With the changing times and changing homes, noise control and moisture management continue to be two of the most important qualities in construction. Each of these can be attributed to the current way that homes are constructed as well as the desires of homeowners.
The Rising Demand for Noise Control
From the echoing cave next door to the partying residents upstairs, noisy neighbors have been a residential complaint since the dawn of time. Entering a new age where a great deal of the workforce has shifted to take meetings from their living room, a quiet living environment has never been more paramount. When there is a lack of noise control in a living space, distraction, sleep disturbance, and frustration can run rampant in a home. Cases of not following a unit’s rules for quiet hours and leading to eviction have also risen.
Modern building science and the changing aesthetic styles are large components of an enhanced need for noise control. With the moving of tenants' wants from carpet to hardwood, a solution was needed. Back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, carpeted flooring was very popular in the common home. In current times, other types of flooring have gained popularity over carpeted flooring, such as wood and vinyl flooring.
With this newly desired flooring type, homes lose the natural muffling technology that comes with carpeting. For example, if a floor is made from gypsum, which is then carpeted, the carpet itself becomes its form of sound mat. Without carpeting, wood and vinyl flooring, et cetera, allows easier access for sound to pass through. In the absence of carpeting, impact noise is especially one of the main concerns. All this information encompasses the reasoning behind why noise control is one of the top two problems in construction today.
Moisture Management Urgency
The second of the two top problems in construction today, as mentioned, is moisture management. Water infiltration has always been a problem in construction, but now this concern is elevated as nearly everything in wall systems within homes and buildings has changed.
In the past, buildings were able to be dried from both the exterior and the interior, but now the focus is to tighten walls to stop air and water intrusion. To do this, new systems had to be developed to overcome these changes, which leads to the current significance of moisture management in construction today.
This need for moisture management has increased the popularity of rainscreen. Having a rainscreen gap allows the drainage of bulk water from homes with the ability to ventilate any excess moisture out of the top of the wall through convection. This gap provides a capillary break and also helps with pressure differentiation so that if any water gets stuck in the wall, the pressure-regulated drainage gap will not pull moisture through the wall system into the conditioned space.
A significant reason contributing to the need for ventilation gaps, in general, is the increased desire and use of energy-efficient siding. With a changing industry, more and more people value their money and savings at home. In addition, many more individuals today are interested in “going green.”
There is an increased desire for people to not lose any money through the escape of AC or heating within the home, as well as to have energy-efficient homes to have less of a negative impact on the environment. Having a rainscreen in the wall system allows regulation between the conditioned and unconditioned spaces. All this encompasses the reasoning behind why moisture management is also one of the top two problems in construction today.
The Takeaway
The construction world will continue to progress in new developments and products. Even so, noise control and moisture management will remain at the top of the charts for the main issues to tackle within construction. If these top issues in construction today are not top issues for you, then that is the real problem. Protect your home from water damage and keep it calm and sound before worse, long-lasting issues arise.