Soundproofing question - check my design please

kristoffdj

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Ok guys, my flat refub is nearly finished and I just have one last project to complete.

This project is a soundproof bed.

This might sound a bit crazy, but my flat is in a basement (windows at ground floor level), next to a nightclub, just off a main road, in an area of pubs and bars. I would struggle to think of a location that has more noise problems! I have everything from low bass from the nightclub though cars screaming past, to people singing.

It was never my intention to soundproof my whole flat, I don't care about the noise at any time other than when I need to sleep, so I always intended to basically make a soundproof booth for my bed to fit into and that time is now.

I've studied hard on soundproof booth construction, and I think I have a plan that makes sense. However it will cost me about £3k to build this thing, including all the materials, and I'd like it to work. So if any soundproof experts could give my plan the once over I'd be most grateful.

Below is a very rubbish diagram (I'm not draftsman) that is not to scale but is close enough to get the idea of what I'm going to build.

rotate.JPG


As you can see, my bed fits flush inside this box. I access it from the big opening window at the foot of the bed.

Now, this box will be free standing in my bedroom, built on a decoupled base, and not attached to the walls of the room in any way.

Because of this, am I right in thinking that I do not need to decouple again (other than the base), by using resilient channel or isolation clips and furing? My research tells me that because I'm basically building a room within a room, my main priority should be trying to lower the resonance of my walls and the best way to do that is with absorption and mass. Basically I should not decouple again (other than the base). Is that right?

My plan is to build the walls (and ceiling structure) in the following way (left is outermost layer then move inwards toward the right):


15mm gyproc > 3" stud wall + 3" rockwool > 15mm gyprocc > Green Glue>15mm gyprocc


For the base (read from bottom to top)

18mm ply
Green Glue
18mm ply
Geniemat RST10
18mm ply
3" stud frame + 3" rockwool
Geniemat RST10
Original bedroom floor (laminate on concrete)

Will this base be sufficient to decouple the structure that it is supporting? Is there anything I could/should do to improve it?

The side windows are non-opening and are there so that I can see when it's morning, and for aesthetics, a sealed box would look even more ridiculous than this. The windows will be made from laminated acoustic glass, the outer panel 12mm thick, the inner one 8mm thick. Each pane will have about 80mm of separation.

The big window at the end will need to open for me to get in and out of bed. I'm having a 'soundproof' double glazed unit made at horrendous cost, probably 8mm and 10mm laminated panes. This window is also in this place specifically, as I have a wall mounted tv and sound bar that I will be able to watch from in bed when the window is open.

The weird staggered wall arrangement at the head of the bed is there due to my existing semi-dropped ceiling that I have made to house my LED tape that lights the bedroom.

The extra box on the top is the diffuser box for the ventilation, I'm going for a push/pull arrangement with a pair of 4" whisper quest fans drawn through home made diffusers. If I have to air-con it in the summer I will, but my flat is literally underground, so the temperature is normally very stable and as long as I get air moving though the box I think it'll be fine.

The inside/underside of the ceiling, that you will see when looking up from the bed when lay down, will be a fibre optic star ceiling.

I'm going to get cracking on this next week so I'll post pics of my progress. Shouldn't take me long.

If anyone thinks a better base or wall structure would help with isolation please, please, let me know.
 
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What a crazy wonderful idea! Aside from the fact that you'll suffocate, I think it's a wonderfully inventive idea.

OK, so you may not suffocate, but your air will become incredibly stale, and your CO2 levels will rise to unhealthy, even harmful levels, in such an enclosed space.

It seems an awful lot of expense, when you could isolate your entire room from your neighbours for a similar cost. Use heavyweight shutters instead of laminated glass at the window.

Again, I applaud your 'in-the-box' thinking, but I truly believe it won't be a healthy place to spend any significant amount of time.
 
Soundproofing the the whole room is a non starter. It's nowhere near a square, I have dropped ceilings on multiple levels, a half mezzanine, a floating wall with a big tv in it etc etc... it would cost a fortune and be so complicated as to be to all intents and purposes, un-doable.

What gave me this idea is from sleeping in the soundproof cabin on a friends posh yacht. I couldn't hear a thing in there, even when the engine was clattering away 18" from my head. I figured, whey not build a posh yacht cabin in my bedroom. There's actually more volume in my 'cabin' than there is in a sunseeker manhatten 56 guest cabin :)

I don't see why air quality will be a problem, I plan on using quad 4" air ducting drawn though box diffusers, exactly the same as recording studios use, and no session dummers have joshed it mid-recording due to suffocation as far as I'm aware? I'll also have a UPS on the fans so if the power is lost in the night they will still run. I'll also have Co2 and Carbon monoxide alarms.

