Since the basement studio topic is pretty popular right now, how does one cover up their basement windows which basically give them no isolation from the outside world (and the outside world no isolation from them)?

Does anyone have any specific plans or sugestions for this sort of thing? Anything removable?

Nothing leaks out of my basement at all except right where the windows are, so I'm trying to tackle that problem asap.

Thanks

Pack 'em up with whatever the densest material you can find is. Sandbags would be the best. After that regular fiberglass. After you pack them I'd get some fabric and cover them over so they look better from inside the room. Tapastries are always a good cheap idea. About $30 each and will add a lot of vibe to the room. If your not into the neo-hippie thing go to a fabric store and get a few yards of whatever you like.

An air tight seal around all edges is favorite.

At the radio station I work at our old house was the house that DIY built being a non profit organisation we had no money to do anything at all. So for windows we would buy some L shaped HOOKs(the L right here doesnt have another curve at the end like these ones did) and then mounthem on the window sill on the inside. Now cut out some wood the shape of your window sill. PUSH this up so it fits the window sill and it is now even like a wall. Then take a 2"v4' and put it so it holds the wood that becme your new fake wall. What is great about it is you can open it to let light in when your mixing or get out if god forbid theres ever a fire.

I'm actually at the point where all my walls are framed out and I need to figure out what to do for the basement windows. The windows never opened in the first place, but I want to keep as much natural light as I can.

I'm thinking glass block on the inner wall... Anyone have experience with the sound attenuating properties of glass block?

I think glass block would work well. It seems to be pretty dense. Just caulk the living hell out of it.

I had regular windows that opened, on two sides of my basement. I wanted to keep the natural light though, so I didn't want to cover them all up. I did cover up one window on the west side because I ended up building the closet there, and I didn't want anyone looking in the window and seeing all the gear. But in the actual room, I simply took out the conventional window frames and put in a double layer of solid glass with about 4 inches between each pane. Sealed it up with caulk. It works great, the light is really nice and the sound doesn't leak out at all to speak of. My next door neighbor who is quite close on one side, can't hear us playing even at high volume.

If you do something like this, definitely get some curtains, tapestries or wood blinds to cover the windows while you're actually tracking. The window coverings will absorb a lot of the reflections of the glass, which is a good thing.

You could also go down to Home depot and pick up a double-paned vinyl window for $50-$60. I just stuck two of them in my soon-to-be basement studio. From previous experience, they do well with the noise and still let you open up when you want to.

Lee's advice about the curtains is right on.

dave

Here's my recipe for a box-like insert that is very effective:

- make a wooden box (1/4" ply panels with 1" thick sides) to fit the window cavity with a 1/2" gap on all sides, 2" thinner than the depth of the cavity
- on the window side add a panel of 2" thick styrofoam and a layer of carpet or foam to dampen the window glass itself
- on the room side drill a 1" hole in a top corner and get a suitable plug for it, also add non-reflective foam and a couple handles
- fill the box with sand, bounce it around a bit to get it to settle, add more, repeat as necessary, apply plug
- put carpet or foam around sides for a snug but removeable fit in the window cavity, add shims to match the cavity's shape, which is rarely exactly rectangular

The styrofoam is good because it's very reflective to reject outside noises, and is also easily shaped to accomodate window framing, handles, etc, so you can get decent contact pressure of the rug or foam on the glass, one less resonnant panel. Not much gets through even 1" of packed sand, the final product should be more effective than the concrete wall.

Sugarite,

That's a very efficient way of dealing with it.
Great idea my man.