Soundproofing a room?

[zippythecellist]

So here's my dilemma...the room next to my studio pretty much has constant all day every day loud gaming and yelling. Been just trying to deal with it for the past year or so ever since I got all my gear, but as it turns out good compositions don't exactly happen if you don't have the quiet work environment needed to play things out/imagine them in your head. So I was just wondering what I could put on the walls to help reduce a lot of the noise. I don't know if every little detail about the room matters, but I'll explain a bit in case if they do. The room is the size of a typical small bedroom, and it has that usual door with the 3/4" gap under it. And the floors are the hard wood kind. (both of which I know is enemy number 1 for soundproofing, but nothing I can do about it...) There's also a small closet in the back, and in one of the corners there is a large window on one side and a small window on the other. And none of the walls are treated for acoustics...not sure what exactly they are insulated with, but definitely not any soundproofing stuff! If there is some crazy ass formula that involves actual measurements to determine how much stuff I need, let me know and I'll try my best to get accurate ones. Oh, and I won't really be doing any recording, so my main concern is just keeping outside noise OUT.

My parents want me to just put this on the wall inbetween both rooms and wrapped around the corners of said wall, but I HIGHLY doubt that will work since sound can still travel through the ceiling and floor. But if anyone else that uses this stuff in their studio can tell me otherwise, I'm all ears. I can't find a before/after test for this thing, which is why I'm really cautious of buying it. Besides that, the main thing I'm wondering about is if I have to cover all the walls AND windows with something, and if I need to put a carpet on the floor or do anything with the closet or main door into the room.

[JoRillo]

If you concern is silence, but your not worried about record, why don't you just see about switching rooms? You may be able to get a bit of the noise down, but without serious construction, I don't think it will ever be able to get it where you want it.

[Smithcok]

Originally Posted by zippythecellist

So here's my dilemma...the room next to my studio pretty much has constant all day every day loud gaming and yelling. Been just trying to deal with it for the past year or so ever since I got all my gear, but as it turns out good compositions don't exactly happen if you don't have the quiet work environment needed to play things out/imagine them in your head. So I was just wondering what I could put on the walls to help reduce a lot of the noise. I don't know if every little detail about the room matters, but I'll explain a bit in case if they do. The room is the size of a typical small bedroom, and it has that usual door with the 3/4" gap under it. And the floors are the hard wood kind. (both of which I know is enemy number 1 for soundproofing, but nothing I can do about it...) There's also a small closet in the back, and in one of the corners there is a large window on one side and a small window on the other. And none of the walls are treated for acoustics...not sure what exactly they are insulated with, but definitely not any soundproofing stuff! If there is some crazy ass formula that involves actual measurements to determine how much stuff I need, let me know and I'll try my best to get accurate ones. Oh, and I won't really be doing any recording, so my main concern is just keeping outside noise OUT.

My parents want me to just put this on the wall inbetween both rooms and wrapped around the corners of said wall, but I HIGHLY doubt that will work since sound can still travel through the ceiling and floor. But if anyone else that uses this stuff in their studio can tell me otherwise, I'm all ears. I can't find a before/after test for this thing, which is why I'm really cautious of buying it. Besides that, the main thing I'm wondering about is if I have to cover all the walls AND windows with something, and if I need to put a carpet on the floor or do anything with the closet or main door into the room.

I think you are confusing 'soundproofing' (isolation) with 'acoustic treatment'. (Wood floors are not 'enemy #1 for soundproofing', among other points)

The short answer is: the way to significantly increase isolation in your room will likely require considerable effort/money/planning/time/construction.

You could start by sealing up the room (read: get a door seal for that giant gap). That will help quite a bit.

[zippythecellist]

Well, I did end up just moving my studio stuff into my bedroom. So now I have a lady cave with all my video game stuff in it. But the door to my room still has that gap under it...should I put something under it, or look into getting a new door with no gap under it? Besides that, I also have these two large windows...they have shutters over them, but should I worry about putting anything else over them to block outside noise?

