What Makes STC-Rated Doors Essential for Hospitality Projects
Trends in hospitality design change quickly and architects need to keep pace. At a time when many hotels are seeking to “design across generations,” to appeal to Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and now Gen Z, a quiet guest room is one feature that appeals to everyone. Hotels need quiet rooms to provide the best overnight experience for their guests.
Noise reduction in a hotel guest room can be achieved through a combination of smart choices for walls, windows, floor coverings and doors. Here, we look at the role that STC-rated doors play in that network and how to select acoustic interior doors for hotels.
Why Sound Levels Matter in Hospitality Environments
Hotel guests equate quiet with luxury and noise is one of the top complaints that hotel staff hear from guests. People need adequate sleep, for starters. Also consider that business travelers often work in their rooms, and many people take vacations primarily to “get away from it all,” enjoying some peace and quiet.
A well-designed door solution decreases disruptive noises from hotel hallways or adjacent rooms, leading to greater guest satisfaction. Industry experts estimate that hotel guests only report about 25% of their noise complaints directly to hotel staff. The rest, they communicate by word-of-mouth or online reviews, to the detriment of the hotel’s reputation. The bottom line is, poor acoustics reduce guest satisfaction, which in turn can impact hotel revenue.
The American Hotel and Lodging Association does not set a standard for guest room sound levels. So, making smart choices in the design phase is up to the architect and the property owner. Your clients may appreciate you bringing the benefits of STC-rated doors to their attention early in the process.
What an STC Rating Tells You About a Door
When discussing Sound Transmission Class, or STC-rated doors, we’re addressing airborne sound — which travels through the air in waves — as opposed to impact sound. Sound Transmission Class (STC) rates how well a structure resists airborne sound transfer, measured in decibels (dB).
An STC rating takes the dB level of the source sound and subtracts the dB level after it crosses the barrier into the next room. The average noise reduction is its STC number. At a rating of 35, loud speech is audible but not intelligible, while 40 or more meets the level considered “privacy.”
Building component technology, including door openings, has evolved in recent years to make
sound attenuation more affordable and practical. Innovations in door construction have led to lighter-weight doors that can carry the same STC ratings of their heavier predecessors.
How STC Rating Reduce Sound Transmission
When discussing Sound Transmission Class, or STC-rated doors, we’re addressing airborne sound — which travels through the air in waves — as opposed to impact sound. Sound Transmission Class (STC) rates how well a structure resists airborne sound transfer, measured in decibels (dB).
An STC rating takes the dB level of the source sound and subtracts the dB level after it crosses the barrier into the next room. The average noise reduction is its STC number. At a rating of 35, loud speech is audible but not intelligible, while 40 or more meets the level considered “privacy.”
Building component technology, including door openings, has evolved in recent years to mak sound attenuation more affordable and practical. Innovations in door construction have led to lighter-weight doors that can carry the same STC ratings of their heavier predecessors.
Acoustically-rated doors actually carry two STC ratings: a “sealed in place” rating and an “operable” rating. Manufacturers may test acoustic doors while they’re sealed in place with putty, or in a realistic, operational setting. Masonite Architectural tests all of its doors in operable openings for the most accurate results.
You can find STC-rated hospitality doors in many wood species, finishes and surface types, as well as with performance features like fire-rated mineral cores. You can even add lites and still achieve a certain level of acoustic resistance.
How to Use Acoustic Doors in a Hotel Project
Consider STC-rated doors for both exterior room doors and room connector doors. It’s also important to dampen noise from back-of-house locations such as the kitchen, laundry room, machine shops and boiler room. Some hotel chains have even added an extra sliding door that separates the entryway of the guestroom from the sleeping area.
Masonite Architectural manufactures interior doors with an STC rating of 47 with a 45-minute fire rating and an opening up to 4’x8’ or an STC rating of 30 with a 90-minute fire rating up to 4’x10’.
Find the acoustic door that meets your specifications, along with details of gaskets, seals, sweeps, and thresholds. Because you can order a wide range of interior wood doors from Masonite Architectural, including flat panel, stile and rail and attack-resistant doors, it’s possible to source all of the interior doors for your hospitality project from one source. Contact your Masonite rep, or find a Masonite rep to get started.