quietrock over existing walls for a one room studio???

[Chris G]

I've read through some of the quietrock posts here and other posts about building rooms, but nothing to answer my specific question.

I'm moving to a new home and downsizing my studio. I currently have a very quiet control room and large room to do Voice Over work in. Im a Voice Over guy. The new home is a newer construction 2 story and my VO studio will be down stairs. It's a small room and I don't have room to build a "room in a room" nor do I have room to de-couple a new layer of gypsum or drywall or quietrock.

I need to know of I use green glue and slap quietrock over the existing walls, seal the gaps and paint over that, does this have any real benefit.

My goal is to dampen any foot traffic above me from the carpeted beadroom above, and keep general household noise out of this room when I'm working. I'll be doing VO work in the same room as my gear and I have that noise issue solved, but I do 99% of my work via ISDN and studios that link up ISDN don't want to hear any dogs or feet, just me when they are tracking the session.

Any thoughts??

[jhbrandt]

Chris,

Decoupling is your friend. - If you can afford it, I would recommend isolation clips and hat channel on all walls and ceiling with at least one layer of 5/8" type 'X' (fire rated) gypsum board.
You can add mass to the existing wall with the same fire rated board to add STL, but it will not cut down on flanking noise. Flanking noise is transmitted through the structure, via the structure itself. - this is why I recommended decoupling.
Quiet rock works, but is very expensive - and if not used correctly can be a very expensive mistake. I have always found that standard building materials will always give you a better 'bang for the buck'.
It would be best to figure out how much isolation you currently have in that new room... determine the existing construction materials and add, as necessary, the mass and/or decoupling necessary to reach your STL goals.

Cheers,
John

[avare]

Originally Posted by jhbrandt

Chris,

Decoupling is your friend. - If you can afford it, I would recommend isolation clips and hat channel on all walls and ceiling with at least one layer of 5/8" type 'X' (fire rated) gypsum board.
You can add mass to the existing wall with the same fire rated board to add STL, but it will not cut down on flanking noise. Flanking noise is transmitted through the structure, via the structure itself. - this is why I recommended decoupling.
Quiet rock works, but is very expensive - and if not used correctly can be a very expensive mistake. I have always found that standard building materials will always give you a better 'bang for the buck'.
It would be best to figure out how much isolation you currently have in that new room... determine the existing construction materials and add, as necessary, the mass and/or decoupling necessary to reach your STL goals.

+1. Forget the walls, figuratively speaking, the ceiling is your enemy (worst sound isoaltion by far plus the impact noise).

Andre

[Chris G]

Thanks for the responses guys! I think I might be able to work out decoupling the ceiling with the hat channels because I have 10 foot ceilings. I won't be able to do the flanking walls though. Is there any special way I need to handle where the new decoupled ceiling contacts the flanking walls other than a great seal?

[avare]

Originally Posted by Chris G

Thanks for the responses guys! I think I might be able to work out decoupling the ceiling with the hat channels because I have 10 foot ceilings. I won't be able to do the flanking walls though. Is there any special way I need to handle where the new decoupled ceiling contacts the flanking walls other than a great seal?

how do you think you canb acheive that with hat channel? See pdf pages 70-73 in IR 811. Note that all the changes do almost nothing for LF. LF is where footfall is leaking. Go with Whisper Clips or equivalent at a minimum.

The wall/ceiling interface is handled with acoustic sealant and backer rod.

Andre