Soundproofing, am i wasting my time?

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bobbyvancouver

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Hi there, you're going to hate me maybe, but I'm a hobbyist, who only needs a room a bit quieter... I've been reading so much in the last few months and I've just decided to go for it, but... It's an unfinished room in my basement that I want to be able to record in a bit and rehearse in a bit too without blowing anyone out of the house or neighbourhood. The problem is that after all this reading, I feel like I'm going to make it louder rather than quieter somehow... I've got bags of roxul safe and sound insulation, 2x4s and 1/2 inch drywall arriving on Tuesday. I've got all the tools and caulking and I'm relatively comfortable with what needs to happen as far as finishing the work, but is it all a total waste of time?

Without green glue and clips and 3 layers of 5/8th drywall and sub-flooring and staggered studs and resilient channels and earmuffs for the whole city, am I totally wasting my money on this? I know it won't be actually soundproof at all, but... it'll be quieter, right? I guess I'm just wondering if anyone has any thoughts?

The walls and ceiling will be tight and have 2 layers of studs and insulation finished with 1 sheet of drywall. The floor is concrete and below grade about 3 feet. The walls are concrete up to about 4 feet on 3 sides, but I plan on squeezing insulation over that too. I haven't decided how I'm going to finish the concrete floor yet, but the ceiling is too low to raise the floor any more than a layer of underlay and carpet or flooring. The 2 doors and 1 window will be the weak links I assume, but I'll deal with those when I know just how bad it sounds....

Ok, sorry to be so amazingly rambling, but I'm just looking for reassurance that I'm not as much of a moron as I think I might be... ok, let me have it! and thanks for any time you spent reading this mess!!
 
bobbyvancouver said:
Without green glue and clips and 3 layers of 5/8th drywall and sub-flooring and staggered studs and resilient channels and earmuffs for the whole city, am I totally wasting my money on this? I know it won't be actually soundproof at all, but... it'll be quieter, right? I guess I'm just wondering if anyone has any thoughts?
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You won't be wasting your time necessarily, but you absolutely positively do need to do some research before you lay hammer to nail.
 
Thanks for the replies! I'm not actually that paranoid, but I just realize I'm asking kind of a vague thing. I've done TONS of research, and if I had the budget I could do it really well, but it's a very long story and it's sort of now or not for at least a year (I'm a teacher starting my first year of full-time in September, so won't have time or energy in a month....) and I need to do this now or I'm going to go insane, which is part of the long story...

I'm just going to do the room with double roxul and one sheet of drywall and hope it's sufficiently quiet. I guess I'm wondering if anyone has that and is happy with the sound leaks in both directions?
 
The Gervais book is on its way and I've stared at that (and many many more) website for hours... honest! :)
 
Egg boxes my friend...work every time.


LOL. :D


Sorry, this isn't a useful post at all. Back to the bar for me. :drunk:

Hope your project goes well mate.
 
I'm just going to do the room with double roxul and one sheet of drywall and hope it's sufficiently quiet. I guess I'm wondering if anyone has that and is happy with the sound leaks in both directions?
Click to expand...
Why "double" roxul? You will be wasting money and creating a denser coupling between the two leafs. You do NOT want to pack it in.

And why "hope"? If its budget, then prep it as a FIRST layer, and add the second layer later. Or, use Resiliant Channel in the source room. As an aside, I doubt ANYBODY is "happy" with sound leaks. However, I'm sure there are many people who only have a one layer leaf on each side of the framing...as in a standard bedroom home studio. And they may be perfectly happy with their recording results. On the otherhand, if you NEED to keep harmony with other people by virtue of keeping offensive sound from bothering them, or environmental noise infiltrates your recordings, then only you can determine if you can afford either.
 
A few quick suggestions.

1. Caulk every existing possible airgap. Sound propagation through the air is the leading cause of sound transmission between adjacent spaces.

2. Decouple the drywall from the framing via Resiliant Channel or other hardware.

3. Use solid core doors and seals. If you plan on adding another layer later, prep the door jambs by planning on a wider jamb equal to the total finish depth from one leaf to the other.

4. Add one or two layers of 5/8" drywall to the underside of subfloor between floor joists(basement ceiling), prior to fastening ceiling drywall layer. Caulk all joints. This adds mass to the existing membrane.

5. Examine any COMMON HVAC ductwork that feeds both upstairs and basement. Build a baffle box as far away from basement registers as possible. Enclose any existing HVAC equipment...to code. Use duct decouplers and wrap existing ductwork with batt fiberglass. Perhaps build soffits to enclose.

6. Caulk all penetrations into source room...pipes, wires, register grills etc.

No more time for more. Read rods book.:D
 
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