Hey, AVS..

Like strange_brew and others, we want to go against the grain and NOT use GOM in our room. (We've looked at literally EVERY line GOM has, and the fabrics are just..meh).

Decorator lady dropped off a copy of a mag (forget the title) where they profiled a bunch of very high-end (we're talking $500K!) HTs, and the one thing they all had in common is the visual "WOW!" appeal. We'd like to get that same look for a whole lot less (OK, 1/10th-1/20th the price), and she thinks she can do it - BUT - that means NO GOM, and using regular fabric on the walls, like this:

http://jstolzen.smugmug.com/photos/272399606_4xs3V-M.jpg

Now, before anyone starts telling me we're asking to kill our entire family in an HT fire, I should mention the FIRST thing out of my mouth was.."what about fabric flammability?". So, I turned to THE authoritative source for ALL HT wisdom (AVS), and found the following thread started by strange-brew:

Fireproofing Fabric (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=832373)

..where he talks about using No-Burn to treat the non-GOM fabric that they used.

No-Burn appears to have been used by the guys at Extreme Home Makeover, so that adds to my confidence that it's a good/effective product, as the big, honkin media Conglomerate known as Disney is NOT gonna expose themselves legally to using a sub-standard product. So, my confidence in No-Burn is pretty high.

That aside, decorator lady knows of a company that does COMMERCIAL FIREPROOFING OF FABRIC for drapes, material used in offices, etc. The downside is that we'd need to send our fabric to them in PA, it would probably take weeks (major bummer), be reasonably costly ($250+), and be a giant hassle. BUT, we'd achieve "COMMERCIAL" fire-ratings that meet all of the industry specs on fire retardant required, and would presumably meet the exact same process and compliance as any GOM we would buy.

So, this seems like an option as well. But - what about code compliance? Insurance issues? I'd assume we need to get some kind of doc from the company that says it's ATSM-blah blah compliant, etc, right? (But, to that point, I'd imagine municipalities and insurance companies freaking out at first that you built an entire GOM-covered room as well..)

Part of the fun of this whole thing is creating a room that really says "WOW" - and GOM just doesn't cut it in that regard. (Yes, I've looked at EVERY GOM line - literally - and have ordered DOZENS of samples. All the GOM fabric is "meh" compared to what the decorator is putting together..)

So, what do you guys think? Is this an option, or am I nuts to even consider such blasphemy of not using the all-hailed GOM in our room?

Thanks..

I think people use GOM for two reasons, not just one.

1) fire-rated
2) understood sound-transmission properties

If you are just using the wall fabrics as decoration, than only #1 matters. If you are planning on have acoustic treatments on your walls, you want to make sure the sound is getting to them. For low frequencies, I wouldn't expect any fabric to make much of a difference. For mid-high frequencies, I would be concerned that the fabric you are picturing (tight weave, kind of shiny) might reflect sound.

It may not be an issue at all, but if I were you I'd try to understand the acoustic properties of the fabric before covering my wall treatments with it.

an interior decorator is going to have no problems finding FR fabric that looks good - you pay them because they have such knowledge and resources.

You should read this

http://www.dazian.com/html/scenic_supplies_flame_retardan.html

Dazian is also a good resource for something different than the GOM - which honestly is more about fabrics good for the office than for the HT. It is just that GoM commercial biz makes it more widely distributed. Each Dazian fabric is listed with its FR categorization.

blow-thru/see-thru sample tests can substitute for official acoustical transparency/absorbancy tests.

Yep..probably should have talked about the acoustic properties..

IIRC, the general consensus is that there's nothing magical about GOM in terms of acoustic pass-through other than the fact it's loose weave 100% poly, right?

Thought I read that if you can see through it and blow through it, like you can GOM, all is goodness.

Or am I missing something?

krasmuzik: thanks for the Dazian link. I've seen Dazian mentioned here a bunch, but seemed like people were using them more for cheaper flat black (over FR701) etc than "main" wall fabrics. I poked around their site a bit and didn't see much in terms of fabric choices that'd be good for HT walls, so do you know of a good place to look?

Thanks guys..

- B

Only GOM FR701 is a polyester weave that is best acoustically - the rest of the lines vary in that regard. It is the default choice because it is often the cheapest - but lesson one when it comes to women and fabric - cheapest is not the best choice. I don't know any women that would pick GoM FR701 - simply because it looks like cheap burlap.

Impossible for me to offer interior design advice - even if I spent time with your WAF - it is to give technical guidelines. I consider what looks good their decision!

right off the top I see this crushed velvet (but actually a PFR polyster) that looks very elegant theatre style.

http://www.dazian.com/cgi-bin/page.pl?action=show_style&style_id=581


I doubt it is acoustically transparent - but it is OK for fabric walls to be acoustically absorbent - it just means some gets taken out with the fabric layer the rest gets taken out by the insulation. If you are using it over diffusers or speakers - than you want acoustical transparency. What you don't want is the reflective fabrics - typically indicated by shinyness. You also need to consider installation - if you are stretching and stapling and the fabric tears and puckers easily - you don't want it.

Look in their wallcoverings section - lots of stuff good for fabric walls - you just need check out which is acoustically good.

http://www.dazian.com/cgi-bin/page.pl?action=end_uses&cat_id=45&group_id=145

Best thing to do is get the WAF and decorator browsing the site - then get in some decent sample sizes to see if they look like they would work acoustically. Take my advice and just stick to the technical veto - let them pick what looks good. A good decorator should be able to get their complete sample catalog so a touch and feel search can be done.

Thought I read that if you can see through it and blow through it, like you can GOM, all is goodness.

Or am I missing something?


I don't think so. It doesn't need to be acoustically transparent unless it's going over a speaker. Just needs to let enough of the sound energy through at frequencies you want to absorb.

I used non-FR fabric but used a FR product from Flame Seal on it.

http://www.flameseal.com/

Their FR liquid is water based and worked as advertised. I treated samples and did a vertical flame spread test before I used it on all the theater fabric. The fire went out as soon as the torch was removed from the sample. I trust it.