Door isolation problems

  • Thread starter Thread starter NashBackslash
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NashBackslash

NashBackslash

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First up, before I say anything, I'd just like to clarify that I am 100% sure that my problem here is coming from my studio doors, and not anything else. HVAC, control room glass, ceiling, floor, walls etc are air-tight and have already been taken care of.

I use two fire doors installed on one steel jamb. I'm not sure if I'm using the correct kind of weatherstripping or not, but it made little difference. I bought the self-adhesive, foamy kind. Can anyone shed some light on what kind of weatherstripping am I looking for exactly? What dealers carry them?

Also how do you people deal with the door bottom gaps? What kind of devices you use? I read up on this, those... "threshold" things... I can't find them at my local hardware stores. :(

Thanks everyone!
 
Nash,
The only type of weather stripping I have found at the typical home improvement place that "semi works" is the more solid bulb type weather stripping with the metal extrusion attached to it.(about $17 bucks) It comes in a pack of 2 side pices and a top piece that screws into the jam and cantalevers to touch the door.

People have said to have had better luck with the automotive type weatherstripping like you can get from JC Whitneys type places.

As for thresholds, I got the solid oak type with a rubber seal from Lowes for about 8 bucks each.

Tom
 
My concern is the 2 doors in one jamb. Right there, you're tying things back together and getting transmission through the jamb.

Bryan
 
I lay one of those "draft stopper" things across the gap at the bottom of the door. Simple, quick, easy and cheap, and available at almost any department store.
 
I had to put two doors on one jamb because that's all my concrete wall thickness allows. I do not have the option to build a second concrete wall (or any other wall for that matter) to put a separate door jamb.

Had I not put the second door on that jamb, the leakage would be worse. The second door does help cut a LARGE amount of sound blasting out of the live room.

Anyway, the problem I am having right now is more of airborne leakage, rather than vibration leakage. Or so I think, heh.

At any rate, thanks for all your replies. I'll try look around a few more hardware stores and see what I can find.

Oh and here's a diagram I threw together real quick so you understand my setup. You'll have to excuse the crappy drawing skills. :P

newstudio.jpg
 
tmix,

The only type of weather stripping I have found at the typical home improvement place that "semi works" is the more solid bulb type weather stripping with the metal extrusion attached to it.(about $17 bucks) It comes in a pack of 2 side pices and a top piece that screws into the jam and cantalevers to touch the door.
Click to expand...

Do you remember exactly what was it called? I mean, what brand name, etc?

I lay one of those "draft stopper" things
Click to expand...

Draft stoppers are the ones that look like a brush/broom right? Isn't that useless?

Regarding thresholds - I found a steel threshold but it's more than 1 inch high and I don't have the option to trim my door or anything like that. :/

I tried those typical rubber weatherstripping where you attach them with screws to your doom bottom. I attached them to both sides of my doors. They didn't improve my isolation at all...
 
NashBackslash said:
tmix,







Draft stoppers are the ones that look like a brush/broom right? Isn't that useless?


Not the brush kind of thing. The thing I use is a long cloth tube filled with sand. I think I got it at Wally World for about three bucks.
Click to expand...
 
Nash,
The door sets I am using are made by Frost King.
It is a 3 piece kit of aluminum extrusion with a vinyl bulb seal.
Model VA17H.

These things only work on sealing up to 1/8 th inch gaps to make an airtight seal against a smooth door.
The problem with seals, if you are talking about incidental low volume noise, the low mass stuff may work, but if you are trying to knock down 70 decibels with a thin piece of rubber, it just wont happen. You have to use mass.

That is why I used the Frost King solid Oak Thresholds, They came in 3 different heights. The one I got had a rubber seal on it that did not quite seal hard enough, so I got some foam caulk backer rod and put it inside the rubber seal to add some mass and make it stand up to the full height I needed.

I have seen those draft dodger tubes Dani spoke of, they actually work pretty durn good. Some even have velcro glued to the side where you put a matching piece on the door and it stays attached to the door, although it does drag around rubbing the floor which may wear on your flooring and nerves after a while.
 
I use two fire doors installed on one steel jamb.
Click to expand...
That is a clue for sure, but untill someone knows your whole construction/connection/decoupling scheme, no one can give you a concrete solution. PERIOD. It would be all guesswork.
 
Basically, my problem is that there's a lot of noise coming out through the small alley and therefore into the lounge when someone's tracking or jamming in there.

Anyway, I've decided on a short-term solution by building a door and wall before the lounge.

(Currently there is nothing separating the alley and the lounge.)
 
my problem is that there's a lot of noise coming out through the small alley and therefore into the lounge when someone's tracking or jamming in there.
Click to expand...
What kind of noise? If you are talking Low frequency traffic rumble, transmission through the ground/slab may negate your wall concept.
 
RICK FITZPATRICK said:
What kind of noise? If you are talking Low frequency traffic rumble, transmission through the ground/slab may negate your wall concept.
Click to expand...
I think he said earlier that it's airbourn transmission, not vibration.
 
pandamonk gets a cookie. Anyway, work on constructing a new brick wall that seals off the control rool and lounge portion of the building has started. That should take care of it.

As for traffic... my studio is located in a ghost town pretty much, heh. No problem there.
 
NashBackslash said:
pandamonk gets a cookie. Anyway, work on constructing a new brick wall that seals off the control rool and lounge portion of the building has started. That should take care of it.

As for traffic... my studio is located in a ghost town pretty much, heh. No problem there.
Click to expand...
When will i receive this cookie? :D
 
The problem might not be the seals around the door. The problem might be the door hardware. what kind of hardware is on these doors? A typical door lockset is essentially a two and a half inch hole. That will let out a lot of sound.

As for the door seal you might try having more than one. I would tend to go with the compressible rubber tubes as they tend to seal well. it could also be a matter that the Hvac from the room goes over the ceiling of the hallway and you are dealing with a flanking path entirely separate from the door.
 
Oh, I'm not using any door knobs, I just screw door handles onto both the doors so I don't think that's the problem.

I can't find those compressible rubber tubes anywhere here. That's the problem. =/

padamonk - right here. :P

275px-Choco_chip_cookie.jpg
 
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