Sound Proofing Help - Blu-ray Forum

lamont360 · 10-03-2016, 09:32 PM

Hey guys,

Building my first basement HT from the ground up. I already have framing and electrical done. Before Drywall goes up, I'm trying to gat a handle on the sound proofing steps I need to take.... this has lead to so many confusing and frustrating nights.

I'm trying to isolate sound in the room so I don't disturb the main house above and also so they don't disturb the movie room.

So here is the deal. I know all about (1) insulating the wall cavity, (2) Green Glue and Double Dry Wall, and (3) resilient channels with whisper clips. But I can't afford to do all of those.

If you could only do 2 of them, what would they be?

And here is the kicker.... I have recessed lighting and will have 4 atmos in ceiling speakers...

Is there any point in trying to sound proof with so many holes in the ceiling?

Thanks guys! Any advise is much appreciated.

slimdude · 10-04-2016, 02:55 AM

First of all, I would repair the ceiling before I start to do any soundproofing. Since the basement is underground, the only section of the room is needed to be soundproof will be the ceiling. It's not necessary to soundproof the sidewalls because the basement is underground, and you won't be able to hear any outside noise and vice-versa, only the sounds coming from upstairs. If you are going to be watching movies in your home theater in the basement with your family and friends, then you won't have to do any soundproofing at all because they'll be there with you... I know you're not going to be watching movies down in the basement by yourself.

lamont360 · 10-04-2016, 03:38 AM

Not sure what you mean by repair the ceiling. I have not yet installed drywall. Its just the frame for the ceiling. So are you saying I should just treat the ceiling and not worry about the walls? 2 walls will be framed in front of concrete foundation walls, 1 is exterior and 1 is interior.

Thanks

Pondosinatra · 10-04-2016, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lamont360

...

So here is the deal. I know all about (1) insulating the wall cavity, (2) Green Glue and Double Dry Wall, and (3) resilient channels with whisper clips. But I can't afford to do all of those.

If you could only do 2 of them, what would they be? ...

Biggest knock against resilient channel I keep hearing is that a poorly done install can completely waste the money you just spent on it.

lamont360 · 10-04-2016, 06:19 PM

It seems to be a pretty straight forward process. The only rule of thumb I really saw was "don't screw the drywall into studs"... is there anything else I'm missing?

nst7 · 10-04-2016, 06:24 PM

You said you already framed. I don't know if it's too late to redo that, because your most effective option is to simply have an air gap by putting your framing/drywall/insulation even just an inch away from the existing wall or concrete. That's the single most effective thing you can do.

lamont360 · 10-04-2016, 06:57 PM

Yes, it is definitely too late to change the framing. The frame is not touching the cement foundation. But one wall is exterior and the last wall is interior. Also, no one is giving their opinion on if they could only do 2 of the sound proofing measures.... thoughts?

Gravy4547 · 10-04-2016, 06:59 PM

Your new mantra is: Mass is the blocker of sound.

Not weightless insulation.

I have successfully soundproofed my basement. In order of importance, your basement needs to be:

1-Sealed. Airtight seal. EVERYTHING is caulked. This also means you build in ceiling boxes around your recessed lights and especially your speakers. Those boxes have to be on the ceiling and cannot be in contact with the first floor joists. Very important -Those boxes are reinforced with 5/8" drywall on the inside. This is terribly difficult and time consuming, especially when you consider that you probably have in excess of 12 recessed lights and 4 atmos speakers. The insides of those boxes are lined with drywall or that rubber soundproof material to add as much mass as possible. Those boxes need to be caulked on the joints and to the ceiling. I can't properly explain how huge of a pain in the ass this was for me to build, but this is the #1 reason my kids sleep at night while can watch The Force Awakens at tremendous volumes.

Even the slightest hole is the ENEMY!! Seal, seal, seal.

2- Floating Ceiling with whisper clips. This is the room within a room theory. This isolates your massive ceiling from the floor above, and sound will not travel through as vibration. Very Important.

3- Double 5/8" drywall on both the walls and ceiling. This adds mass to everything. Remember your new mantra. Green goop is optional. I used it, but in hindsight it was probably unnecessary. Ideally you want these walls to be free standing as well.

4- TIME. It took me 200 days to properly soundproof my basement (I work a full time job, so this was all after work and on weekends). I had a contractor in to mud and tape my drywall, and he laughed his ass off when I told him it took me 200 days. But don't rush things, do them right. One weak link can be a failure. THink things through before you do them.

