Soundproofing walls

[My2boys]

I need to soundproof the wall from the garage all the walls from the living areas to the bedroom. The only thing I can think to do that would be easy is to insulate those walls, I'm not sure if that will be enough. I have read some articles that say to put a extra layer of sheetrock. I was also thinking about maybe using the foam sheets, don't inow if that would work or not

Does anyone have any experience or advise.

Thanks for the help

 

[kid_charlie]

Insulation should help increase STL. You can also install 1/2 sound deadening board under 1/2 gypsum wallboard and should have an STC rating around or above 50. I hope this helps.

 

[sands35]

A product called "Homosote" is a pressed cellulose wall board. You put wall board over it with a specific fastener pattern to decouple the walls. (Menards or a good builder's supply will have it).

I also use that stuff to build model train tables. Deadens sound really well.

Rockwool is commonly used. R13 batts will also work, but not as well as the other options. (low frequency sound will still get through)

The trick is to ensure that there are no air gaps and that each side of the wall is decoupled from the other. Staggered stud walls also works.

 

[ford33]

I've looked into sound reduction for some time. I will be renovating a condo that has "thin walls". There are now many products available to reduce the transmission of sound through walls and floors.

The answer is to isolate the vibration (energy) on one side of the wall from the other wall. Adding wool or fiberglass insulation is not the whole answer. You have a large piece of dry wall that will vibrate on wooden or metal studs and this will easily transmit the sound energy through the wall stud into the next room.

Stop the sound energy from being transferred to the other side by putting an acoustic mat under the drywall and limiting the number of fasteners holding the drywall. Two sheets of drywall will not work as the sound energy is transmitted easily.

Build two separate walls and isolate them so sound cannot be transmitted.

Another method is to use a system like IsoTrax which uses a special track attached to the studs and separates the drywall from the stud which reduces the transmission across the stud.

Google "How to reduce noise through apartment walls" and you will find many reasonable priced products and solutions.

Finally, the California department of health services has a study on effectiveness of various wall construction in the reduction of noise transmission. It is 175 pages with ratings of walls construction techniques. It is very technical but you will have some solid engineering work to base your decision.

Catalog of "STC and IIC Ratings for Wall and Floor/Ceiling Assemblies"
Russell B. DuPree
Office of Noise Control, California Department of Health Services
Berkeley, California 94704

 

[mike_81]

two layers of drywall over roxul S&S with green glue between the layers of drywall.

http://www.greengluecompany.com/

 

[My2boys]

Thanks for the ideas. Definatly a lot of options, just trying to decide which is the best for me.

 

[pickles]

If you look at the dedicated theater design section of AVS forum you can find tons of information about sound proofing. Using two layers of thick drywall with some green glue in between is a good place to start as te previous poster mentioned. You may also need to think about whatever doors up might have between you shop and the area you want to isolate.

 

[Alan Douglas]

Yes, start with the door. Tiny air gaps around a door will transmit more sound than the rest of the wall.

 

[Falcon67]

Look for Quiet Brace at HD - would work with insulation and wall covering to reduce sound transmission.