Rockwool in Somerset

[maskedwarrior]

Hello,
I'm after a pack of 50mm RWA45 insulation to acoustically treat a wall and I'm having trouble sourcing some locally from a friendly indie supplier. Perhaps these don't exist anymore? I am happy to collect. I've found one company charging a £20 fee for me to go and collect. I was hoping to do better!

Suggestions welcome. Thanks.
Tony

[maskedwarrior]

Ah so I found some at Travis Perkins in Bristol for £26 inc VAT and I call that fine. This is the only chain I found who stocked it at a reasonable individual price and would let me collect without a charge.

Thanks, Tony.

[James Perrett]

Unfortunately this sort of product is slightly specialist so you need to go to a specialist supplier if you want any chance of finding it in stock. If you buy from a general builders merchant they usually have to order it in specially and will charge extra for small quantities.

The last time I needed a small quantity I found Studiospares to be the best place as they were one of the few places that actually had some in stock and their price for a single bale wasn't much more than the price of a single bale from the specialists (who all seemed to be out of stock at the time).

[Ian Shaw]

Not indie, but I got mine from Wickes. Just checked & it's on offer atm (£10 off). They have it near me in Bridgwater & Taunton

Hope that helps

Ian

PS Get a trade card if you can & get another 10% off

[Ian Shaw]

Link: https://www.wickes.co.uk/Rockwool-Sound-Insulation-Slab---50-x-600mm-x-1-2m/p/148841

[James Perrett]

Not indie, but I got mine from Wickes. Just checked & it's on offer atm (£10 off). They have it near me in Bridgwater & Taunton

There's no mention of density on the Wickes site for that product and I can't find density specs anywhere for it so it may well not be dense enough for acoustic treatment.

[Drew Stephenson]

I ended up going to Jewson when I got mine, needed to order it in but I was able to get the right density and there were no additional charges for the special order or the collection.

[Ian Shaw]

Not indie, but I got mine from Wickes. Just checked & it's on offer atm (£10 off). They have it near me in Bridgwater & Taunton

There's no mention of density on the Wickes site for that product and I can't find density specs anywhere for it so it may well not be dense enough for acoustic treatment.

True. Not much info on Rockwool's website either. I used mine behind panelling in my lounge to deaden the sound when I took up the carpets to go back to the old stone floor.The echo was terrible. I made a couple of acoustic panels for my music room with the left-over slabs. Fine for general deadening, but couldn't comment on the exact properties of the stuff.

[Sam Spoons]

Rockwool RW3 is often cited as the best compromise for acoustic panels. It is 60gcm density and just rigid enough to be self supporting in a frame.

[Matt Houghton]

Not indie, but I got mine from Wickes. Just checked & it's on offer atm (£10 off). They have it near me in Bridgwater & Taunton

There's no mention of density on the Wickes site for that product and I can't find density specs anywhere for it so it may well not be dense enough for acoustic treatment.

Can't recall the details, but it was less dense then RWA45 when I last looked into it — around March/April this year. (I ended up ordering a half-palette of RW3 from a builders' merchant as it's cheaper and better, and I knew I could use it... but boy does it take up space before you've done what you want with it!)

[Sam Spoons]

Rockwool RW3 is often cited as the best compromise for acoustic panels. It is 60gcm density and just rigid enough to be self supporting in a frame.

That should have read 60kg/m3 for RW3, RWA45 is 45kg/m3 according to their data sheet.

[Martin Walker]

Ah so I found some at Travis Perkins in Bristol for £26 inc VAT and I call that fine. This is the only chain I found who stocked it at a reasonable individual price and would let me collect without a charge.

That's where I got mine from Tony, and they even delivered it free of charge!

Martin

[maskedwarrior]

Thanks all for your suggestions. I picked some up from TP today. Martin, I had to double check they didn't offer free delivery where I am, as I had assumed not and automatically clicked collection. Fortunately, they do NOT offer free delivery, so I do not full like a muggins. That is good

I also didn't notice the density specs of the Wickes stuff. Perhaps it could be factory seconds, within BS spec but varying?

Rockwool RW3 is often cited as the best compromise for acoustic panels. It is 60gcm density and just rigid enough to be self supporting in a frame.

Ah yeah. I made my initial acoustic screens out of RWA45 as I was on a budget and I ended up making 75mm screens by slicing some panels in half. It was messy and annoying. However, I will be clamping this insulation beneath some plasterboard, to dampen a thin wall and provide some sound proofing. I will double up to 100mm if required.

Thanks again.
Tony

[maskedwarrior]

Just an update, for anyone making their own screens. I was mistaken, I originally used RW3 Rockwool panels to make my screens, not RWA45. The former are rigid and dense enough to be useful, the latter are very floppy, not as dense and I wouldn't recommend them to make screens out of. Because the RWA45 is quite squishy it should work quite well to muffle this wall in my house (which I haven't got round to doing yet!). I'm going to mount it behind some plasterboard. I'd recommend using 100mm RWA45 and squishing it a bit, ideally. However I'm going to use 50mm and see how I go, and double it later if necessary.

Just wanted to clear this up in case anyone googles this thread and is led in the wrong direction.
Tony