5-Ted White. If you are talking whisperclips and green goo, you probably have already learned of Ted White. This man is a tremendous resource. We had a 2 hour conference call, and he explained everything. Email him, talk to him on the phone. Send him your blue prints. Ted White works for the Sound Proofing Company.

6- Mountain Dew. You will be in constant need of caffeine and sugar if you plan to go at it alone.

It is hard work, but it is totally and completely worth it. I have the guys over to watch football and we can hoot and holler all we want. Wife upstairs never complains. Movies, I watch at the volume I want to watch at, which is the ultimate goal.

lamont360 · 10-04-2016, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gravy4547

2- Floating Ceiling with whisper clips. This is the room within a room theory. This isolates your massive ceiling from the floor above, and sound will not travel through as vibration. Very Important.

3- Double 5/8" drywall on both the walls and ceiling. This adds mass to everything. Remember your new mantra. Green goop is optional. I used it, but in hindsight it was probably unnecessary. Ideally you want these walls to be free standing as well.

.

Awesome! so do you recommend whisper clips on walls as well? Or just ceiling? Also, I went back down and realized that my framing is not connected to the ceiling joists above. So that is good news.

Gravy4547 · 10-05-2016, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lamont360

Awesome! so do you recommend whisper clips on walls as well? Or just ceiling? Also, I went back down and realized that my framing is not connected to the ceiling joists above. So that is good news.

Not connecting your framing with the ceiling joist was a smart move. You will not need to use the whisper clips on your walls.

The whisper clip with the metal stud act as a dampener or shock. The sound energy will hit your walls or ceiling and your walls and ceiling will vibrate. Anything directly touching the walls or ceiling of your Theater room will also vibrate. Had you framed your walls to the ceiling joists, the sound energy would cause your walls to vibrate, and this vibration would travel up the framing directly to the ceiling joists, and sound would be transmitted to the upstairs. So anything directly or indirectly touching the ceiling joists from your theater room needs to have a metal stud and whisper clip to dissipate the vibration and reduce/prevent sound transmittance. This is also what the Green Goo is designed to do. It acts as a vibration dampener between two sheets of drywall.

The more massive (or heavier) you can make your walls and ceiling the better. THe sound energy produced by your speakers will hit your wall and be transformed into kinetic energy, which is proportional to 1/2 mv^2. So the heavier you can make your wall, the slower the wall will move when the sound energy hits it. You can solve for the velocity if you want, but the physics says that the more massive your walls are, the slower they move when exposed to equal amounts of energy.

So to sum up, make your walls/ceiling as heavy as possible and make sure nothing is touching the upstairs ceiling directly. For all points the must touch or come in contact with the upstairs, use a metal stud/whisper clip to dampen the vibrations.

This is all based on that you have an airtight seal on your theater. Whisper clips and massive walls don't mean anything if you are letting sound freely escape your theater to the upstairs.

Lastly, if you are serious about this, I recommend contacting Ted White at the Sound Proofing Company. He sells whisper clips and green goo and will help you solve any and all problems with your soundproofing.

Gravy4547 · 10-06-2016, 12:13 PM

spc-ceiling-solution-03.2.jpg

This is what my ceiling in my basement looks like. From thesoundproofingcompany.com.

lamont360 · 10-06-2016, 08:46 PM

gotcha. thanks a lot for your input. I think my next step is to figure the atmos and can light enclosures. I'll insulate all the cavities and then do 1 or 2 layers of drywall. Might not do the channels since nothing is attached to the ceiling joists.

Pondosinatra · 10-07-2016, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gravy4547

Attachment 151875

This is what my ceiling in my basement looks like. From thesoundproofingcompany.com.

Might want to mention....that's all great, but as soon as you put pot lights in you just defeated all the hard work you did soundproofing.

Use sconces....or like I did, if you have the ceiling height, have a dropped ceiling that the pot lights go into.

lamont360 · 10-07-2016, 06:55 PM

Pondo - That is what I am worried about! My can lights are currently all in a tray ceiling... But I haven't added drywall to anything. Which means that I don't have drywall keeping the lights inside the room. Bad planning on my part, but honestly I did the best I could. I'm trying to figure out how to handle the situation now. Might have to add some sort of sound box to each lighting fixture. Or just surround each one with Safe N Sound.

So as for now, framing and electrical is already completed... so I can't really afford to tear it down and re-do it. So any kind of suggestions like that aren't going to be helpful.

