The Speech Guard System is a complete ceiling overlay for speech privacy. It treats every pathway speech uses to travel between rooms through a drop tile ceiling assembly.

In most commercial buildings, partition walls stop at the ceiling grid rather than continuing to the deck above. The space above the tiles, called the plenum, is shared between rooms. The walls usually do their job. The leak is overhead.

The Four Pathways, and the Products That Close Them

Speech leaves a room through the ceiling by four predictable routes. Treating one and leaving the others open is why partial fixes so often disappoint.

  • Speech Guard Light Hood encloses the back of recessed light fixtures, which are openings in the ceiling plane. ASTM C423-09a and E795, NRC 1.00. The 1 lb septum model is rated STC 26 to ASTM E90-09. Pre-sized for 2×2 and 2×4 fixtures, and fits into the plenum without removing the cross tee.
  • Shield Guard Tile Backer adds mass above the ceiling tiles, which absorb sound well but block it poorly. ASTM E90-09, STC 27 on the barrier material. Ships in 2×2 or 2×4 and cuts to fit border tiles.
  • G2 Plenum Return Silencer breaks the direct sound corridor created by open air return grilles while letting air flow normally. Two models: Standard G2 for speech, and Septum G2 for equipment noise and speech. Recommended minimum plenum height 24 inches.
  • Air Feed Hood stops speech carrying through supply ductwork at the diffuser. Sized for standard 24 inch by 24 inch ceiling grids, with foil barrier backing that reduces condensation.

All four are addressed together because a ceiling assembly is only as good as its weakest opening. A single untreated light fixture can undo the rest.

Measured in a Ceiling, Not Just in a Lab Opening

Component ratings describe materials. The rating that describes a ceiling is Ceiling Attenuation Class, measured in a two room test where both rooms share a plenum. That is the path this system exists to close, so it is the number worth asking for.

A suspended ceiling fitted with Shield Guard Tile Backers over all tiles and four Speech Guard Light Hoods over the recessed fixtures was rated Ceiling Attenuation Class 38, to ASTM E1414-16 and E413-16. NGC Testing Services, report NGC6020011, tested October 15, 2020. The tested assembly used a perforated and fissured mineral tile in an Armstrong Prelude XL grid with four recessed 2×4 fixtures, sealed at the partition.

That rating is for the tile backers and light hoods together. The G2 Plenum Return Silencer and the Air Feed Hood were not part of the tested specimen.

For rooms that need reverberation controlled as well as speech blocked, fabric wrapped acoustical wall panels absorb sound within the room. Absorption and blocking are different jobs, and most spaces that complain about privacy have plenty of the first and almost none of the second.

Room Kits for a 12′ x 12′ Private Office

The system ships as complete room kits sized for a standard 12′ x 12′ private office, in both common ceiling grid formats.

  • Room Kit 1, 2′ x 2′ grid, standard speech privacy
  • Room Kit 2, 2′ x 2′ grid, 1lb septum, machinery noise and premium speech privacy
  • Room Kit 3, 2′ x 4′ grid, standard speech privacy
  • Room Kit 4, 2′ x 4′ grid, 1lb septum, machinery noise and premium speech privacy

The septum kits add mass for rooms dealing with HVAC rumble, rooftop or ceiling equipment noise, and mechanical room noise alongside speech privacy.

What Installation Actually Involves

  • Workspace disruption: minimal
  • Time per office: a 12′ x 12′ office is done in four hours maximum
  • Crew: two installers, with two 6′ ladders, a cutting surface, a razor knife, and a straight edge
  • Existing sound masking: compatible. The result is a quieter office with even greater speech privacy.

The system installs into new or existing drop tile ceilings. No demolition, no wall changes, no reconstruction.

This Is Not Sound Masking

Sound masking adds noise to cover speech. The Speech Guard System removes the pathway the speech was using. The distinction matters. Masking makes a room louder in order to make conversation less intelligible. A ceiling overlay makes the room quieter and more private at the same time.

If you already run sound masking, the two work together rather than against each other.

Learn More

Patented and made in the USA. Speech Guard products have been installed in corporate, education, government, and industrial settings.

Request a Takeoff

We work from your floor plan. Send room dimensions, plenum height, ceiling grid size, lighting fixture counts and return grille counts, and we return a system layout and a quote. There is no charge for the takeoff.