Room Within a room / soundproof help

Phlaw

New member
Hello. First off, m studio will be mainly for voice over work for TV & radio.

I have a small room in the corner of my basement that I have used for years, but I am really starting to take this seriously now and make some $$ with it. What I want to do is build a room within a room so I can block out mainly the furnace sound and secondly kids upstairs.

My one concern is how much of a different will it make if I just use the existing floor? I can build the 4 walls and ceiling without much hassle, but the floor would be a little more difficult and also give me a lot less space :-)

The room is concrete floors with carpet over it.

I am hoping for some good ideas & suggestions.

Brian

phlaw23@gmail.com
 
I built my basement studio on the concrete floor. It is not a "room within a room" build, but it is sound proof as heck. I used resilient channels, dual layers of drywall and sheet-block. I don't think building on the concrete floor was a bad decision at all. You have to remember, you're going to lose a couple inches of ceiling height if you float the floor.

My furnace is on the other side of one of my studio walls. I don't hear it all.
 
Yes, rarely you should need to 'float' the floor.

How much transmission loss (in decibels) do you really need? Once we know what your TL goals are, we can suggest a method. Please post the dimensions and current wall / ceiling construction.

Cheers,
John
 
The room is 10 x 12 with 7 1/2 foot ceiling.

2 of the walls are concrete (poured) the other 2 are sheet rock.
 
Brian,

The concrete walls (unknown thickness...) can have about STC-50. If you add a wall and airspace to the ends where you have drywall, it is possible to achieve STC-63 with double 5/8" gypsum on each side.

We will need to get into serious details if this is what you want to do. Using Green Glue, you should be able to reach 70db or more transmission loss at voice frequencies. Not too bad. :D Also GG will aid in improving TL below 125Hz in most cases.

You have a nice working area for voice-over work. ~thumbs up~ Do you plan on having your recording set-up in the same space? If so, it's a bit small - especially if you plan on adding walls inside there...

Cheers,
John
 
The concrete walls are not perfectly smooth/flat so it will be tough to just add walls to them, that is why I was thinking of the room within a room design.

Everything will be in one space, will record while I am sitting in front of my computer/editing equipment. Only has to be room for me.
 
I think room-in-a-room is total overkill for a basement studio... I considered it, saw how much it'd cost, how much space I'd lose, etc.. 7 1/2' ceiling? After you float the floor, frame the ceiling, drywall the ceiling, etc, you'll be lucky to have 6 1/2'. I just turn off my furnace and tell the kids to shut up when I'm tracking, hell of a lot cheaper!
 
Each concrete wall also has a window that lets noise in. I personally don't care about losing space, and from previous answers don't think I need to float the floor.
 
Brian,

My calculations also show mode problems with those dimensions. Can you block the windows? Please post a drawing. Thx.

I forgot to mention earlier that you can use resilent channel on the ceiling and a couple of layers of gypsum bd w/GG - this will help greatly with TL.

Cheers,
John
 
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I should be able to block the windows, any suggestions?

I have a rough drawing of the room and desk (I am not an artist). I did it in OpenOffice Draw so hopefully this will work. I will try to attach it
 
Here is the pic I drew. I can live with the 2 concrete walls, but I think I will haver to build at least 2 more inside. For sure one behind because that wall holds all of my CDs (over 2000 of them). I basically want to enclose my desk.
 

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    studio1.jpg
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Brian,

I would have to see actual pictures or detailed drawings of the current windows to accurately suggest anything for you.

I would suggest that you center your desk set-up between the walls... :D

-- John
 
Brian,


I would suggest that you center your desk set-up between the walls... :D

-- John

That is why I wanted to add the extra walls on the right side and the back.

Every voice over studio I have been i has been small, usually big enough for 1-2 people at the most. Lack of space doesn't concern me.
 
OOhh, I C.

Well, If you don't mind tiny. Go for it. You will have to treat it well.

Thick trapping in the corners & at least 2" OC703 on most of the walls.

Do you have room in the window area to build a frame inside the window opening? -- build a frame that sets back 1 1/4" from the wall so that you can apply 2 layers of 5/8" gypsum board after putting in insulation with the frk facing the room. Then seal well with a butyl rubber caulk or other acoustic rated caulk.

Cheers,
John
 
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