New construction advice. (1 Viewer)

[Harley]

We are going to build an aboveground (no basement) addition to our house.

The exterior dimensions will be 36' x 24' and the Wife has agreed to let me have approximately one-half of it for a Home Theater.

I'm guessing that the inside dimensions will be 23 feet for length and for width I can go as much as 19 feet, as for the ceiling if I use a flat ceiling it will have to be eight feet or I can have vaulted ceiling.

One wall (up to 19 feet for the home theater half) will be against the existing house, two walls will be exposed to the outdoors and the other wall will be the dividing wall between the new edition room, basically a rectangle with a dividing line attached to the existing house.

I already have a builder and asked him about soundproofing the room as best as possible and not to make a long story, neither of us knows exactly what to do hence this is why I need as much advice as I can obtain in a very short period of time.

This will not be a True Home Theater, the TV will be a plasma with a 7.1 surround system.

Please, I'm not rich but I would like some simple ideas that I can incorporate while this building is taking place so I don't have any regrets after it's done.

So go ahead and lay it all on me.

Harley

 

[Terry Montlick]

The trick to soundproof a room is to understand the ways sound gets into the room from outside.

1. It travels through any open gaps.
Seal it off from an adjoining room so there are no holes or cracks which will literally leak sound. Use acoustical caulk, which keeps a flexible seal.

2. It is conducted through walls, ceilings, doors, etc., especially at low frequencies.
Put a lot of mass into the walls to help block sound transmission. Double up on sheetrock, and use double or staggered studs, if possible. An inexpensive mounting system called "resilient channel" will isolate the sheetrock from the studs, kind of like a shock absorber, so that the studs don't act as sound conductors. You can also use mass-loaded vinyl sandwiched between sheetrock to further reduce conduction.

You're lucky that you are in the building stage, when soundproofing treatments can still be done!

Regards,
Terry

 

[scott>sau]

Terry gave an A+ briefing on acoustics. Follow it, it is important.
Are you prewiring this addition yourself? If not, you can go to www.cedia.org to find a low volt specialist. I would suggest wiring structured cable to two areas of the room. (Structured cable contains dual coaxial cable and dual CAT5e). It is easier to prewire for future technologies like phone, networking, cable and dish, than have to retro wire after the drywall is up. www.crutchfield.com has an informative book for the DIY HT wire folks.