sound proofing a room

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Daniel Czajko - 28 Jun 2005 04:10 GMT

I'm quite green at this, and I'm not even sure if I'm in the right group.
Any help is appreciated.

I'd like to sound proof a basement room. Walls and ceiling. Wooden studs
are in place on all the walls and the ceiling. I'm going to eventually put
drywall on the studs, but before I do, I'd like to fill in the space between
the studs (between existing walls/ceiling and the drywall that I'll put in
place) with some kind of sound deadening material. I was also thinking of
putting some kind of material directly between the studs and the drywall
before I put the drywall on so to decrease the sound transferring from the
drywall to the studs and the rest of the house. I know very little about
what to use. Can anyone recommend good sound proofing material(s) I could
can use for this room?. You could say that I'm on a bit of budget. The
room is about 18 squared meters in area (apx 180 sq. ft.), and I'd like to
spend no more than $1000 (Canadian) on the sound deadening material The
sound I'm trying to proof against is music with strong bass.

thanks

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Noral Stewart - 28 Jun 2005 11:59 GMT

First recognize you will have limited success because you are trying to
block the most difficult sound to block. You basically need all the heavy
weight you can get to block bass. Lacking sufficient weight, you can get
some benefit by separating the weight into two parts separated by as much
airspace as possible and with minimal connections between the two layers.
First consider adding additonal layers of gypsum or other heavy material to
existing wall and floor surfaces. If adding to the top of the floor is not
practical, some have cut and screwed pieces of gypsum to the underside of
the floor between the joists. Next you want fiberglass or mineral wool
batts in the cavities. Best to fill the cavities but not to pack material
in. Denser mineral wool is slightly but only slightly better than
fiberglass. Next, you want to make the space filled with fiberglass as
thick as possible, and minimize any contact of the new gypsum surface with
the existing studs. This is best done with a second set of studs or joists.
Next best is to use resilient clips with neoprene inserts to isolate steel
hat channel from the studs and attach the new gypsum to the hat channel. If
space is limited, use resilient channel attached to the studs and joists and
attach the gypsum to the resilient channel. This only scratches the
surface, and success will be in the details. A wealth of information is
available on the website of the Canadian Institute for Research in
Construction
http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/irccontents.html

> I'm quite green at this, and I'm not even sure if I'm in the right group.
> Any help is appreciated.
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>
> thanks

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Natural Science Forum / Physics / Acoustics / June 2005

sound proofing a room