Sound Proof Door

B

bdam123

Member
I’m looking to find a design that I can pass off to a contractor for a sound proof door that will separate my home studio from the hallway that leads down toward the bedrooms. It can get pretty loud in the studio and I’d like for anyone looking to rest or do anything else in their bedrooms to be isolated from the the music production.

I did get some research done a few years ago for a studio that never came to fruition that involved a double door with rock wool and some air in between but really would just prefer a single door if possible.

I’m just asking for maybe some links to articles or products that can set me on course to finding an option that works for me.

Thanks, guys.
 
Here's a video on three versions.

This guy's single door with lead and plywood is massive but seems to do the trick. Just have to make sure your frame can support the weight.



I've done the last version with a hallway between band practice room and the rest of the house. The room was the basement and the hallway was actually the stairs leading up to the kitchen. We did double solid doors around the room and a single to the kitchen, all sealed with universal automotive trunk weatherstripping I bought from the dealer I worked at. This wasn't total soundproofing within the house but it did prevent transmission to the neighbors' townhome.
 
Any single door system will need a really heavy door to give you much isolation. I had some custom single doors in a previous studio which apparently cost £1500 each if bought separately (they were supplied to me as part of a complete studio build). While they were fairly effective, I still needed a second lighter door and an air gap to give me decent isolation. A double door setup using sixty minute rated fire doors would be far more cost effective if you have the space.
 
how much air space between double doors would be effective? Hinges on same side of door jam with enough space so the knobs don't occlude each other? Or hinges on opposite sides of the door jam?
 
Keep in mind that increasing the mass of the door increases isolation, BUT most carpenter built doors leak sound like a seive through the seal at the bottom - which unless it's a raised door jamb so it has a 360 degree seal tops, sides and bottom, will let loads of sound through. An 18mm layer of MDF on the surface is pretty good, but needs an extra hinge or two to keep the thing square, plus a decent door closer if you don't have proper door handles that have a wedge/cam seal.
 
Has anyone tried using mass loaded vinyl as a layer in a door? It provides mass and damping, I would think there should be a way to incorporate it.
 
rob aylestone said:
Keep in mind that increasing the mass of the door increases isolation, BUT most carpenter built doors leak sound like a seive through the seal at the bottom - which unless it's a raised door jamb so it has a 360 degree seal tops, sides and bottom, will let loads of sound through. An 18mm layer of MDF on the surface is pretty good, but needs an extra hinge or two to keep the thing square, plus a decent door closer if you don't have proper door handles that have a wedge/cam seal.
Click to expand...
Who else makes them Rob? But I think I know what you mean.

To make a sealed door you need to make the door and frame together as one on a work bench. Even then the sealed system is only as good as the seal.
 
TalismanRich said:
Has anyone tried using mass loaded vinyl as a layer in a door? It provides mass and damping, I would think there should be a way to incorporate it.
Click to expand...
I bought a roll of some vinyl flooring material from Machine-Mart. It weighs a ton, but also stinks to hell. I'm sure it would be effective.

I would suggest making a sandwich of two fire-doors, with a filling of a sheet of lead.
Due to the weight, you'd need some heavy-duty hinges, and a good tight heavy duty doorframe.

My doctor's surgery had one made for privacy.
 
My carpentry skills are adequate, but hardly craftsman, and I discovered in my first build in the 90s that doors were a, er, challenge. I'd build the frame as usual then hang the door and discover gaps - usually due to my limited accuracy and cutting skills. A mm here and a mm there and at the other end of the door, the difference is 5-6mm easily. A quarter of an inch for you non-metric folks.

I developed a trick to fix this - normally you have a door frame - the 25mm/1" framing that goes up across and down, and you then fixe the timber the door closes onto - to the sides. Here in the UK, it will typically be 12mm/1/2'. My trick is NOT to fit this until the door is hung, then increase the thickness to 18mm/3/4" which gives you the ability to fit neoprene sealing to it, then push this against the door in the close position and fit the doorstop to the door, not the door to the prefixed doorstop. I also continue this along the bottom of the door too - which seals the gap at the bottom. Downside is you can trip over the strip at the bottom, and footfall scuffs and wears it, but it's easily replaced if wear gets too bad. Real carpenters would cringe at the reversing of the usual system.
 
If you do that, a wooden French door and the surround are critical - check the doors are solid - a few are laminated with gaps to save weight. I have to say I have two new french doors here on an extension and they do seal really well.
 
My windows have laminated glass, which means they have a total of 1/2" of glass, for better sound insulation.
My one pair of french doors, bought separately, does not have laminated glass, and lets more sound through.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top