Soundproofing on a budget question

That's what i'm worried about. A few questions if you get a min.

You mentioned you decoupled your walls/ceiling - what system did you use?
It sounds like the main change you made was using rubber matting rather than green glue and adding an extra door - is that about right? Are you happy with it now?



Noted. I'm now leaning towards decent insulation, decoupled walls, two layers of plasterboard and some kind of mat (if budget allows) or green glue between them. I'm also going to ask the architectes what the cost would be in having 4 walls built inside the existing room and then decouple the ceiling. The floor i'm thinking insulation and as much mass as can be added.



Looking good, kungfuman. Did you find them pretty straight forward to install?

Yeah, the genie clips are very easy to install - plenty of guides / instructions around. Have a look on youtube too as I'm sure theres a few videos showing you how to put it together.
 
I am happy with my room now thanks. No complaints from the missus at least...

Note that this is a tricky subject. A lot depends on how loud and how low your bass is going to go, as you can go a bit crazy with this stuff. What worked for me, and is probably the best bang for you buck/ relatively easy would be:

- internal stud wall not touching existing one
- fill with 100mm of RW5 rockwool making sure no gaps - don’t skimp on quality fibreglass
- 2 x layers of acoustic plasterboard 15mm and 12.5mm, ideally with rubber matting in between
- fire door with an extra layer or acoustic matting and plywood, or 2 x fire doors with an air gap

Note that this required circa 150mm of space from each wall, so the room shrank by 30cm on both horizontals, and 15cm on the ceiling. You might not have that much space to waste, and this is where the genie clips become appealing. I do stand by rubber matting being much more effective than green glue however.

Decoupling: I used a room with a room, so the internal studs for the new room didn’t touch the existing wall. The bottom of the stud wall sat on rubber strips.

The ceiling used resilient channels, but there were and absolute nightmare to try and get 2 layers of plasterboard onto - I think I broke 4 panels trying to do it (like these:Libra Resilient Bar 3000mm). Genie clips are probably easier to work with, but if I did it again I wouldn’t bother be would just put rubber strips on the rafters first.

In addition, I used surface mounted plugs point to minimise holes, and ran all cabling internal to the room on a lowered ceiling round the edges, which also hosts the lights. This means the room is sealed.

Note that is you could spend a lot of time doing all this, then cut holes for in wall / ceiling speakers, and it’s pretty much for nothing. The sound will get out any hole you leave for it, so focus on sealing the room as much as anything else. I would do that before rubber matting / resilient channels etc

Cheers mate. Appreciate the suggestions/advice - particularly re. the cabling. Do you have a coffer going around the room? Lighting is still something i'm debating.

I'll have a word with the architect re. the chance of a room within a room - there won't be a better time seeing as the house doesn't exist yet - and work out if the dimensions still work.
 
I would be very wary of any builders doing this type of work properly. I had similar quotes but on detailed questions from myself, they didn’t really know what they were doing. They just quoted double for ‘double’ the effort.

I ended up using these guys to retrofit my room and it made the world of difference: Rosewood sound proofing

They are based around Edinburgh so probably not suitable, be worth asking if they can recommend someone more local / give advice. My room originally had double plasterboard and green glue on all walls, ceiling and floor (wood on the floor obviously), with the ceiling and walls decoupled, with 75mm rockwool. But to be honest it was rubbish. My wife was always texting me from the house (my room is a detached garage) to tell me to turn it down.

They ended up using 2 layer of acoustic plasterboard (15mm and 12.5mm for different frequencies) with acoustic rubber sheets in between, 100mm rw5 (extra dense), double doors, with both being fitted with acoustic rubber sheets between some plywood.

My honest view is that doing something ‘cheap’ is probably not going to be much use, but be a hassle and cost you a fair bit.
did you use resilient channel ?
 
I am happy with my room now thanks. No complaints from the missus at least...

