Making some progress on the wall this week. Rob and I started to hang the panels but ran out of time and had to fudge it for the meet, using a wood board stapled to the halfwall to hold the bottom, and some strong tyvek tape to hold the top. It still worked acoustically, but I underestimated how long it would take to hang them so them would fold correctly.
A couple days of fiddling, some more cutting, and a couple minor problems and it is up and working, but not done yet. The last two panels didn't fit as intended, so there are gaps that I will fill up with wood. Then paint everything, install the diffusion masks where the FG is showing now. Fabric matching the paint will be behind the mask holes.
I tried to reduce the gaps called for in the hardware mfgs instructions, but they put them there for a reason, so I had to shorten the panels by 1/8". The gaps range from 1/8" - 1/4", my house is bent.
Instead of painting the kitchen side to match the wall color on the halfwall, my wife wants a landscape scene mural. I did a space mural for my son, now everybody wants in on it. I'll pick one with angel nymphs trotting around half naked through tuscan sunset. haha
The thickness of the folded wall when it is folded is bulkier than I though, because the pin hinges force a 3/4" gap between the panels when they're folded. It will be less conspicuous when painted, but it's big. But it works, that's what counts.
The sound is awesome. The listening room is finally quiet. The echo from the kitchen is gone, and the room has it's own sense of acoustic space. The folding wall and door combine to cut the appliance noise way down. I will measure it sometime.