Michael Roemen: “In today’s video we’re talking with Denise, one of our design assist specialists, about acoustic wood. As a premium finish, your ceiling should not only provide improved aesthetics and natural warmth and beauty but also enhance acoustics. So, let’s jump in.”
The Basics
Denise Sprengelmeyer: “Acoustic planks and acoustic tiles are both constructed out of a veneer on a fire-rated substrate. They’re engineered with kerfs, which are little grooves, which allow sounds to pass through into the plenum. On the back of the tiles or planks are holes that are drilled to allow the sound to pass through. Above the acoustic ceiling, you might find a fiberglass blanket, theater board, or a scrim product, whichever fits the most acoustic needs.”
Assembly Types
DS: “The final installation look of our acoustic planks and acoustic tiles are very different. Acoustic planks give a monolithic appearance in the ceiling. It’s similar to a wood floor in that you do identify the different panels, the variations in the veneer, the natural wood, but in all it’s a monolithic appearance as opposed to our acoustic tiles. You can visually see the individual tiles and the reveals between, which lend toward a more modular appearance.
MR: “Acoustic wood offers you as a designer lots of options with width, length, kerf or groove spacing in both an acoustic plank and an acoustic tile. For acoustic plank, it’s going to be a ¾” thickness by typically an 8” nominal width of plank by an 8’ or 10’ length. We can vary the on-center spacing of the groove to give higher acoustical treatment value or lower; it just depends on your combination of acoustic and aesthetic needs. For acoustic tiles the best yield of material is typically a 2’x2’ up to a 4’x4’ tile size, however, we can go larger for some suspension or attachment options. You’re not relegated to one tile size within your acoustic wood.”
Species & Finishes
DS: “We offer more than 50 veneer options for our acoustic products. The most popular ones that we are seeing now would be cherry, white maple, white oak, and walnut. Our acoustic tiles and planks are available in FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council®) certified wood. The veneer slicing options available to designers are rift sliced, plain sliced, and quarter sliced. We also offer an engineered veneer, which gives more of a consistent color, if that’s what designers are looking for.
The veneers we use for our acoustic products are on a class-A fire rated particleboard substrate. The fire-rated substrate that we use is 100% recycled material and it is made in the Northwest. There are three finish options available: clear, stain, and opaque. Our clear finish is a matte sheen which allows the wood color and grain to really shine through. With regards to stains, we have our standard stains and custom options. Our finish techs can customize any stain to match a color control that you provide. Opaque finish is similar to paint, it’s meant to conceal and hide the color and grain of the wood. There are some species, such as oak, however, in which the grain texture might show through. Similar to stains, we can provide any color in our opaque finish. If a color control is provided by you, we can match it.”
Suspension & Details
MR: “9Wood acoustic plank and acoustic tile are all suspended from standard heavy-duty T-bar suspension. 9Wood products can suspend from any manufacturer of T-bar as long as it bears the weight of the load of the system, typically 3 lbs./square foot, give or take. One thing to keep in mind is every project has a unique suspension and we provide a set of shop drawings for the architect and subcontractor to look at and approve before installation of the product. We also have install guides, datasheets, and other technical information available to you. We have a number of details that are downloadable, so check that out. Perimeters, light fixtures, can lights, air diffusers, a number of typical details; so you can just grab those, put those right into your drawings.”
Accessibility
MR: “When it comes to accessibility the acoustic plank is a progressively-installed system, so like flooring you start on one side of the room and you move to the other. To create an access panel, you will need a reveal around it, which will be visible. We can work with you to detail a system that can be very simply accessed by pushing up into the plenum or swinging down, just depends on your project. As for acoustic tile, there is a range of options: fully accessible, partially accessible, or non-accessible. Make sure you make that clear going into the conversation so we can provide you great support and give you the best system for accessibility needs. Remember, accessibility carries a premium if the full ceiling needs to have access. That’s because there’s more hardware, attachments, clips and other things necessary to give you that full accessibility. So we can work with you to meet your budget in your accessibility needs.”
DS: “Pricing for our acoustic planks typically runs between the low 20s and the low 30s. Pricing for acoustic tiles runs between the upper 20s and lower 40s. That pricing is for material only and does not include installation and labor. While it varies across the country, a good rule of thumb is to double your material cost to get your install cost.”
Lead-Times
DS: “The typical lead-time for 9Wood products is 8 to 10 weeks for submittal samples and shop drawing approvals. Then another 8 to 10 weeks in production. That means a total lead-time of 16 to 20 weeks. Several times a week a design will come across my desk. It’s exciting, it’s beautiful, it’s different, it’s amazing. I really feel like there’s so many creative people designing amazing things and I am so happy to be part of that.”
MR: “Thanks, Denise, that was really great. We covered a lot and you shouldn’t have to feel like you have to digest it and understand all of it yourself. We are here to support you, so check out our website for acoustic testing data, images, details, and articles about wood ceilings. We appreciate you watching the video today and we’ll see you next time.”