Another thing that I was wondering about, (though a bit unrelated) is what foam I should get if I want to improve the sound in one corner of the room. I practice my instrument in that corner, so it would be nice to have a better sound there. On the other side of that corner is a closet with heavy curtains I usually close when practicing, so would that combined with some of the auralex stuff help the sound of my room a bit?

edit: What about putting audimute sheets on my door and the room with loud gaming...would those help at all? And are there any door seals that are made of something that won't destroy the floor because of the door constantly being opened/closed? My dad insists that any door seal is gonna be mean to the floor, but there has to be SOMETHING out there that is a softer material. Everything I've found so far is stuff like metal...I hope I can find something, because his solution is to just put a damn towel under the door while I'm in my room.

[newdigitaluser]

Originally Posted by zippythecellist

So here's my dilemma...the room next to my studio pretty much has constant all day every day loud gaming and yelling. Been just trying to deal with it for the past year or so ever since I got all my gear, but as it turns out good compositions don't exactly happen if you don't have the quiet work environment needed to play things out/imagine them in your head. So I was just wondering what I could put on the walls to help reduce a lot of the noise. I don't know if every little detail about the room matters, but I'll explain a bit in case if they do. The room is the size of a typical small bedroom, and it has that usual door with the 3/4" gap under it. And the floors are the hard wood kind. (both of which I know is enemy number 1 for soundproofing, but nothing I can do about it...) There's also a small closet in the back, and in one of the corners there is a large window on one side and a small window on the other. And none of the walls are treated for acoustics...not sure what exactly they are insulated with, but definitely not any soundproofing stuff! If there is some crazy ass formula that involves actual measurements to determine how much stuff I need, let me know and I'll try my best to get accurate ones. Oh, and I won't really be doing any recording, so my main concern is just keeping outside noise OUT.

My parents want me to just put this on the wall inbetween both rooms and wrapped around the corners of said wall, but I HIGHLY doubt that will work since sound can still travel through the ceiling and floor. But if anyone else that uses this stuff in their studio can tell me otherwise, I'm all ears. I can't find a before/after test for this thing, which is why I'm really cautious of buying it. Besides that, the main thing I'm wondering about is if I have to cover all the walls AND windows with something, and if I need to put a carpet on the floor or do anything with the closet or main door into the room.

have the landlord shut them up

move to another room

work at night

wear earplugs AND earmuffs

forget trying to block that noise enough with that sheet stuff

[JoRillo]

Just to be clear, you don't want to record in this space? Just make it so you don't hear people outside?

I could be wrong, but I believe bass traps would be a good idea to have in the corner(s) of the room you play in. Cello get's some low notes which will resonate a lot (especially because you are sitting in a corner where they are building up in).

I have a semi-thick quilt that's hanging in front of my window, which helps keep it a little quieter (I'm in an apartment), and also lessens the reflections I hear in my room from the window. I'm sure there's much better solutions, but this one was free for me , and every bit helps.

[Smithcok]

Originally Posted by zippythecellist

Well, I did end up just moving my studio stuff into my bedroom. So now I have a lady cave with all my video game stuff in it. But the door to my room still has that gap under it...should I put something under it, or look into getting a new door with no gap under it? Besides that, I also have these two large windows...they have shutters over them, but should I worry about putting anything else over them to block outside noise?

Another thing that I was wondering about, (though a bit unrelated) is what foam I should get if I want to improve the sound in one corner of the room. I practice my instrument in that corner, so it would be nice to have a better sound there. On the other side of that corner is a closet with heavy curtains I usually close when practicing, so would that combined with some of the auralex stuff help the sound of my room a bit?

edit: What about putting audimute sheets on my door and the room with loud gaming...would those help at all? And are there any door seals that are made of something that won't destroy the floor because of the door constantly being opened/closed? My dad insists that any door seal is gonna be mean to the floor, but there has to be SOMETHING out there that is a softer material. Everything I've found so far is stuff like metal...I hope I can find something, because his solution is to just put a damn towel under the door while I'm in my room.

