How much would it cost to soundproof a 10 by 15 foot room?

  • Thread starter Thread starter RockNSoul
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gullfo said:
except noise violations can be $1000 per incident so yea, you might consider your options regarding noise isolation...
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And do you know of anyone who actually enforces this? I've had my share of noise complaints, but I can't think of a single person I've ever heard of getting tickets like that when doing something normal... You'd have to be BLASTING stuff like crazy day and night, at levels enough to give you permanent hearing damage, and enough to even damage your gear, to warrant someone wanting to give you a $1k ticket for a noise violation. I live in a basement suite and I can do normal recording most of the time (sometimes run into problems, but I can't imagine police coming over to fine me for it). . . . Maybe a night club would get a fine, but a home studio?


Also, in most places, the city ordinances give times where excessive noise is not allowed and when it is... In the city I live in, after 11pm people could call the cops on you... if someone called the cops to give a noise complaint say, in the middle of the day... they would just say... sorry nothing we can do.. and even if it's after that time, chances are a cop, if they even still would come out for a silly noise complaint, would just say.. hey we had a complaint, can you turn it down... you say, yes officer, very sorry... and they wish you a good night... And that was even when I lived in the states, and the cops hated me for the way I look (I must be up to no good!)

Do you live out in the middle of buttfuck nowhere where the police have nothing to do? That's the only place I can see a cop wasting his time enforcing $1k noise violations for people in their home studios, playing things at a reasonable listening volume. If you're recording live instruments, and you're place can't handle it...just go to a commercial studio for that (there are plenty of small commercial studios you could use for like $20 an hour that would get the job done...if you have your shit together (everything ready to go, the entire plan for what mics, where they're placed, and what method of recording, etc...) you could be in and out of there in a few hours for a track. (or, just find someone who owns like, a band rehearsal space, offer them some money to come in before they open (after they close) to lay down some tracks (if you have something semi portable to record with, like a laptop).
 
I kind of want to add to this question a bit... just because I'm a bit curious.

On a shoestring budget...in a basement suite that is rented (so I can't rip the place apart and build it back... How would someone..who doesn't need to record loud live instruments... just vocals mostly (guitars and bass are direct, and live drums are recorded elsewhere) so... mostly just for the purpose of mixing...

How would I improve some degree of isolation between the folks upstairs and my studio room... Would simply covering my ceiling with thick acoustic foam do the trick? Keep in mind I'm not listening to this shit at 9 million dB... it's just very thin walls and ceiling, so even when I'm mixing somewhat softly at night, they tend to get pissy about it (they have a 4 year old)

I know that I could get contractors, structural engineers, top industry professional studio designers, scientists from NASA, and the Queen of England to come in and rebuild everything for what ammounts to my entire yearly income... but what...could be done... just to ease the situation a bit...that won't destroy the house (get me evicted), cost me a fortune, etc..
 
Maybe just add insulation, and then do an acoustic drop ceiling made out of fiberglass panels instead of pressed cellulose. That would help buffer the sound transmission. Putting something right onto the floor joists would probably be worthless.
 
as far as noise - its more likely to happen in congested areas where neighbors don't share your taste in music. and i've lived in towns in NJ where noise ordinances where enforced (extra money for the town government) - busting parties at the nearby campus, and a couple of times for local bands, at hours like 9PM or 10PM... pretty lame but why chance it unless you know the rules and the neighbors.

if you're in a basement, doing low level work, and cannot change things much, then i would put in R19 into the upper joists, line the joists with felt strips (to isolate the drywall from the wood), and screw in a layer of 5/8" drywall. that will increase the isolation a bit. caulk up all openings and add some winterizing seals to the doors and windows. this assumes the ceiling is flat and the walls are reasonably ok.
 
Hehe, funny, I just had the cops called on me/us for watching the Polar Express on HD DVD, at about 100dB peaks, we are in a duplex, the theater is down stairs, everything has two layers of drywall (1/2" and 5/8"), ceiling is insulated, they are next door, so the sound traveled through the drywall, to the joists, into my control room and then to the shared wall. Or maybe through the flooring itself. Either way, it was the first time in 6 years that we have had a theater where the neighbors called the cops. Funny thing when the cops came over to our door they asked what the noise was from, my wife said we were watching the Polar Express, the cops just started laughing, and said well "they complained that a airplane was rumbling their side of the house", the cops then said one of the neighbors is going to work 3rd shift and said to turn it down a little. This was at 7-8pm or there abouts, from what I remember.

Takes a lot to "Sound Proof" a room, but a little planning can at least get you some reduction for not a lot of money. I wish green glue was more main stream when we built our theater, might have been that one little extra bit that would have helped, maybe RS channel, or if I had higher ceilings in the basement I could'a.....
 
thanks guys :) I'll keep those things in mind.

wow geez, I can't believe there are places that actually enforce that shit so much... Don't they have better things to do, like FIGHT CRIME? lol
 
TerraMortim said:
thanks guys :) I'll keep those things in mind.

wow geez, I can't believe there are places that actually enforce that shit so much... Don't they have better things to do, like FIGHT CRIME? lol
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Yeah well. Loud noise, people complain, they have to sort it. Or if it's not built properly, then someone could be very badly injured or die... So i suppose it's for the best. I doubt you'd get fined unless there were a few complaints.
 
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