In wall sound proofing

dfretwell

Building a new home and have a wall with the TV/entertainment center on one side and my 8 month old's bedroom on the other side. Any ideas for sound proofing? Any recommended materials?

mdaudioguy

Have that wall framed with something bigger than standard 2x4s... and insulate it.

dfretwell

Anything other than that? Not reframing that wall and it's a standard 2x4 wall. Was hoping there was some sort of material that can be stapled up for additional sound dampening.

kevhed72

Maybe mineral wool (?)....the really heavy stuff I saw Holmes on Homes insulating between floors with. Much thicker and denser than fiberglass. ( I am pretty sure it was mineral wool but I am sure it wasn't fiberglass).

Midnite Mick

Roxul safe n sound would be the best insulation to use for absorption...which is mineral wool. The drywall you are talking about is
called quietrock but it is ridiculously expensive up here.

Regards,
Mike

reeltrouble1

There is no way to stop the sound vibrations penetration unless the entire wall is rebuilt. Its about the energy transfer from the drywall screws.

RT1

Hannzz

I put sound proof insulation in the walls and it reduced the sound.

inspiredsports

mdaudioguy wrote: »

Have that wall framed with something bigger than standard 2x4s... and insulate it.

I would build 2 separate parallel 2X4 walls, each one insulated, separated by about an inch. A thicker wall straight through would still transmit sound through the studs, but that dead inch in-between will help stop sound transmission.

IRLRaceFan

inspiredsports wrote: »

I would build 2 separate parallel 2X4 walls, each one insulated, separated by about an inch. A thicker wall straight through would still transmit sound through the studs, but that dead inch in-between will help stop sound transmission.

We did something like this for a lab at my work that is used for airflow testing. We also added Tectum panels to the interior walls and door, plus 1ft of insulation on top of the ceiling tiles.
http://www.tectum.com/finale.htm

This was a while ago (6+ yrs), but some Toyota engineers benchmarked the lab for their Ann Arbor facility and measured over 140db (inside) when I flowed one of their 4-valve cylinder heads.
Ear protection is required when we test something like this, but the point is that VERY little can be heard just outside of the lab when the door is closed. We used to do sound testing in this lab as well - measured "air rush" noise (whistle) on intake manifold assemblies.

The Tectum panels look like Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal and they do shed when you rub up against them. So they're probably not good for pot smokers who get the munchies :eek::eek:

drumminman

inspiredsports wrote: »

I would build 2 separate parallel 2X4 walls, each one insulated, separated by about an inch. A thicker wall straight through would still transmit sound through the studs, but that dead inch in-between will help stop sound transmission.

+ 2 double walls is really the only effective way to soundproof a room.

polkfarmboy

drumminman wrote: »

+ 2 double walls is really the only effective way to soundproof a room.

I read about this and alot about brissons law. One great product for this double wall thing is a product called the Genie Clip system where you install these hocky puck things on the studs of the double walls ........ check out this cool vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf5syq09qa0

audiocr381ve

anonymouse wrote: »

Unless your child is especially sensitive, most infants and children get acclimated to their ambient environment. Keep that HT going every day, even at night and your 8 month will likely sleep through it like a rock in a few days. Just do not play it ear-splittingly loud. If you want to do something by way of soundproofing, then a small step would be to fill that wall with insulation. Another step would be to raise a second wall on one side of the first wall, and have a double buffer. You will lose about 4" in one room if you do this though.

Very good advice. I have a 1 1/2 year old that we've taught to sleep with a lot of ambient noise going on (doctor even recommended it).

michael1947

You can get some panels on line...Amazon to attach to the walls that will really do a nice job. Just read about it someplace.

DaveHCYJ

Having two sets of studs that aren't shared between the walls of thw two rooms would be ideal, but if you're wall is already up there are still a few options. The cheapest would be to get some sound absorbing insulation for between the walls, I know owens corning makes some, but there are probably others. Another cheap option is to install two layers of dry wall. You just screw a second layer right over top the first.
They make special glue you can put between the layers of drywall which will help absorb vibrations, but I don't think its cheap. They also make a system where horizontal bars are mounted to the studs via a rubber isolater. The drywall is then mounted to the horizontal bars. This might be an option for you since your walls are already framed up.

unc2701

You don't have to go full double wall- use a 2x6 for the base and header, then offset 2x4's on each side (just don't put the 2x4's against each other). Weave insulation batting horizontally between them. After the drywall is up, put expanding foam around the gaps at the bottom of the wall (before they install baseboards) and all the electrical boxes, then when the plates are installed, caulk them to the wall, if you really want to go all out.

This will cut a LOT of sound, with the smallest investment. Going beyond that is going to take specialty products and get expensive fast.

However, as others have noted, just get the kid used to noise. Mine will sleep through damn near anything on account of my music and the dogs blowing up all the time.

unc2701

Edit: Just saw the "no reframing"; you can still do offset 2x4's without pulling anything out. Slap a 2x4 to the header of the room where you can afford to lose 1.5 inches, and put a 2x2 at the footer. You'll have to rip a half inch off the one on the header to get it to line up right (most likely, depends on the exact framing). Then put in studs lined up with these, alternating location with the original studs. Continue everything else as before. It's not ideal, but will cut a lot of transmission.