Soundproofing (1 Viewer)

[Palmino]

does any1 have any idea how to soundproof room without tearing down walls and ceiling ?
my HT is in bassement and now that we have baby comming into house soon i need to soundproof that room, but that my budget is low i don't want to tear walls and ceiling.
i thank you all for any idea

THANKS

P.S.
here is my HT
http://members.cox.net/palann/ht.htm

 

[WarrenHH]

If you have enough head room, frame up another ceiling, and insulate it as much as you can before you drywall up the second ceiling. Do anything you can to "uncouple" the two ceilings. I presume your complaint is noise straight up from the basement. Owens Corning also makes acoustic caulk that you can use, ie leave a 1/2 inch gap between the new ceiling drywall, and the wall and fill it with the caulk, you are "floating" the ceiling. They also make studs that are split and then connected with clips so the sound/vibration is not transmitted to the other side. These are a bit pricey though, somewhere between 20-28 bucks for a 10' 2x6 just for reference. The caulk is 4.25 per tube.
Best of luck.

Warren Holm

 

[William A]

This is the first I have heard of the caulking. Is the caulk something you would find at Lowes or Home Depot, or is a specialty item?

 

[MikeWh]

William: http://owenscorning.com/around/sound/products/caulk.asp

Warren:

ie leave a 1/2 inch gap between the new ceiling drywall, and the wall and fill it with the caulk, you are "floating" the ceiling.

The Owens-Corning "acoustic caulk" is intended to be used to fill air gaps, like regular caulk. I can't envision your example of "floating the ceiling." I like your suggestion of a second ceiling, but it MUST be mechanically afixed to the ceiling above, unless it is a drop ceiling. This mechanical fastening is what increases the sound transmission. Can you explain how this is a "floating ceiling"?

The more common approach to isolate wallboard:
Use resilient channels. They are significantly cheaper than Owens-Corning acoustic wall framing (yikes... that sounds like expensive stuff). Resilient channels in action (ceiling application):
http://www.auralex.com/RC_Page/Rc1_3.jpg

 

[WarrenHH]

William, I am ordering the caulk from a distributor, I have never seen it at HD or Lowes. If you want the phone number to the sales rep, email me and I will fix you up.

Mike, in my application, I am building a one story house, and not too concerned about the sound going up, in speaking with the engineer at Owens Corning, he advised me to us standard lumber there, and doing what I said about leaving a gap and filling it with the caulk. It serves to help "de-couple" the wall from the ceiling. Perhaps using the term "floating" was inappropriate, sorry.

The resilient channel is useful as well, the one advantage the OC studs have over it, is to my understanding, one misplaced screw, and you have defeated the entire purpose of the device.

For what its worth, I am also using the OC pad over the concrete floor, and covering it with two layers of plywood, also with a small gap between it and the wall, and filled with the caulk. That would be more appropriately termed as "floating".

I am not sure if I will use the OC quiet zone bats as opposed to regular insulation, have to look into the cost difference and performance between the two and see what gives.

I was going to use the studs, but the price went from 15 bucks a piece to 22, to 28. It also dawned on me later that it would be cheaper to build two walls, with the header and sole plates separated by an inch or so. That would completely decouple the two walls and I can stuff them full of insulation. It also allows me to taper the room a foot inwards and a foot downward from back to front by angling the two inside walls.

I have been lead to believe that the taper is acoustically superior to a strictly rectangular room, as it gets rid of parallel surfaces.

I would welcome any comment on that concept.

Warren Holm

 

[MikeWh]

Warren-- thanks for the explanation.

Double-stud and stagger-stud construction are the other common methods for reduction of sound transmission. Chip_Slattery has a fine set of pictures of his HT construction showing stagger-stud walls. http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...66#post1498666

The tapering idea is very interesting... not heard of anyone doing that. I would think that its effectiveness would be highly dependent on the room geometry, locations of sound sources, and listening position. Hope it works! DEFINITELY shoot pics of the construction, Warren!

 

[Alfonso_M]

Palmino,
I was also looking to sound proof with the same AcoustiBlok material used for my walls my existing HT ceiling/attic without removing it, according to their Rep, this material can be ‘Sandwiched’ between two sheets of drywall with even better results after adding a ¾” ‘foam’ sheet between the drywalls and the material, if you do a search here you’ll find others on this board have found similar material for a much better price, and yet others used asphalt ‘roofing’ materials with good results, before considering this solution I’d suggest calling AcoustiBlok (or others)first and inquiring about their ‘noise’ reduction (STC) specs using this installation technique.

 

[Quiet Zone]

Quiet Zone Acoustic Insulation is awesome. I also used Quiet Zone to insulate my home theater. I used it in addition to Quiet Glue between two staggered thicknesses of 5/8" gypsum. Of course, none of this can go into place until every little crack is filled with foam and/or silicone! I have a ton of Quiet Zone Batts left over (enough for 3 home theatres- misordered and can't return). If you're in the market, let me know!