Soundproofing a room

[bluesbreaker]

G'day ladies and gents,

I've got a smallish room that I want as close to soundproofed as possible. The room is located in an older home (so it's hardwood frame, floors etc), with 4 inch thick masonite covered walls and ceiling, and a window that is about a quarter of the size of one wall. There is currently no insulation in the roof, but there will be when I get around to doing it (probably this summer).

I don't particularly want to do anything that will make the room look stupid (Egg cartons all over the place, for example), so with this in mind, does anyone have an suggestions/solutions?

Thanks.

 

[chub]

If you are looking at re-sheeting the walls etc, there are sheets with a higher sound proofing rating you can buy. In addition, you also put insulation in the walls. At the end it just looks like a normal flush plasterboard wall. This is generally what they do at cinemas, although with more layers of sheets. All depends how much you want to spend.

 

[Willow]

How high above the ground is the room? Sounds travels in all directions and is only dampened by whatever is obstructing it. The higher the room, the further sound will travel once it finds a way out.

The main thing is to have layers and thicknesses added on walls with insulation in between and absolutely no gaps anywhere. I did this once and then added an final layer of carpet to dampen the sound more. The room was below street level which helped a lot.

btw, egg cartons are mainly for improving the acoustics (although this is debatable too). They don't do much in terms of sound proofing.

 

[bluesbreaker]

The room is about... 4.5-5 foot off the ground, I suppose, supported on concrete pillars. However, the home is set on a block that slopes off from street level, i'd say approximately 2 foot below the road.

 

[Baron Vo Mandor]

G'day ladies and gents,

I've got a smallish room that I want as close to soundproofed as possible. The room is located in an older home (so it's hardwood frame, floors etc), with 4 inch thick masonite covered walls and ceiling, and a window that is about a quarter of the size of one wall. There is currently no insulation in the roof, but there will be when I get around to doing it (probably this summer).

I don't particularly want to do anything that will make the room look stupid (Egg cartons all over the place, for example), so with this in mind, does anyone have an suggestions/solutions?

Thanks.

Yes forget it we dont want you torturing tourists in ur dungeon!

 

[Simo]

As willow said no gaps anywhere. You can get this foam sort of stuff to go around you door frame to help the gaps there. A solid core door will be better than a hollow core.

I dont know how much you want to spend but the window is where most sound will get out, in which case a double glazing or new window with thicker glass will be your best bet.

Basically thicker wall lining, as has been said intead of normal wall lining look at gyprock or something with a higher accoustic rating.

Let us know how you go when you do it, will be interesting to find out how you ended up doing it, how effective it was and how much it cost.

Also, I dont know what orientation your room is but the last sound proof room I was in, in a normal house copped a lot of sun and it was frakin boiling in there in summer. AC ALL THE WAY!!!

 

[chub]

Go into a CSR trade centre and they will have guides for what you can do to get certain STC ratings. They have cinema wall systems that go up to STC 72, and you can see if its in budget and worth the time

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

Use a solid core door as simo said and stick a raven rp38 seal on the bottom of the door and raven rp78 seals around the frame rebate.

 

[CanadianSteve]

How high above the ground is the room? Sounds travels in all directions and is only dampened by whatever is obstructing it. The higher the room, the further sound will travel once it finds a way out.

The main thing is to have layers and thicknesses added on walls with insulation in between and absolutely no gaps anywhere. I did this once and then added an final layer of carpet to dampen the sound more. The room was below street level which helped a lot.

btw, egg cartons are mainly for improving the acoustics (although this is debatable too). They don't do much in terms of sound proofing.

Who would know better than a rock drummer about soundproofing a room?

 

[Willow]

lol. Its hard work and trial and error at first. We didn't have the internet and the good advice of this forum to learn from back then. ;-)

The best one was in an old cellar under what use to be the Market Hotel in the Haymarket. Thick concrete walls, soild hardwood timber door and underground. Sound proof and virtually in the middle of the city. Unbelievably, some yuppie living two streets away found out about it and complained to council. LOL

 

[Misty Bee]

Mate, you will need some sort of insulation in those walls. No matter what you use, if the wall is hollow, and sound leaking into the gap will be transferred by the gyprock/masonite on the other wall. Sometimes it can act as a speaker as it vibrates.

second option (I'm assuming it's for music recording) - you may find it cheaper to modify your instruments - electronic drum kit perhaps?

 

[Weasels Ripped My Flesh]

Chicks dig guys who have lotsa egg cartons glued to their walls.

 

[bluesbreaker]

Yes forget it we dont want you torturing tourists in ur dungeon!

:lol: Funnily enough, this is closer to the mark than

... second option (I'm assuming it's for music recording)

This.

Although, it is reason enough to get it done (I can finally let my Strat and valve amp sing like they should).

Thanks for all the help guys, i'll look into it seriously. Haven't got a lot else to do over the uni holidays, could be a good project for the next... 4 months off ;-).

 

[Willow]

second option (I'm assuming it's for music recording) - you may find it cheaper to modify your instruments - electronic drum kit perhaps?

You mean a Clayton's drum kit?

Its not real mate. Its like asking Jimmy Hendrix to turn down the feedback or Kieth Moon to use brushes instead of sticks.

 

[Misty Bee]

Bloody easier when recording though.

Pity you don't get the feel from them. Still, I'm not the drummer.

Bluesbreaker, stick the Marshall/Twin Reverb in the bathroon, open the windows, crank it up near 10 (or 11 if you have a Nigel Tufnel version) and crank out the riffs. The beauty is that you will drown out the sound of the coppers beating down the front door - remeniscent of Tommy Chong's classic effort.

Save the soundproofing costs for bail.

 

[Willow]

Bloody easier when recording though.

Pity you don't get the feel from them. Still, I'm not the drummer.

Its a different instrument MB. Its like comparing a piano to a Hammond Organ.

 

[Misty Bee]

I know all about them, having played both.

Actually, it's like comparing a piano to an electric piano.

 

[Willow]

Or comparing two hairs to splitting hairs. lol

 

[Misty Bee]

So, are you a Pearl man, a Tama man or a Gretch man?

 

[Misty Bee]

Actually, I'll put my hand up for advice as well. I'm converting an iron clad shd into the same thing. corrugated iron on both inside and out. Concrete floor. Will double as a recording studio and a teaching studio.