The Sound Design Guide

Your go-to-resource for sound and fire designs 

Remove the guesswork and unleash your creativity with the industry’s most transparent and comprehensive guide for sound and fire. Includes more than 170 sound and fire-tested assemblies, various steel and wood frame partitions, different stud thicknesses, configurations and materials making designing to code faster and easier.

 

Download The Sound Design Guide

Yes, I’d like a hard copy of The Sound Design Guide! 

The Sound Design Guide - 74 new designs

Design Freedom

Choose from 74 new tested and trusted designs—
177 fire and sound designs in total  

Designs organized by:

  • STEEL FRAMING Single, Staggered and Double Studs
  • WOOD FRAMING Single, Staggered and Double Studs
  • AREA SEPARATION WALL

Fill out the form above to request a hardcopy or download a digital copy here.   

 

NEW 6 Inch wood designs for greater design flexibility

Residential Design Options

Take advantage of the new 2x6 wood stud framing section.

  • DEEPER WALLS FOR ADDED R-VALUE – 2x6 frame construction allows for more space between your interior and exterior walls offering more room for added insulation.
  • INCREASED STRUCTURAL STRENGTH –  In bending, such as from a wind load, a 2x6 wall is considerably stronger.

New numbering system for designs

Faster Design Identification

Find appropriate design components faster with our new test number system. 

  1. PGD=PABCO Gypsum Design. This will help identify the source of the design and eliminate confusion with other handbooks and guides.
  2. Construction Type if other than a Wall Partition (for example an Area Separation Wall would be ASW)
  3. Stud Type
    1. Wood=W
    2. Steel=Noted by mil thickness
  4. Stud Width
    1. Wood=If other than standard width of 4”
    2. Steel=If other than standard width of 3-5/8”
  5. Stud Configuration (if other than single)
    1. S=Staggered
    2. D=Double
  6. Assembly Number within the Category (the lower the number, the higher the STC value)
  7. Stud Spacing
    1. 16” o.c.=16
    2. 24” o.c.=24

Assembly Selection is a Breeze

Easy to navigate assembly sections give side-by-side comparisons of stud spacing using the same wall configuration.

  • EASY TO NAVIGATE – Find and compare wall performance by stud spacing
  • REMOVE THE GUESS WORK – STC performance by stud type, mil thickness and wall configuration  

Sound Advice!

Everything you need to know is in the enhanced acoustic education section  

  • FLANKING PATHS – Understanding common issues when building STC-rated wall partitions and how to avoid them
  • SOUND 101 – General summary of acoustic energy and common terms used
  • UNDERSTANDING ACOUSTIC TEST REPORTS – A breakdown of the contemporary test report from 3-party accredited acoustic laboratories  
  • AND MORE!