Members palthegiraffe Posted October 3, 2005 Members Share Posted October 3, 2005 I know several of you in here have home-studio setups, so surely someone has some advice for this different but related situation: I live in a two-story three-bedroom townhouse. It's on the end, so there is only one attached neighbor, and with a garage between us, there is only one room with one shared wall. Nice setup most of the time; it really feels more like a house. In February or March, the Unplanned Offspring #2 will arrive. We would like to use the third bedroom, which is currently a library/sewing/guest room, as the new kid's room. However, that is the only room in which we can hear my neighbor, the Great Grape Ape, having marital relations with his wife loudly, which could wake up/warp the baby. I also wouldn't want to wake GGA up all the time with the baby's crying. How hard would it be to soundproof/dampen one wall? What product or material would you recommend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dot-dot-dot Posted October 3, 2005 Members Share Posted October 3, 2005 On the cheap side, try hanging heavy drapes on that wall. On the better-but-more expensive side, build a second wall six inches into the room and fill the cavity with rockwool or similar. Try to isolate the new wall from the structural one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FLYING V 83 Posted October 3, 2005 Members Share Posted October 3, 2005 I practice in my cinderblock walled basement, live in a 1/2 duplex. I bought 3'x2' Armstrong ceiling panels, some Liquid Nails, and glued 'em right to the walls. Neighbors said it cut the sound more than half. It was cheap and effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members palthegiraffe Posted October 3, 2005 Author Members Share Posted October 3, 2005 So far, these ideas are cheaper than the $300+ I'd spend on foam soundproofing tiles to cover that wall (about 14 feet long). Thanks! Keep the suggestions coming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sstim8or Posted October 3, 2005 Members Share Posted October 3, 2005 Originally posted by dot-dot-dot . On the better-but-more expensive side, build a second wall six inches into the room and fill the cavity with rockwool or similar. Try to isolate the new wall from the structural one. This is the right way to go about it. And hang at least 2 layers of drywall on the partition as well, and tape the joints of the first layer before hanging the second. Don't waste your time with pink insulation and so-called "soundboard" either. Use a mineral wool insulation and 5/8" drywall. This website is a great resource for all things related to buildings and sound transmission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members incubass Posted October 3, 2005 Members Share Posted October 3, 2005 you could try drowning out the neighbors by making your own "noise"...sorry, I'm of no help... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gdwill2u Posted October 3, 2005 Members Share Posted October 3, 2005 Originally posted by sstim8or This is the right way to go about it. And hang at least 2 layers of drywall on the partition as well, and tape the joints of the first layer before hanging the second. Don't waste your time with pink insulation and so-called "soundboard" either. Use a mineral wool insulation and 5/8" drywall. This website is a great resource for all things related to buildings and sound transmission. I agree, two layers of drywall is best, for added sound proofing put a metal sound channel bar (very cheap about $3.00 for a 10' piece and you would put them in every 2'). This channel bar goes between the first layer of the new drywall and the second layer. To upgrade still further use 5/8 width drywall....this along with the soundbar shouild provide all the sound proofing you will need. drywall is about $8.00 for an 8' by 4' piece, you will need another 5-10 bucks for screws, one bucket of compound $11.00, and a roll of tape $2.00. You could do a 12' wall with this method for under $120.00. It is labor intensive though, but if you do it yourself then it's free. To hire my company to do this would run you over $1,000.00 so don't bother asking for contractor prices unless you got plenty of dough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hangwire Posted October 3, 2005 Members Share Posted October 3, 2005 ... if you have a decent neighbor relationship I would talk to him as well and see what advice he woudl have, or what both of you could do to help... I know I would really appreciate it if one of my neighbors came up to me about that type of senario... if they are cool... I imagine the other couple might go all "trading spaces season 1 and make the wall decoratively padded... plus, it gives them a heads up on what is to come... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members palthegiraffe Posted October 3, 2005 Author Members Share Posted October 3, 2005 Originally posted by incubass you could try drowning out the neighbors by making your own "noise"... How do you think I got into this mess in the first place? I'm reading everyone's suggestions. Many thanks. I'm definitely not going to pay a contractor to do anything, so I'm going to have to weigh all of the ideas and see what I can reasonably do myself with my average skills. (I did work construction for six months during college, but I wasn't exactly qualified and worked with crack addicts who spent more time stealing supplies and goofing off than actually getting the job done. Ah, the memories.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members palthegiraffe Posted October 3, 2005 Author Members Share Posted October 3, 2005 Originally posted by hangwire ... if you have a decent neighbor relationship I would talk to him as well and see what advice he woudl have, or what both of you could do to help... Hey, I'm a modern big-city American! I'm not supposed to know my neighbors! I've talked to GGA's wife before, so I'm sure I'll eventually say something to one of them before the baby arrives. But I don't count 100% on their being understanding from my limited experience with them, though I hope they will surprise me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mvolta84 Posted November 12, 2005 Members Share Posted November 12, 2005 This sounds like a good idea, do i would need to make 4 additional walls to contain the sound?Can someone explain how to actually buil one of these walls, where are they placed and if they need to be 4 walls sealed together like a booth or something because sound will leak from the top part since it won't reach the roof or am i missing something?Originally posted by gdwill2u I agree, two layers of drywall is best, for added sound proofing put a metal sound channel bar (very cheap about $3.00 for a 10' piece and you would put them in every 2'). This channel bar goes between the first layer of the new drywall and the second layer.To upgrade still further use 5/8 width drywall....this along with the soundbar shouild provide all the sound proofing you will need.drywall is about $8.00 for an 8' by 4' piece, you will need another 5-10 bucks for screws, one bucket of compound $11.00, and a roll of tape $2.00. You could do a 12' wall with this method for under $120.00.It is labor intensive though, but if you do it yourself then it's free. To hire my company to do this would run you over $1,000.00 so don't bother asking for contractor prices unless you got plenty of dough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dot-dot-dot Posted November 12, 2005 Members Share Posted November 12, 2005 Originally posted by mvolta84 Can someone explain how to actually buil one of these walls, where are they placed and if they need to be 4 walls sealed together like a booth or something because sound will leak from the top part since it won't reach the roof or am i missing something? You're trying to build a room-within-a-room, ideally. And the new walls should be isolated, as much as possible, from the existing ones, or the sound will just conduct through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grueller Posted November 12, 2005 Members Share Posted November 12, 2005 definitely check out fiberglass insulation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Nico de Roode Posted November 12, 2005 Members Share Posted November 12, 2005 Originally posted by dot-dot-dot You're trying to build a room-within-a-room, ideally. And the new walls should be isolated, as much as possible, from the existing ones, or the sound will just conduct through. Start with the bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bobby yarrow Posted November 12, 2005 Members Share Posted November 12, 2005 Those channels, called 'resilient channels' at my lumber yard, seem to at least double the soundproofing. They do make installation a bigger pain in the ass. It's sort of a z shaped thing. You attach one side of the z to the joists, and then when you hang the drywall you try and hit the other side of the z but not the joists. I guess if wasn't such a crappy workman it wouldn't have been that much harder. God I hate wallboard . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hookstrapped Posted November 12, 2005 Members Share Posted November 12, 2005 Just get one of these for the baby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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