To much noise!

[justheman]

My garage is attached to my house right next to the living room. and I can not work in the evening or sometimes even during the day because there is to much noise and it keeps my daughter up from napping and sleeping. i have dry wall on both sides of the wall... and shelves built there. is there anyway to create a better sound deadening so that i can still work at night?

i dont mind taking the shevles off i jsut need to make sure i can put them back.

 

[rickairmedic]

I would start by putting her in another room if she is sleeping or napping. My garagae is on the wall attatched to my kitchen and living room and dont have any complaints from the familly granted if I did the youngest one in the house is 14 so I would just tell them to GTFO and STFU .


Rick

 

[35mastr]

I would look into some sound proofing in that wall.

 

[justheman]

this is when she is sleeping in her room... which it goes garage.. living room bedroom then her bedroom... my wife often comments on how lod it is too... i wasnt sure what sort of sound proofing options i have....

 

[rickairmedic]

Well then ok in that case I would look for some of the cork squares they sell for offices and cover the wall with them . That would be the easiest soundproofing I could think of that would keep you from having to open up the wall.

Rick

 

[Fast Orange]

What's making all of the noise-compressor,hammering or what?

 

[justheman]

compressor, air tools.... hammering... music... pretty much anything... they seem to transfer noise pretty good... i can even hear my water running into the water heater at times...

 

[rsanter]

they make a low density material that is used on the top of train layout benchwork that you could put up on the wall. you could also install another layer of drywall and then a low density material over that.
if there is not insulation in the wall then go with foam

bob

 

[justheman]

do i have to take off the dry wall to do the foam... cause im starting to think that there is no insulation on the wall..

 

[IDASHO]

If there is that much sound transfer, I bet the wall isnt insulated.

If that is the case, the only way you will have any chance of soundproofing it is to insulated it, or build another wall right next to it, fully insulated.

 

[jayelvington]

they make a low density material that is used on the top of train layout benchwork that you could put up on the wall. you could also install another layer of drywall and then a low density material over that.
if there is not insulation in the wall then go with foam

bob

Homasote
www.homasote.com

 

[justheman]

do i have to worry about that stuff and grinding possibly catching fire...

 

[jayelvington]

You would have to call and ask them. It is normally used beneath a layer of sheet rock. I know they have a decent site with all the specs. I will take a look and post up if I find it before someone else.

 

[matt_i]

Best option IMHO is to frame another parallel wall which doesn't touch the existing wall.

Then fill the cavity with fiberglass.

 

[e-tek]

Best option IMHO is to frame another parallel wall which doesn't touch the existing wall.

Then fill the cavity with fiberglass.

+1!!! But then you make your shop smaller!

 

[autoist]

My garage is attached to my house right next to the living room. and I can not work in the evening or sometimes even during the day because there is to much noise and it keeps my daughter up from napping and sleeping. i have dry wall on both sides of the wall... and shelves built there. is there anyway to create a better sound deadening so that i can still work at night?

i dont mind taking the shevles off i jsut need to make sure i can put them back.

Build another garage! Lawn is just space where no garage has been planted.

 

[Torque1st]

Most homes are built with little thought to sound dampening or control for cost reasons. Retrofitting for sound control is very expensive in comparison to doing it right the first time. Besides some of the solutions listed above you can use silicone caulk beads on the wall and add another layer of sheetrock after the silicone has cured to provide a little sound dampening. You can also remove the wall and rebuild it with 2x6 top and bottom plates with 2x4 studs alternating on both sides of the wall 24"OC which results in an actual 12" stud spacing with fiberglass insulation. This type of construction is used in sound studios (Google for more info). Remember anything that penetrates the wall like beams, pipes, ducts, or joists can transmit sound vibrations. Any opening in the wall will allow sound to pass thru.

 

[justheman]

dont have the room to build a garage... but can definetly look at options of redoing the wall.. dont want to build a second wall as that would take away to much space and my garage is small enough as it is... thanks guys for the help i will do some more reasearch but that this would be the best place to start...

 

[senlow]

Torque1st posted good advise. A second layer of drywall adds mass to block noise. The stagger stud wall works great. It is most effective if the top and bottom plates are isolated from the floor and ceiling.

 

[Torque1st]

Torque1st posted good advise. A second layer of drywall adds mass to block noise. The stagger stud wall works great. It is most effective if the top and bottom plates are isolated from the floor and ceiling.

It is kind of hard to isolate the top and bottom plates and it is probably not required for normal house/garage noise isolation. Some of the references also depict splitting the top and bottom plates which is again not required for this application and is typically ineffective since noise can transmit around the split if they are not isolated from the rest of the structure.

 

[nadogail]

What is worse? 6" less shop, or not being able to use the shop.

The problem you describe is a wall that is acting like a drumhead. Isolating the new inner wall from the existing wall with sound deadening material in between will significantly reduce the transfer of sound.

 

[robin1731]

Nobody mentioned the man door from the house to the garage. Mine is an exterior insulated steel door. You can't hear much at all through it. That would help alot too.

 

[ahaidet]

I bought a book on drywall a few months ago when I started finishing my garage interior as I have never done drywall work. The book I bought

"Drywall: Professional Techniques for Great Results " by Myron Ferguson was very helpful.

The reason I mention it is the whole last chapter talks about sound proofing and what you can do using various building techniques and materials. He shows the sound level attenuation for each material and construction type to show the improvements that can be made. He shows the staggered stud technique that Torque1st mentioned and says its one of the best methods of sound control.