Note that this is a tricky subject. A lot depends on how loud and how low your bass is going to go, as you can go a bit crazy with this stuff. What worked for me, and is probably the best bang for you buck/ relatively easy would be:

- internal stud wall not touching existing one
- fill with 100mm of RW5 rockwool making sure no gaps - don’t skimp on quality fibreglass
- 2 x layers of acoustic plasterboard 15mm and 12.5mm, ideally with rubber matting in between
- fire door with an extra layer or acoustic matting and plywood, or 2 x fire doors with an air gap

Note that this required circa 150mm of space from each wall, so the room shrank by 30cm on both horizontals, and 15cm on the ceiling. You might not have that much space to waste, and this is where the genie clips become appealing. I do stand by rubber matting being much more effective than green glue however.

Decoupling: I used a room with a room, so the internal studs for the new room didn’t touch the existing wall. The bottom of the stud wall sat on rubber strips.

The ceiling used resilient channels, but there were and absolute nightmare to try and get 2 layers of plasterboard onto - I think I broke 4 panels trying to do it (like these:Libra Resilient Bar 3000mm). Genie clips are probably easier to work with, but if I did it again I wouldn’t bother be would just put rubber strips on the rafters first.

In addition, I used surface mounted plugs point to minimise holes, and ran all cabling internal to the room on a lowered ceiling round the edges, which also hosts the lights. This means the room is sealed.

Note that is you could spend a lot of time doing all this, then cut holes for in wall / ceiling speakers, and it’s pretty much for nothing. The sound will get out any hole you leave for it, so focus on sealing the room as much as anything else. I would do that before rubber matting / resilient channels etc
Use the isolation strips on the studs 1st layer of plasterboard. Then resilient bar or no res bar ?
Did you use an adhesive to hold the rubber matting to the plasterboard ? Ac50 ?
How did you attaché the 2nd board ? Ac50 or longer screws to red bar ?
I’m worried about the fixing strength especially on the ceiling. Lot of weight that plasterboard 60odd kg in plasterboard + the rubber mat
 
Living in a terraced house,I insulated a wall using SM20 panels, these are a metre square 20mm thick recycled rubber sheets, very dense and heavy.
On top of this I fitted 2 layers of plasterboard.
All this was glued to the wall with spray glue.
This is the company site (no connection) Soundstop.co.uk | Soundproof Your Home Today
Very pleased.
 
Use the isolation strips on the studs 1st layer of plasterboard. Then resilient bar or no res bar ?
Did you use an adhesive to hold the rubber matting to the plasterboard ? Ac50 ?
How did you attaché the 2nd board ? Ac50 or longer screws to red bar ?
I’m worried about the fixing strength especially on the ceiling. Lot of weight that plasterboard 60odd kg in plasterboard + the rubber mat
Isolation strips between the studs and floor/ceiling joists, not between the studs and plasterboard.

AC50 is acoustic sealant, not adhesive. I forget what I used as adhesive, but it came from the same company that sold the rubber matting. I did attach using nails / tacks at the top to get it positioned, then adhesive.

I would agree about the weight on the ceiling. If I did it again I wouldn't use the resilient channel, and go direct to the rafters. I got around the problem by going above the room (into the attic) and putting the rubber matting above the rafters. So my ceiling is 2 layers of plasterboard direct to the rafters, 100mm of insulation between the rafters, and rubber matting sitting on top of the rafters/insulation.
 
Hey guys. I've been doing some research on soundproofing and feel like I have some grasp of the basics. Decoupling, mass, dampening, absorption. My problem is having zero diy skills and having to do this as part of a new build. So coordinating with builders, electricians etc on a busy site. I've now approached 4 companies for a quote and for our room (7m*5.1m. 2.5m high) it averages at around 16k. That's for materials and installation on walls, floor and ceiling. Not including door and plastering afterwards. So 18-20k all in. We can't afford that. What i'm struggling with now is finding a half way house - if such a thing exists - or something relatively simple/cost effective we can ask the builders to do while doing the rest of the house or have a stab at ourselves.

This is where i'm at for the minimum that's worth doing and would appreciate a sanity check. Decent density slab mineral wool for insulation, 2 layers of thick accoustic plasterboard with greenglue compound/sealant. Putty for the electrical boxes and a sturdy fire door. Someone also suggested putting chipboard down on the floor too.