First off - the door problem:
You need to seal the door (even if you aren't allowed to do a proper job, and you have to use one of those "as seen on TV" fuzz things that you slide under the door, it will be better than nothing). If the gap is 3/4", and the door is 36" wide, that's 27 square inches of space. Imagine if you cut a 5" x 5" hole in the wall - that would ruin the isolation of a concrete bunker.

For isolation, you are going to need to seal up the room and add mass (if not coupled with some dampening as well). Heavy curtains and other fuzzy things might make the room sound better, but they will do almost nothing for isolation.

Slapping audimute or other products on the wall is not going to do what you want. Even if you install it under an additional layer of sheetrock, that won't guarantee the necessary improvement, as you'd want a professional to fully examine the room and make sure the transmission is actually happening where you think it is happening (i.e. flanking paths and other problems could ruin your day).

I don't mean to be a grinch around the holidays - I just want to make sure you don't spend a lot of money on something that nets you zero improvement. I've seen many, many situations where people spend a ton of money on things that they think/hope/want/wish will add isolation, only to learn that the money went down the drain.

[zippythecellist]

Yeah, I just want to keep outside noise out. Probably not going to do any recording.

But no Smith, you aren't being a grinch. I'd much rather be told that my ideas won't work rather than spend the few hundred dollars and learn the hard way. But anyway. Would putting a soundproof door to replace the one I have now help? (don't really know why dad is ok with a soundproof door and not a seal, but anyway. :P) If I do have someone come to my house to inspect my room, who exactly am I looking for? Any company that does soundproofing, or some kind of audio person? I've never done this stuff before, so I don't even know who to look for.

And about the bass traps, two of the corners in my room are blocked by my bed and the window shutters. So should I just not worry about them or try to find a REALLY small bass trap?

[Ted White]

You're right that expensive Mass Loaded Vinyl won't do much other than lighten the wallet

[zippythecellist]

Which is exactly why I'm not getting them...how GC can charge $400+ for crap that doesn't even work (much less telling me that it will work PERFECTLY for what I wanted it for) is beyond me.

Does anyone here happen to use the 485 door seal kit listed on that page? It does seem like a good deal, if it works. All the before/after vids I'm finding are from the manufacturer, so it would be nice to get a vid from an actual customer that isn't paid off by them to do a review. xP Or better yet, can someone recommend a good soundproof door that isn't too expensive?

[Ted White]

I'd test the door by sealing up the bottom a little with a towel or wet towel. Door seals (or lack thereof) as well as common hollow core doors are guilty of poor isolation. I wouldn't spend much, if anything, on door seals without having a solid core door in place first.

[avare]

Originally Posted by Ted White

I'd test the door by sealing up the bottom a little with a towel or wet towel. Door seals (or lack thereof) as well as common hollow core doors are guilty of poor isolation. I wouldn't spend much, if anything, on door seals without having a solid core door in place first.

+1.

Well sealed and solid,
Andre

[Ted White]

Andre, I like your signature... "Well sealed and solid Andre"

[zippythecellist]

So is something like this what you guys mean by a solid core door? Or would this be better since it already has hinges on it? (don't even know if the new door would also need new hinges...) I'm assuming if that worked all I would have to do is put a door seal on it...but definitely want some opinions from people here before waltzing on into a store that is gonna spew bs at me to make a sale.

How do I tell if the door I have now is solid core though? (well, other than ripping it apart and seeing what it's made of. ) As silly as this sounds, do I just knock on it and see how the sound vibrates through it?

[Ted White]

That Safe and Sound door is solid core, yes. Different solid core doors weigh differently, but that slab is a good starting point. A lot of guys add a layer of MDF to a solid core door to beef it up and the sandwich gives an opportunity for a damping compound to be added.

[zippythecellist]

I can't add anything else onto the door since it's not my house though...if I got a solid core door like that and added a door seal, what kind of STC rating could I realistically get with it? I understand I can't expect a lot since I can't open up walls and whatnot to put better insulation in, but wouldn't it at least block out a lot of the outside noise?