If the fans fail in the middle of the night I may get hot and wake up, but I'll have four separate 4" holes in the box, so even without fans that's four 4" holes in the ceiling supplying air so I don't die.

It is mad, but my whole flat is mad.

Pics for those who haven't seen some of it.....

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Ah, OK. Didn't see the paragraph about the air supply on my first read - I see it now.

What a cool looking room.

All looks good then - it's going to be a PITA changing your sheets, but a relatively small price to pay for a decent nights sleep.

As for the question on decoupling, I imagine it's going to be very difficult to truly decouple a structure such as this, due to the sheer weight compressing any foam type material to the point of it effectively becoming solid. I believe industrial machinery use heavyweight springs to decouple themselves from a solid floor. Having said that, something like industrial neoprene between your floor and structure has got to help, and is cheap enough that any improvement it brings will be worthwhile.

As you have rightly pointed out, isolation from your walls is absolutely essential, so a clear gap all round must be maintained. Having done this, then again, you are correct, no further isolation is required, the walls can be built normally, but add mass, damping and absorption.

I'm sure you've already read Rod Gervais's book on building a home recording studio, but there's lots of good stuff in there.

The one weakness in my own room are the seals around my door - mass is easy enough to add, but altering the seals after the event is a lot trickier. You'll need to get the seals right to be truly successful.

Best of luck!
 
Yes changing the sheets will be an acrobatic affair, but no real problem.

Noted on the seals, thanks. The only seal will be at the foot of the bed for the big window, I'll make sure that is done well.

Would there be any value, in your opinion, of adding mass loaded vinyl to the inside of the outermost layer of plasterboard, between the plasterboard and the rockwool? I haven't seen this done in any books or guides and I presume there must be a reason whey it isn't done.

Most nights I hope to have my big window open and I'm simply sleeping in a star ceiling lined bed. But the problem is, in my building, all it takes is for a new DJ to take to the decks in the club next door, or one of my numerous neighbours to have a flat party, and that me not sleeping. In which case I'll close it up and turn the fans on.

I had planned on making the side windows opening, so they would fold fully back inside the box and it would look like an 8 (?) poster bed and I got quote for 6 opening soundproof (10mm + 8mm) casement windows...... for £3,800. So guess what, they are no longer opening.
 
I've actually got some of those, and I've got the ACS in ear monitors too (for using with my DJ setup at night). I can tell you they do next to nothing to block out sub 125hz noise.

Should be called ACS total high frequency, a bit of mid, and sod all bass - block.
 
The main thing I'm not sue about, is if the base I have planned is good enough, in terms of decoupling/isolation.

I don't want to under-spec it and undermine the whole build, but I don't know what better solution there is than a few layers of rubber mat (geniemat rst10 for example).

I know commercial applications can use springs, but which ones, what rating, where from...etc?

If i use commercial spec springs and get the spring rate wrong compared to the weight of my structure, I'll surely have massive performance issues.
 
If i use commercial spec springs and get the spring rate wrong compared to the weight of my structure, I'll surely have massive performance issues.

Indeed, which I guess is why we don't see them used in residential setups - that, and I suspect, cost!

FWIW, LF sounds from my cinema are pretty well contained using a room-within-a-room build, each wall consisting of either double 15mm plasterboard, or OSB & plasterboard, with GG between the plasterboard layers. Can I hear it? Yes, but greatly reduced from the noise contained within the room - and certainly not at a level that would disturb me. However, I'm not putting 1.21Gigawatts into my system, so I don't know how loud your problem noise is to begin with.

MLV is not cheap, when compared to GG. And indeed, its use in commercial/industrial applications seems to be as a limp mass absorber - effectively a heavyweight curtain. It certainly has a use, and indeed, I have several sheets I intend to use as a limp mass - but this, for me at least is more about controlling bass within the room, rather than trying to stop it. I'm not going to say don't do it, as any mass will absorb some energy, and if it can be kept 'limp' will not 're-transmit' that sound energy. Note - this is my understanding of 'how stuff works', so E&OE!!

I think you're good to go - certainly an interesting project, so I'll be interested in how this turns out!
 
Can you not change the windows in your bedroom ?

I own a window company and have completed many installation jobs with replacement windows and acoustic double glazed units to great affect.

You could on top of replacing the windows also fit internal secondary glazing again with acoustic single or double glazed units.

Like I said we have done many jobs just with the first option above and it works dramatically well. The sound can be blocked really well, we fitted our windows with acoustic sealed units to the MD's house of Rolls Royce as he has a busy dual carriageway in close proximity and he was delighted.
 
My building is a grade one listed mill conversion, so no changes can be made to the external fabric. I could fit a second set of insulating windows on the inside, but it would only help with traffic noise. Most of my problem is noise coming though the the building, not from the outside.
 

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