Green Glue Review: Types, Uses and Alternatives
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Having a teenager in a house can be demanding. But when your son is also into drums, there is a great amount of noise to handle.
My son and his friends practice in our garage almost every day, and we just had to do something about it, but also find a way to stay supportive parents.
There’s where Green Glue stepped in. It helped us stay both in good relations with our kid loud friends and enjoy our coffee in silence.
Now, let’s get to the point! What is actually Green Glue and how we used it to make our every day better?
What is Green Glue?
I personally haven’t used Green Glue before we started having noise problems and decided to renovate the house.
Most of my knowledge I gained through the Internet (Green Glue has a great web page where you can find the answer to almost any question you have) and from the experience of my friends.
Green Glue is a helper for soundproofing your home. They have different products that work in a different way.
I will describe them in detail a few paragraphs down, but for the start here are some basic information.
If you thought that Green Glue is a sound absorber or a sound diffuser, that is not the case.
It is a product that is designed to stop sound and vibration travel between rooms and to convert one type of energy to another (sound energy to heat).
Don’t be scared this amount of heat is minimal and will not burn your apartment down.
Green Glue products that you can find on the market are Green Glue Noiseproofing Compound, Sealant, Clips, and Joist Tape.
You can use these products between the walls, between the floor and the joists or between two floors in your home.
Green Glue Noiseproofing Compound is usually placed in between two drywall layers. When in place it won’t let sound waves travel from one side of the room to another.
It is the most popular soundproofing material on the market that won’t cost you like you are building a recording studio.
If you are planning some renovation or some construction projects it should work really well.
Also, it is important to mention that Green Glue is eco-friendly and non-hazardous. A downside is that it does smell kind of unpleasant, but this also, can be prevented.
Does Green Glue really work?
I often get this question from my friends and neighbors.
Well, if it didn’t work for me I wouldn’t be writing this article now, would I? In our house, it dampened the sound dramatically!
I used to hear everything in the house, alarm clock in the other rooms, TV downstairs (voices loud and clear), the kitchen cabinets closing, etc.
Now, we can still hear some noise but for example, I don't hear my husband footsteps when he enters the door, and I can tell that TV is on but I don’t have a clue what my kids are watching if I am not sitting next to them.
We are very happy with the results and it totally paid off for us. We didn’t think it would go this well.
Just keep in mind, you don't get the full results right away, you should wait about 90 days to see the real effect. We had this in mind but started seeing drastic improvements after just 30 days.
The main cause why products like this don’t work like they are supposed to is due to improper use.
When not installed properly, things like Green Glue just won’t do their job. Don’t know how to install it?
Ask that Do-It-Yourself colleague of yours, or just keep reading.
Which Green Glue Products should I use?
As I mentioned before there are several Green Glue products. You can find five of them on the market actually.
Here I will say a few words about each one of them.
Green Glue Damping Compound (Bucket)
If you are planning some big project, let’s say around 300 square feet big project this might be a product for you, as It’s probably equivalent to 24 Green Glue tubes.
When you buy a greater amount of Green Glue in packages like this it will probably be cheaper at the end. But there are some downsides.
Your renovation will run slower and less efficient because you will have to refill and clean the applicator gun all the time, and that can be really frustrating and time-consuming.
Green Glue Compound (Tube)
If your renovation is not as massive as one mentioned above you should consider Green Glue Tubes.
You don’t need an applicator gun, and that will save you around $30 at the very beginning.
Tubes are basically the same as the bucket but in smaller packages, and because of that they are used for smaller projects.
Green Glue Noiseproofing Sealant
Another product is Green Glue Noiseproofing Sealant. It is a paintable polymer made to make cracks and gaps invisible after your renovation.
The Sealant is applied under the finishing coat, so it remains hidden. It's very easy to use, just fill in the gaps.
Two days is all that takes for Sealant to dry, and the great thing is that it doesn't smell unpleasant.
Green Glue Noiseproofing Clips
Green Glue Noiseproofing Clips are components made to physically divide two sides of the wall from one another.
By doing that, it lets one side of the wall carry sound waves separately from another, and reduces vibrations between them.
Ever heard of hat channels, well, Green Glue Noiseproofing Clips are made to be used with them. When you add these two to the ceiling joists sound energy will decrease, making your home a quieter place.
If you have a problem with high frequencies or impact noise, this is the product you should use.
Good example of impact noise are footsteps, and this is the problem that we had in our house, and fixed it with Clips and Joist Tape.
You should have in mind that Clips can’t be installed over existing drywall!
Green Glue Noiseproofing Joist Tape
This product is used for floor soundproofing. Joist Tape is made out of foam.
One side is used to place the Joist Tape under the floor, stick it underneath it, more precisely. Over the other side, you can easily install a floor.
