Home > San Francisco > Wood wool acoustic panels
Manufactured in India, supplied in San Francisco
Wood wool acoustic panels in San Francisco
We manufacture wood wool acoustic panels at our own plant at Palwal in Haryana, India, and supply them into San Francisco. Made at our own plant in India and shipped into Oakland, across the bay, so the road leg to site is short.
- Panel size
- 1200 x 600 mm
- Thickness
- 20 mm
- Density
- 400 kg per cubic metre
- NRC
- 0.30
- Test standards
- ASTM C-423 and EN ISO 354
- Lead time
- 4 to 7 working days for standard sizes
- Minimum order
- 500 sq ft, about 46 sq m
- ASTM C-423 and EN ISO 354
- Made at our own plant, Palwal, Haryana, India
- One batch across the order, no blending between runs
This comes from our own plant, not a trading desk. We do not have an office in your city and we will not invent one. What we can give you is factory pricing, consistent material and a technical answer before you commit.
01 / The material
What this is, and what it changes in a San Francisco room
Wood fibre bound into a rigid board with an open texture. Robust, paintable and used where the surface takes knocks, which is why it ends up in schools, sports halls and plant rooms.
Work reaching us from San Francisco is mostly victorian conversions, tech offices, apartments, studios, restaurants, clinics.
American homes are timber frame with gypsum board on both faces, so a party wall or a basement ceiling has almost no mass. Adding a second leaf with a limp membrane between does more than any amount of surface treatment.
- Direct fix Mechanically fixed to the soffit or wall. Durable and simple.
- On a cavity Mounted on battens with an air gap, which is where the low mid performance comes from.
- With a porous backing Board over mineral backing where the room needs more than the board alone gives.
- What it will not do At 20 mm it is a mid and high frequency absorber, not a bass solution, and painting it heavily will close the surface and reduce what it does. If a room needs low frequency control, depth or a cavity has to come from somewhere.
Full specification
Thickness, density, NRC by frequency, fire class, standard sizes and build-up detail for wood wool panels are on the main product page. This page covers what that means for a project in San Francisco.
02 / Data sheet
The published figures, unchanged by location
These figures are published and they do not move. The thing worth arguing about is not the number on the sheet, it is which grade and which build-up suits the room you are treating.
- Natural20 mm. Plant rooms, back of house, industrial
- Painted20 mm. Classrooms, halls, visible ceilings
| Panel size | 1200 x 600 mm |
|---|---|
| Thickness | 20 mm |
| Density | 400 kg per cubic metre |
| NRC | 0.30 |
| Test standards | ASTM C-423 and EN ISO 354 |
| Surface burning | Class A to ASTM E84 |
If a consultant has set the target, we will quote against their figures rather than ours, and stay out of the scope they own. More on working with acoustic consultants.
03 / On the ground
What we see driving San Francisco briefs
- Timber Victorians
Light framed, over a century old, and divided into flats. Low frequency passes easily and footfall travels straight down.
- Depth costs real money
At local rates a wall growing into the room is a significant number. A dense thin membrane usually beats a thicker framed build-up on total cost.
- Designed to move
Seismic detailing requires junctions that stay flexible, so the acoustic layer must not stiffen across them.
- Oakland is close
A short road leg after the port keeps landed cost and timing predictable.
- Assembly and performance rooms
Churches, school gyms and multipurpose halls double as performance spaces, which means a room designed for neither speech nor music has to carry both.
- School and campus buildings
Public school buildings run long corridors with hard floors and lay-in tile ceilings that were chosen for cost, not for speech. Classroom reverberation and corridor spill are the two complaints, and both respond to ceiling area rather than wall panels.
For a San Francisco practice, the useful thing is a detail you can put in a drawing set, not a brochure. See how we support architects.
04 / Climate
The San Francisco climate decides the material list
San Francisco is mild summers and cold, wet winters, and that narrows the sensible material list before acoustics is even discussed.
Cold external walls and long heating seasons make condensation behind a lining the thing to design out. PET felt is unaffected by damp air.
The risk we design against here is condensation and cold bridging behind new linings.
Designers get colour, pattern and CNC options with the absorption figure attached to each. See how we work with interior designers.
05 / Supply
Getting it to San Francisco, with real dates
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Oakland, then a short road run across the bay |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea via Oakland |
| Packing | Palletised flat, edge protected. Boards are rigid but the edges chip, so they travel protected. |
| Lead time | 4 to 7 working days for standard sizes. |
Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. The sea leg from India is long, so plan the full door to door window into the programme. We give real dates, not optimistic ones.
Sea freight into Oakland, then a short road run to site. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
The same 500 sq ft minimum applies on export.
| Any finish | 500 sq ft, about 46 sq m |
|---|
A panel is 1200 x 600 mm, which is 0.72 sq m or about 7.75 sq ft, so the minimum is roughly 65 panels.
06 / Read this first
Where this goes wrong, said plainly
-
The wrong product for the problem
At 20 mm it is a mid and high frequency absorber, not a bass solution, and painting it heavily will close the surface and reduce what it does. If a room needs low frequency control, depth or a cavity has to come from somewhere.
-
Coverage bought instead of a target
Lining every surface is a purchase, not a result. We would rather calculate the area against a reverberation target and sell you less of it.
-
Suppliers who imply a San Francisco presence
Ask any supplier where the material is made and who carries the warranty. We make it at Palwal in Haryana and we say so on every page, including this one.
San Francisco: questions we are actually asked
Do you manufacture wood wool acoustic panels in San Francisco?
No, and we will not say otherwise. We manufacture at our own plant at Palwal in Haryana, India, and supply into San Francisco as the manufacturer rather than through a dealer. Made at our own plant in India and shipped into Oakland, across the bay, so the road leg to site is short. You buy at factory prices with one consistent batch across the order.
What decides the specification for a San Francisco project?
Light framed, over a century old, and divided into flats. Low frequency passes easily and footfall travels straight down. At local rates a wall growing into the room is a significant number. A dense thin membrane usually beats a thicker framed build-up on total cost. Those two things move the build-up far more than the panel figure does.
Does San Francisco weather shorten the life of this material?
San Francisco is mild summers and cold, wet winters. Cold external walls and long heating seasons make condensation behind a lining the thing to design out. PET felt is unaffected by damp air. The failure we design against here is condensation and cold bridging behind new linings.
How quickly can material reach a site in San Francisco?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Oakland, then a short road run across the bay, dispatch: 4 to 7 working days. Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. The sea leg from India is long, so plan the full door to door window into the programme. We give real dates, not optimistic ones.
When are wood wool acoustic panels the wrong purchase?
At 20 mm it is a mid and high frequency absorber, not a bass solution, and painting it heavily will close the surface and reduce what it does. If a room needs low frequency control, depth or a cavity has to come from somewhere.
Is there a minimum order, and how does it arrive?
The same 500 sq ft minimum applies on export. Any finish, 500 sq ft, about 46 sq m. A panel is 1200 x 600 mm, which is 0.72 sq m or about 7.75 sq ft, so the minimum is roughly 65 panels. Palletised flat, edge protected. Boards are rigid but the edges chip, so they travel protected.
Next step
Send the drawings, get a straight answer
Send what you have. We will give you a layer by layer build-up, a bill of quantities and a date material lands, and we will flag anything in the brief that will not achieve what you want.