Soundproofing Cost
anyone have an idea how much it would cost to build a soundproof room for my band to practice in? my choices are A: convert a bedroom in a condo building, B: convert a room in a brownstone garden apartment. I think in (B) most of the work is already done since no one is…
anyone have an idea how much it would cost to build a soundproof room for my band to practice in? my choices are A: convert a bedroom in a condo building, B: convert a room in a brownstone garden apartment. I think in (B) most of the work is already done since no one is underneath and the walls are stone. any tips?
Also — with a little planning, I could install surround sound speakers and a projector (easily hung off of the drop ceiling) to make it double as a nice movie room.
thanks everyone. as far as the cost goes, I hear the point about renting a studio — but to me, the reason you buy a place is to make it how you want it. I’m not trying to make a career out of music. my vision is to have a place to jam, my own beer in the fridge, my kids goofing around nearby, and someday learning the instruments, and a sane and happy wife thanks to your great sound suppression tips. and for less than the cost of a fancy bathroom.
I suppose in a pinch I could rent it as a torture chamber for extra income.
We’re looking into a garden-level duplex in a condo building. That takes care of the floor, and hopefully comes with concrete walls, which means we’re mainly trying to keep the sound from going outside and into the rest of our own unit.
And I already have a plan for condo approval: begin playing first. ask for permission to soundproof later.
i built such a room in my cellar, cost about $1300. my solution may not work in every case but i don’t think it’s impossible to create something that will muffle most of a band’s noise without breaking the bank. my room is on the cellar’s cement slab floor with a decoupled ceiling and inner walls, double layers of drywall with Green Glue between them. I used hat channel and ‘sound clips’ to decouple the ceiling. soundproofing.org has them, tho their site really sucks.
i say get as far down in the ground as you can, remember that mass (ie heavy brick wall) can muffle sound but also transmit it (esp bass) so do what you can to layer the walls with air pockets. the wider variety of barriers you have, the more the sound will get dampened. Don’t expect to have a completely silent room, mine sure isn’t but my girlfriend reports she can still watch tv one floor above us when we practice.
i don’t know why zberlin is so down on the idea, even if the band ‘fails’ there are many reasons someone might want a soundproof room (recording studio, illegal night club, torture chamber …)
$500/month to rent vs $15,000 plus energy, mental cost of “not knowing WTF you’re doing” and lost utility of a room.
it will take you 3 years to reach break even point.
with respect to ventilation you need to create a vent that acts like a muffler. The more bends the more sound decays.
Nonetheless to build a place where you can jam and not offend anyone is cost prohibitive. Any reasonable person would spend time at their local studio… it is by far cheaper than building this studio. Also it takes a lot less energy. what happens when the band “fails” and you have such a large investment called a soundproofed room. Yes completely useless unless you’re an axe murderer
good luck in getting condo approval for such athing, and god forbid your neighbor in the brownstone calls 31 for illegal construction…hire an architect
One more thing: The other weakest point will be your doors. Get solid core doors and read up on ways to make them close properly… we built them in such a way that the doors compress against foam making a nice seal when they are closed.
And don’t forget ventilation! That’s a tough one 🙂
I did this… and I _think_ it cost under 7,000 (I did all the labor). I stopped keeping track at around 5.
What I did:
Two sets of walls that don’t meet each other.
The walls are triple thick (5/8″ drywall – 1/2″ sound stop – 5/8″ drywall).
The walls are 10″ apart, with pink stuff in between.
All walls that meet are seperated by 1/4″ neoprene.
Each layer is FULLY sealed (drywall is mudded, soundstop is caulked)
I had put a subfloor down that the inner wall rests on, the outer walls rest on the natural floor.
I floated a false floor (1/2″ plywood – 1/2″soundstop -5/8 drywall – 1/2″ plywood all sandwiched together) which sits on 2″ neoprene rubber blocks inside the soundroom.
I carpeted with 2 layers of carpet felt (NOT foam!) underneath.
Important points:
-If you are going to have low bass waves, the total thickness of your walls needs to be at least 8″. Bass waves are long.
-sound waves easily transfer, isolate with neoprene (I cut 4″ strips of neoprene for the edges of the walls where they meet).
-seal everything! Think of sound as water… if water could leak out, sound will get out.
-In my opinion, the floors are the toughest… a drummer is still pounding on the floor with the kick drum, and that is tough to mitigate. I sometimes consider building another drum riser to further separate.
– it is preferable to set your walls on the floating floor… my room was too big to engineer this well.
– lots of resources out there… perhaps start with messageboard.tapeop.com
I’d agree that not having anyone below is a BIG plus. I would carefully consider what is there already… if I did the same work in a fully concrete building (we have wood floors) my results would have been even better.
It’s great to play drums whenever you want and not have any complaints!
Good luck!