sound proofing

[tylerxxx]

this isn't really for a studio, but i have a question...
my family just got a new house, and basically you can hear everything from everywhere... for the upstairs, i'd like to do whatever possible to keep as much sound out as i can, from downstairs or from other rooms upstairs. is there a way i could do this without building "another room" inside the rooms? any help is appreciated. i guess i could also use whatever information i get, to help soundproof my studio room whenever i actually get one instead of my bedroom.

[seismetr0n]

standard would be to insulate all the walls, floor, ceilings.

for your situation, I would recommend blown-in cellulose, it has a very good STC (better than fiberglass), and if you find the right insulation contractor, they can blow it into the cavities between the studs or joists, and you'll only have small holes to patch. about 1" - 1 1/2" circles.

Also, if your doors are standard hollow luaun, you might consider replacing them with solid luaun, or actual wood doors, thresholds and weather stripping (felt) will help seal out the sound... a good sound proof room is usually pretty airtight as well.

do this and the kids wont be able to hear you and the mrs tylerxxx knockin boots ,
or whatever soundproofing you are going for..


gl

[notbradsohner]

how far along in the construction process are you. Possibly add another layer of drywall to the ceiling and walls in a particular room. True soundproofing wont come until you can build another room within the room.

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

my family just got a new house, and basically you can hear everything from everywhere.

Do you have HVAC common ducts or ducts that feed adjacent rooms or rooms below and above from the same duct? If so, this will be a problem. Even adding mass to the walls and doors, and or sealing doors, won't do diddly squat if the sound is flanking through the ducts.

Addressing sound transmission throughout a complete house after it is built is a lesson in hindsight. You CAN improve it slightly, as long as the ducts arn't common. However, IF they are not, then adding drywall, insulation, and solid doors/seals or weatherstripping is the only thing that will help. Carpets and padding will help with foot noise from the upper floors to downstairs, but sound transmitting upwards means adding mass to lower floor ceilings. Just remember, for doubling the mass, there is only at MAXIMUM, a 6db improvement.

Other than these solutions, decoupling one leaf of mass on the walls and ceiling of select rooms is the only other option. This is usually done by adding Resiliant channel. However, selecting which rooms get it is another set of criteria to sort out. Even if you wanted to, it would mean REMOVAL of the existing drywall from ONE LEAF of the walls and ceiling in the rooms chosen to get this treatment, PRIOR to adding the RC. And if floor joists support adjacent rooms, this would most certainly negate any improvement.

The truth of the matter is, sound transmission loss between rooms in an ENTIRE home should have been addressed in the planning stages, as structural isolation solutions could have been incorporated then. After the fact is not only MUCH more expensive, but difficult to achieve significant results. But this is all in the ear of the beholder. STC values are in the speech ranges, NOT MUSIC. ESPECIALLY LOW FREQUENCY. So if transmission throught the house via loud music is part of the problem...serious solutions must be sought. Otherwise your wasting your time. Thats why it is difficult to suggest absolute solutions, as absolute transmission values and criteria are unknown. Remember, there is NO such thing as soundproof. Only levels of sound transmission LOSS.

fitZ

[famous beagle]

Do you have HVAC common ducts or ducts that feed adjacent rooms or rooms below and above from the same duct? If so, this will be a problem. Even adding mass to the walls and doors, and or sealing doors, won't do diddly squat if the sound is flanking through the ducts.

Ok guys, I swear I'm not trying to be a smart ass or anything here. I really am curious. I read things like this, and I just don't understand. I know that sound will leak through tiny spaces, but to say that sealing doors or whatever "won't do squat" just doesn't make sense to me.

My wife likes to play her stereo loudly in the morning when she gets ready. I don't like to listen, so I close the door. It's hardly air-tight (there's almost an inch gap between the bottom of the door and the carpet), and it's not a special door or anything, but there is a HUGE difference in the sound that reaches me, just one room away. I don't know the decibel level reduction, but it's certainly the difference between tolerable and intolerable.

So ... my question is ... what standard are we talking about when we say things like it "won't do squat?" I always hear that there's no such thing as a truly soundproof room (or at least it's simply not practical in a house or something), but then I also hear that unless something is completely air-tight, no amount of soundproofing is going to make any difference. But I see evidence to the contrary of that every day when I simply close my door. Am I missing something?

Please, someone ... clue me in.

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

but to say that sealing doors or whatever "won't do squat" just doesn't make sense to me.

You took it out of context. I said it wouldn't do squat IF, there was flanking or leaking of sound from room to room through an HVAC duct. Think about it. This is why I said, without knowing the particulars it is hard to offer solutions that are appropriate.
fitZ