HT walls (concrete)

Rich_M_G · 07-28-2003, 05:24 PM

I'm working on designing the new home that we will be building in the future. The home is going to be a sub-terrain home, meaning that 3 of the 4 sides will be underground and the roof will also. 95% of the home will be made with reinforced concrete and then textured and paint on the inside. I want to add a theater room in the home and I was wondering how concrete does with sound and a theater room? The room is going to be about 15' wide and 28' long; I want to have a projector setup also. I know that I will probably need to coat the walls with something besides paint to break up the sound waves, but would I need to add anything else to them?

Thanx!

Rich

Gerry S · 07-28-2003, 06:07 PM

Hello:

I would guess that room would be very live. In my basement, I plan to frame a wall right up against the concrete, stuff it with insulation, and put up a couple of layers of drywall.

Hopefully a plan like this will fit into the decor of your new home.

-Gerry

TimForman · 07-29-2003, 03:07 PM

Definitely put in a frame wall. Some have gone as far as a double offset wall and isolation system. Like this . Contrary to some, you want walls that move and absorb some of the frequencies. Conveniently for us, wood frames with drywall work very well for this.

Rich_M_G · 07-29-2003, 03:15 PM

Thank you for all of the replies. I thought that was probably the case. It kind of sucks to have to build a wall around the room, but it will make it a lot easier to run wires and such. So, would I also need to cover the ceiling with wood and sheetrock? Becuase it will also be concrete.

Thanx!

Rich

TimForman · 07-29-2003, 03:52 PM

For the ceiling you may want to consider a false ceiling with acoustic tile. Ceilings are notorious for unwanted reflections. At minimum would be acoustic panels.

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Rich_M_G · 07-29-2003, 04:09 PM

That's not a bad idea except that the ceiling will most likely only be 8' ceilings. So, dropping it anymore would cut down on the ceiling height. Do you think that would be a big deal or not?

Rich

John Karpiscak · 07-30-2003, 10:23 AM

You could consider using construction adhesive to attach acoustic panels (store bought or home made) right to the ceiling. You might also consider leaving a 3-4" channel (hidden by the ceiling) down the middle for cabling the ceiling/ rear of the room also.

I think that's abut the best I can come up with for the moment.

jk3

TimForman · 07-30-2003, 11:07 AM

Quote:

That's not a bad idea except that the ceiling will most likely only be 8' ceilings. So, dropping it anymore would cut down on the ceiling height. Do you think that would be a big deal or not?

Well, that depends on what your hanging from the ceiling (projector, etc.) and the other dimensions of the room. Check out this link for great info on room resonances.

Mike LS · 07-30-2003, 11:31 AM

If you suspend a ceiling, you only need about 2-4 inches minimum clearance to get the tiles in. That would put your ceiling over 7.5 feet, which wouldn't be too bad.

Rich_M_G · 07-30-2003, 06:38 PM

Great, Thank you everyone for the good info. I think that a small 3 or 4" channel is not a bad idea, it would make running cables alot easier for the projector.

Rich