Joist Tape prevents noise, squeaking, peeping and other annoying sounds that come from the space between the floor and joists, and loud footsteps.
St. Gobain is the official manufacturer
How to install Green Glue?
It’s really simple to install Green Glue by yourself. There are two steps.
First, you need to apply it to the surface and then you need to let it dry. If you are not really skillful ask someone for help.
Application
If you have an application gun and the compound all you need to do is to use a gun to spread compound all over the drywall.
Hang the drywall and apply Green Glue either on that hanging one or the other that you’ll hang later.
It’s very important for you to know that Green Glue will not fill out the space between drywall itself. You need to get layers against each other as close as possible by tightening the screws.
If you decide to buy Tubes the process is completely the same, except that you don’t have an application gun, you have a tube.
Consider buying a caulking gun, as it will help you fasten up the renovation.
It’s not that important how you apply the Green Glue (patterns that you’ll draw), but it’s really important to cover the whole surface.
Drying
Once it’s done it’s done. When Green Glue dries you can’t undo what you did. That is why it’s very important to install Green Glue and tighten the bolts within 15 minutes.
First few days this product won’t be in a consistent form, and it will take about one week of drying before you start seeing some results, and about a month for Green Glue to fully dry.
Where to Buy Green Glue?
It depends on where are you living. Green Glue is available online but maybe you live somewhere where shipping isn’t possible.
Luckily, in most places on Earth, this is the solution.
Surf through the Internet and chances are you will find some good deals, such as free shipping, discounts for larger amounts (might not be a bad idea to ask your neighbor to split the bill and get some tubes for free).
You can find Green Glue through certified distributors.
They sell Green Glue products that they bought from the manufacturer, and they can also help you choose what type of product exactly do you need and how to install it.
So go online on Green Glue web page and find the nearest certified distributor in your area (they also have a map of all certified distributors so it won’t be hard to get around).
Green glue products are available in many different countries, such as France, Spain, Italy, South Africa, Australia, China, and many others.
You should also keep in mind that different distributors might have different offers, so look it up before you buy and find the best offer.
We recommend getting it on Amazon due to the efficiency.
Tips for Using Green Glue Products
There are always some things that we don’t focus on but are very important. I will give you some hints so you don’t miss anything.
Some of these may sound like common sense but trust me people often forget these kinds of things.
Ask for help
Do-It-Yourself projects may sound interesting and fun, and they are really appealing because they can save you money also.
But if you are not Do-It-Yourself type of a person you should definitely ask for help.
Whether your first neighbor, your cousin or somebody whose job is to do this kind of stuff, ask for help.
You may spend a bit more money but you will save a lot more when you don’t have to fix the mess you made.
FAQ
I tried to answer as many questions as I could, but there will always be some of them left unanswered.
If you have a question, chances are that somebody before already asked the same one.
You should look it up on the Internet or the frequently asked questions sector on Green Glue official web page, and probably you will find some useful information.
Always use two layers
Do not use just one layer of drywall! You should use Green Glue in between at least two layers of drywall.
You could use more than two but definitely not less. The more layers you add the thicker the wall becomes and the quantity of noise decreases.
Make it at least half a millimeter thick
When you install Green Glue you should keep an eye on this. You should apply at least 0.5mm thick layer of Green Glue.
Making it more than this is really unnecessary, but it doesn’t do harm, but don’t go below half a millimeter.
A conventional adhesive is a no
Products such as conventional adhesive should not be used with Green Glue.
This is a bad idea because they affect the consistency of a Green Glue.
Wood is good
This is a commonly asked question.
It is perfectly fine to use Green Glue with wood products. It won’t do any harm to drywall or plywood for example.
Green Glue Alternatives
If after all this you still don’t want Green Glue products or you’re just not in a position to find it in your country there are some alternatives.
There is a product named Quiet Glue, it’s cheaper than the Green Glue so it may be a good idea if you are trying to save some money.
But cutting some money here and there will cost you in other ways, your peace and silence.
Although Quiet Glue is a good product, compared to Green Glue it doesn’t stand a chance.
When we decided to soundproof our house another recommendation that I got from a good friend of mine was Mass Loaded Vinyl.
She used MLV and was quite happy with the results. It was definitely more expensive than the Green glue, cost her around $800 for covering two bedrooms a few years ago.
There are also some simple solutions, like putting a carpet.
This is not a cutting-edge technology that will save you from noise, but if you have a pet, or kids running all over the house this will maybe make your living space less noisy.
You might also like: Green Glue vs QuietRock
Final thoughts: Green Glue Review
This article, more a guide, was meant to inform you more about the Green Glue products.
All products of this type have their pros and cons, but I hope that I gave you a little insight on how this one works.
Also, I hope that after reading this you have some idea whether this type of product is for you or not. The final decision is always up to you.