If you could use a book on drywall techniques as well as the sound proofing might be worth a look.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1561589551/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Amazon has it for like $14. Lowes had it too but for a bit more. Local library might have a copy too.

 

[Torque1st]

Remember when doing your soundproofing that the neighbors have ears also...

At this point in my life I do not believe I will be building a house. I always wanted to but life was not kind. If I did build I was planning staggered studs for all the walls, external and internal. Floors are another trick and there may be similar techniques in the book above. I could see having staggered floor and ceiling joists also. Making walls and ceilings off square also help reduce noise reflection in an individual room.

 

[rsanter]

there is foam that you can blow into the wall through a 3" of 4" hole in the drywall

you couls also go over the exsisting drywall with that 2'' rigid foam insulation and then new drywall over that

bob

 

[twostory]

Quietrock might be a solution?

http://www.quietsolution.com/html/quietrock.html

Then there is green glue:

http://www.greengluecompany.com/

look here for ideas:

http://soundproofingwithdave.com/

To get things quieter, you will need to add something to the wall. Adding a second 2x4 wall only takes up 4 inches (1/2 inch air gap) but will probably be your cheapest solution. The products I posted links to are expensive, but they will help.

 

[pmiranda]

What is worse? 6" less shop, or not being able to use the shop.

Or... just soundproof your kid's room... they're small, they don't need the space

I wish I'd thought of that before we painted my son's room...

I'm thinking of building a small outbuilding or a isolating part of a closet to put my compressor in.

 

[49stude2r6]

I think torque1st has the right idea. I have a similar situation although I have no sheetrock on the shop side of the adjoining wall currently. I would remove the sheetrock, fill the stud cavaties with homasite, use silicone under the first layer of sheetrock then silicone and add a second layer of sheetrock. If your wife is complaining about the noise also I would think a little time and money invested will pay divedends for a long time to come.

 

[Scotto]

If you don't have insulation in that wall, why don't you just blow some in?

You can rent the machine at Home Depot/Lowes, make some 3" holes in the drywall between each stud, and blow it in.

The wall and door are insulated between my attached garage and house and I don't get much noise transfer at all.

 

[kbs2244]

The easiest way to add the mass that will absorb the sound is a wall of 4 inch block on the garage side.
If you put it up about 2 inches from the existing frame wall you will have both mass to absorb and a gap to insulate.
It will cost you some room, but it will let your girl sleep.
.

 

[alkemyst]

Check out home theatre forums...they have many useful ideas to keep sound inside a room.

 

[Kevin54]

There are quite a few things on the 'net for soundproofing. Just type in "soundproofing a wall" into a search engine. Here are a few right off the top:

http://www.soundproofing101.com/soundproofing_3.htm
http://www.soundproofing.org/infopages/channel.htm
http://www.wikihow.com/Soundproof-a-Wall-or-Ceiling
http://www.acousticalsource.com/wall-soundproofing.html
http://www.esoundproof.com/Screens/Applications/Residential/Walls/Treatment3FinishedWall.aspx

The last shows a rubber membrane which absorbs sound. I would think that rubber roofing material would do the same. Some of the other sites show silicone caulking on the studs before the sheetrock is put up. This will keep the sound from vibrating against hard surfaces.
When we bought our house the garage was insulated then the walls covered in OSB. I drywalled over that. You cannot hear noises from the garage to the house unless someone is pounding directly onto the wall and even at that, it is muffled noise. So I am thinking that if you do not have insulation, then you MUST do that for starters. I would probably go the silicone route on the studs to keep the hard surfaces seperated and then maybe a double layer of OSB and drywall (OSB first makes hanging drywall a piece of cake) or maybe a double layer of drywall. Note though that you will also have to look into a barrier of some type in the attic to help reduce noise traveling through the ceiling. A real good layer of insulation should help out there, and maybe a layer of insulation down vertically from the rafters to the ceiling joist to keep the noise from travelling through the attic. Also if possible, can you build something like an insulated wall around your air compressor (if it is a large upright) to help muffle the noise? Even a short wall the height of the air compressor would help somewhat.

 

[nadogail]

I like the idea of setting the studs with silicone to reduce mechanical transmission of the vibration (noise).

 

[JerseyJim]

There are a couple things to consider... You haven't mentioned how your house is configured. If you are hearing noise several rooms away from the source, you could have the noise travelling into a common attic space. I would check this out if it applies.

A lot of good possibilities have been provided thus far. But from my own experience, the best one to try would be blown in cellulose insulation. It has better acoustical properties than glass and is well within the skill set of the average home owner. I did my entire house with this in a day some years back.

As mentioned, it involved drilling holes in the drywall at the top and bottom of the stud cavity. The blower I used only required an 1-1/2 inch hole. You just blew it in the bottom till it came out the top. Since you are going for sound deadening as opposed to the insulating value, you can tape over the top opening and keep blowing just a bit to increase the density. This will improve the acoustical values and reduce settling. Then just patch and refinish the holes. You can do iit all from the garage side.

I would definitely try this before building new walls or modifying your existing ones.

P.S.If you elect to use this method, be sure all gaps are sealed before blowing the wall. It fills EVERY nook and cranny. I turned off the power to electrical boxes in the walls and then extended the switches and receptacles out so that I could stuff the boxes and prevent them from filling up.

Jim

 

[Captain]

I agree with JerseyJim . . . is there a possibility that sound is also coming through the roof space?
Have you been in the other rooms while someone else makes some noise to try to work out how it is coming through? The type of sound may help to isolate some of the problem.