Treating a garage door

[mrhotapples]

This looks like it might be a bitch...I have to, over the next few months, convert the garage in my new home into a usable room for mixing and tracking. It's a big 21x20 conrete block. I'm going to seal the door to try and keep spiders out...But what should I do to make it sound better? I'm thinking I might buy some auralex and glue it on...I could build more panels, but then I'd end up having to move them when we need to open the door, aside from having to move a few bass traps, I'd end up moving 8 or so 2x4 panels. Does anyone have any experience doing this?

 

[Innovations]

Remember there are two facets to 'treating' Isolation and absorbtion.

Isolation is keeping your sound from getting out and neighborhood sound from getting in. That requires mass and getting the cracks sealed. So what you are doing to 'keep the spiders out' is actually a very good first step. The problem with adding mass to the door will undoubtedly make it too heavy for its current hardware.

The second aspect is absorbtion, which keeps the sound from bouncing around inside the room. The Auralex panels will help with absorbtion but will do nothing for isolation. But you could just as well make some 703 fiberglass panels and hang them on the door too for a better value.

 

[1tonio]

What kinda garage door is it? Rollup, old barn style?? Many options.

If you need islation, its a biggy depending on what type doors.

I have old barn style doors, and it wasa biatch.

 

[mrhotapples]

It's a roll-up. Isolation isn't a huge problem, I can go to about 9 p.m. in this neighborhood and my family's dealt with worse. I just don't think a big metal door has good acoustic properties, and since the rest of the room doesn't either...I'm looking to mostly deaden it. I'm gonna cover the ceiling 100% and the walls about 30%, then build some diffusion, but treating that door is just scaring the hell out of me. I can't hang framed panels on the door, but without it'll be fine.

 

[mrhotapples]

Oh yeah, this is what the rest of the room is gonna end up like:

Two 4'x2"x4" OC705 stacked in each corner, fluffy fiberglass stuffed behind the panels for a total of 8 panels. (at least 500 bucks)
5 2'x2"x4 SAFB panels on each wall for a total of 15 panels (400 bucks)
400sq feet of OC703 panels (at least 700 bucks)

So it's looking pretty expensive. That will be around 50% coverage unless I'm bad at math today. If I cut that down to 30% total, it'll be a lot cheaper...But this room is holding me back right now and I record mostly metal, which doesn't lend itself to small rooms.