustical tiles. A smooth flat surface transfers sound (and light) much more efficiently than a textured surface. The greater the texture, the higher the absorbtion. That's why in an anechoic chamber, the foam pads have "waves" instead of being flat. I was just in an anechoic chamber at COSI (Center of Science and Industry) in downtown Columbus, OH. It's so dead silent in an anechoic chamber, your ears feel like they are about to pop.

 

[HookedOnSound]

if you are talking about the 'popcorn' stuff, I believe it does have some acoustical properties (if you buy the appropriate stuff) but quite honestly it is really a pain to paint.

Contractors like using it because they don't need to spend alot of time finishing the ceiling, it hides imperfections quite well.

I have it all over my house and I would rather do without it.

All I can say is I hope you are willing to live with your decision for a long time since removing it later is quite messy.

 

[Tom351]

It will help only slightly, by giving a bit of diffusion at the very high frequencies with wavelengths small enough to be affected by the slight texture. Obviously the texture will be invisible for most of the spectrum.

TD

 

[saurabh]

Well on the sound front its good to have textured paint since apart from being an absorbant the deflections or bounce off for sound waves will also be uneven as compared to smooth finished paints resulting in lesser resonance in the room.

For the efforts and cost factor, better to ask the contractor and compare.

 

[Earfull]

Thanks all. I think I'll do a smooth ceiling as I feel the textured has a dated kind of look, and it doesn't sound like there's an overwhelming case for acoustic improvement. I'll just add some good sized crown molding; that and carpet & furniture should take care of things.

It's getting closer......mmmuuahahahahaha

 

[BMXTRIX]

Good choice! While there are many considerations when building a audio environment, I don't think textured ceilings are at all the way to go. Especially in a home theater where you may need to get into the ceiling later on for running wires or lighting or something else. Any holes cut into a traditional drywall ceiling are easily replaced and fixed.

There are many ways to treat a ceiling for acoustics and one of the nicest ways, at an affordable cost, that I saw to fully treat a home theater would work well for ceilings as well... carpet it. It really brings down the reflections and can be replaced easily enough. Worked great on the theater where it was put in on the walls and was much less $$$ than acoustical tiling.

 

[Audioholics]

I personally prefer knock-down ceilings. They are better looking than popcorn and seem to stand up to the effects of time and style.

 

[RJB]

All hail the knock-down! Got 'em and love 'em!