What can i get away with not doing ? ( Garage Studio )

[maestro7879]

I have about 23x12 to work with.
I'm really only concerned about the neighbors dealing with the noise. They are about 30 ft. away on each side. And the garage is on the back of the house with out any houses out the front or back. I'm wondering if I really have to go the room inside of a room structure or if I can get away with insulating the two inside walls and 3 layers of sheetrock on top of that and also building a wall to close in the garage door end. I have read just about everything I can find and i'm wondering if would be overkill to build a room inside a room. I'm thinking the sound on one end will end up in the finished basement and the other side will end up in the second garage. So that leaves the garage door that really would have to have a double wall built with an airspace. Am I totally off here ? I have attached a pic to somewhat explain the question.

 

[knightfly]

If that's a basement, where does the door on the right end of the drawing go to? Also, what kind of instruments will you be recording? Live acoustic drums and bass amps are more difficult to contain than acoustic guitars and vocals - Do your concrete block walls go all the way to the ceiling of the room, or will you need to beef up the upper parts of the walls?

Keep in mind that sound travels in some strange ways - to be sure, you need to completely surround it. It can travel along framing members and then radiate from panels attached to framing in other parts of the house, it will find cracks as small a 1/64" - think of it as keeping water in place with no leaks.

More details as to what you hope to accomplish in the space would help... Steve

 

[maestro7879]

To the right of the two garages is the finished basement. The house is a split level so only the back of the house and garages are out of the ground.

I will be recording drums and bass. Basically your everyday band.

The concrete block walls do go all the way up to the ceiling of the garage and then there is brick the rest of the way up and I imagine block too. It's a brick house on top of stucco'd block.

I attached another pic that should give you a better idea. Thanks

 

[knightfly]

OK, your stucco'd block wall rates at about STC 49, which at bass drum frequencies will drop to about 32-35 dB - this means that if your kick drum is putting out 105 dB at 50 hZ, right outside that wall you'll still have about 70 dB sound pressure at 50 hZ - the Fletcher-Munson effect (unequal hearing at different frequencies) will actually help you some there, but you still would be better off if you could lose another 20 dB or so. This could be done with an inside frame and 2 layers of 5/8 sheet rock, all caulked with acoustic rated caulk.

You might not need to float the floor, with this being in a basement type situation - you would, however, need to build a pretty good wall where the garage door now is. Can you get completely rid of that door, or do you need to make it still look like a garage door?

What is your ceiling like at the moment? Open joists, or finished? What is joist size and spacing? What is the longest span without support? Ceiling height? Paneling on the wall between garage and finished basement - what kind/thickness?

I know this is a lot of questions, but the one detail you forget is the one that will bite you in the butt... Steve

 

[maestro7879]

As far as the garage door goes I will need to keep it. I will be take the ceiling tracks off however.

The ceiling in the garage is finished. Not sure of joist size and spacing or span.. Height i'm guessing is 8ft. The floor above the garage is a hardwood floor also.

The paneling between the garage and basement is just that paneling and that's it with insulation. There is a stairway going up with a closet underneath when you go out of the garage and into the finished basement. So you would walk out the door into the finished basement and to your left would be the stairway.

Ask all the questions you want. I'm very grateful for the help.

 

[maestro7879]

Does anyone have anyone else have any input on this ?
Here is what i'm thinking of doing.
On the concrete block wall I will build a wall with two layers of 5/8 sheetrock.

On the wall opposite of that wall I will do the same.

And in front of the garage door I will build a double wall with an airspace.

On the wall opposite of the garage door I will use two layers of 5/8 sheetrock.

I'm still unsure what to do with the ceiling considering it is finished.

 

[knightfly]

There are several different versions of "finished" - is your ceiling textured sheet rock, and if so is it rough? Smooth? In-between?

If you're not overly concerned with sound traveling upstairs, you may be able to just add a second layer of 5/8" sheet rock to the existing ceiling and cut the sound travel by about 4 dB - your other ideas for walls and the garage door should work fine, that will give you an air space between two masses. The new wall in front of the garage door should be double layers of wallboard on the outside of the outer frame, and on the inside of the inner frame. Alternatively, the inner frame could be set in a few more inches (to maintain air space depth) and double-rocked on the OUTSIDE (before standing it up) and then put rigid fiberglas insulation between the studs and cover with cloth for some acoustic absorption on that wall.

BTW, I'm just trying to be honest here about what you can expect - if that's not what you want, just say so and I'll let others help you NOT accomplish what you want. I'm not trying to cop an attitude, just don't see any point in taking the time to respond if it's not appreciated... Steve

 

[maestro7879]

The ceiling is textured sheet rock.. It's only semi rough. I could easily add a second layer of sheetrock too it. With a baby on the way it might not be a bad idea to add a little more. Thank you very much for you help. I now have a good idea of what I have too do.