Serious soundproofing
We need to soundproof our basement to make peace with our neighbors. My husband is a percussionist — vibraphone and drums. I’m concerned that we will spend the time and money on a whisper room in the basement and still have a problem. We’re looking for a handyman/contractor that is very experienced with soundproofing and…
We need to soundproof our basement to make peace with our neighbors. My husband is a percussionist — vibraphone and drums. I’m concerned that we will spend the time and money on a whisper room in the basement and still have a problem. We’re looking for a handyman/contractor that is very experienced with soundproofing and won’t overcharge. Ideas? Contacts?
it’s hard to reign in sharply percussive sounds but soundproofing can really help. i built a room-within-a-room in my cellar, it keeps the drum noise down fairly well. if you build walls inside of walls, with trapped air space in between you can significantly cut the amount of sound that gets through.
If you are looking at a serious soundproofing effort, get an acoustical engineer or consultant. Alan Fierstein of Acoustilog is excellent and pragmatic.
even assuming you mean “width” instead of “weight”, I still would doubt your points. Sound can travel directly though the wall or indirectly though windows – out and then back in. Even whole acoustic of the wall does not make any sense to me. As extreme: I can take a two think metal place and put vacuum between. Such imaginary wall can be 1″ thick and will not let any sound though.
transfer of sound is in direct proportion to the weight of the wall seperating the 2 spaces ,
my assumption is that thaere is a 12″ either brick or poured concrete wall seperating you from your neighbore ,
as such:
I believe your 1ST step would be to carefully inspect for cracks and holes and gaps within the wall ,
seal those with expandable foam , observe the results ,
and then i can advise you further ,
sherwin mirzai
group 2 architects engineers
shervin_mirzai@msn.com
516-320-5444