Does this sound like it will have some benefit, or is it chucking money out the window? Is there anything else you would suggest? We don't mind spending money on this - we just can't spend as much as a fully fitted kitchen. Any advice/suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thank heavens I now live in a detached house with my speakers and amplification!
 
I did a lot of work and reading, measuring etc at the old house and the obvious but very pertinent points are sealing, mass and depth

When I did walls I made sure all the mortar was fully pointed, no small corner or pipe gaps, make sure you think through door and window sealing vents etc. Then think of a box not an adjoining wall. Floors and ceiling can be hard. Double plasterboard and rcockwool between rafters etc. Make sure they overlap and seal.

Not easy to manage bass you will need mass and space to meaningfully reduce db, decoupling and avoiding energy transfer will help but get this wrong and you might make it worse. Sand is really good but darn hard to use, I’d definitely speak to proper sound insulation Companies with products and make sure you know enough not to think, I wish I’d known that in 6m time 😳
 
I did a lot of work and reading, measuring etc at the old house and the obvious but very pertinent points are sealing, mass and depth

When I did walls I made sure all the mortar was fully pointed, no small corner or pipe gaps, make sure you think through door and window sealing vents etc. Then think of a box not an adjoining wall. Floors and ceiling can be hard. Double plasterboard and rcockwool between rafters etc. Make sure they overlap and seal.

Not easy to manage bass you will need mass and space to meaningfully reduce db, decoupling and avoiding energy transfer will help but get this wrong and you might make it worse. Sand is really good but darn hard to use, I’d definitely speak to proper sound insulation Companies with products and make sure you know enough not to think, I wish I’d known that in 6m time 😳
Hi, what’s the sand for ? How are you using it ?
 
Thank heavens I now live in a detached house with my speakers and amplification!
How close to you house do you have to be before you can hear it ? I have detached house, detached cinema building. My concern is neighbours hearing it when in their garden or disturbing me with their lawnmowers and chainsaws ?
 
I’ve got an outbuilding made of hardiplank. It was made with a lot of Rockwool and double layers of acoustic plasterboard. At -10 on volume I can’t hear much when 3 metres away which is where any neighbour would be closest to me. I’m going to add a porch with a fire door and double glazed doors on the porch which should reduce sound emission further. I also need to use acoustic sealant under the skirting board and putty for the sockets before I put some new carpet down which should also help.
 
Hi, what’s the sand for ? How are you using it ?


I used it between the wall and plasterboard as evidently sand has a greater absorption ability than solid, you do need to use it in an area where you can seal it really well and wont need to drill any holes though. Needs to be super dry as well and not able to get damp easily.
 
If you can oversee the work, then this stuff isn't that complicated. It's the knowledge of how it all fits together and the importance of not short cutting the decoupling etc.

My builder thought I was mad but he did everything that I asked. He's a general builder and so the cost wasn't stupid and I explained what I needed. There were lots of points where I had to explain or show what I wanted to achieve but if you pay a specialist you'll pay a lot more. When I spoke to Seriously Cinema, he said it works out cheaper if they do the plan and then get a general contractor to build to that spec and keep an eye on it.

The problem is builders will have a way that they normally do things and won't understand the impact of skipping a step or changing from your plan.
 
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Living in a terraced house,I insulated a wall using SM20 panels, these are a metre square 20mm thick recycled rubber sheets, very dense and heavy.
On top of this I fitted 2 layers of plasterboard.
All this was glued to the wall with spray glue.
This is the company site (no connection) Soundstop.co.uk | Soundproof Your Home Today
Very pleased.
Does it work?
 
The walls are only a single brick thick upstairs to next door (120 years old)
I thought I was pushing it hanging the weight I did on it, the acoustic boards are nearly twice the weight for the same area and twice the price.
It's mainly to get a good nights sleep and it certainly dulls any noise to a very low level.
My last house was the same and it was like they were in the room with you!
 

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