Pondosinatra · 10-11-2016, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lamont360

Pondo - That is what I am worried about! My can lights are currently all in a tray ceiling... But I haven't added drywall to anything. Which means that I don't have drywall keeping the lights inside the room. Bad planning on my part, but honestly I did the best I could. I'm trying to figure out how to handle the situation now. Might have to add some sort of sound box to each lighting fixture. Or just surround each one with Safe N Sound.

So as for now, framing and electrical is already completed... so I can't really afford to tear it down and re-do it. So any kind of suggestions like that aren't going to be helpful.

Ya, you could do backer boxes to house the lights.....don't have a link handy, but I know there's lots of articles out there on how to do it.

10-04-2016, 02:55 AM	#2
slimdude Banned Member since:Apr 2009 4K collection:- Blu-ray collection:- DVD collection:- Blu-ray reviews:8	First of all, I would repair the ceiling before I start to do any soundproofing. Since the basement is underground, the only section of the room is needed to be soundproof will be the ceiling. It's not necessary to soundproof the sidewalls because the basement is underground, and you won't be able to hear any outside noise and vice-versa, only the sounds coming from upstairs. If you are going to be watching movies in your home theater in the basement with your family and friends, then you won't have to do any soundproofing at all because they'll be there with you... I know you're not going to be watching movies down in the basement by yourself. Last edited by slimdude; 10-04-2016 at 03:38 AM.

10-03-2016, 09:32 PM	#1
lamont360 Active Member Member since:Mar 2009 Home Theater Gallery:20 4K collection:32 Blu-ray collection:358 Blu-ray reviews:1	Sound Proofing Help Hey guys, Building my first basement HT from the ground up. I already have framing and electrical done. Before Drywall goes up, I'm trying to gat a handle on the sound proofing steps I need to take.... this has lead to so many confusing and frustrating nights. I'm trying to isolate sound in the room so I don't disturb the main house above and also so they don't disturb the movie room. So here is the deal. I know all about (1) insulating the wall cavity, (2) Green Glue and Double Dry Wall, and (3) resilient channels with whisper clips. But I can't afford to do all of those. If you could only do 2 of them, what would they be? And here is the kicker.... I have recessed lighting and will have 4 atmos in ceiling speakers... Is there any point in trying to sound proof with so many holes in the ceiling? Thanks guys! Any advise is much appreciated.

10-04-2016, 03:38 AM	#3
lamont360 Active Member Member since:Mar 2009 Home Theater Gallery:20 4K collection:32 Blu-ray collection:358 Blu-ray reviews:1	Not sure what you mean by repair the ceiling. I have not yet installed drywall. Its just the frame for the ceiling. So are you saying I should just treat the ceiling and not worry about the walls? 2 walls will be framed in front of concrete foundation walls, 1 is exterior and 1 is interior. Thanks

10-04-2016, 06:19 PM	#5
lamont360 Active Member Member since:Mar 2009 Home Theater Gallery:20 4K collection:32 Blu-ray collection:358 Blu-ray reviews:1	It seems to be a pretty straight forward process. The only rule of thumb I really saw was "don't screw the drywall into studs"... is there anything else I'm missing?

10-04-2016, 06:24 PM	#6
nst7 Active Member Member since:Nov 2010 Blu-ray reviews: 1	You said you already framed. I don't know if it's too late to redo that, because your most effective option is to simply have an air gap by putting your framing/drywall/insulation even just an inch away from the existing wall or concrete. That's the single most effective thing you can do.

10-04-2016, 06:57 PM	#7
lamont360 Active Member Member since:Mar 2009 Home Theater Gallery:20 4K collection:32 Blu-ray collection:358 Blu-ray reviews:1	Yes, it is definitely too late to change the framing. The frame is not touching the cement foundation. But one wall is exterior and the last wall is interior. Also, no one is giving their opinion on if they could only do 2 of the sound proofing measures.... thoughts?

10-04-2016, 06:59 PM	#8
Gravy4547 Active Member Member since:Sep 2015 Location:Glenview IL, Chicago Suburb Home Theater Gallery:15	Your new mantra is: Mass is the blocker of sound. Not weightless insulation. I have successfully soundproofed my basement. In order of importance, your basement needs to be: 1-Sealed. Airtight seal. EVERYTHING is caulked. This also means you build in ceiling boxes around your recessed lights and especially your speakers. Those boxes have to be on the ceiling and cannot be in contact with the first floor joists. Very important -Those boxes are reinforced with 5/8" drywall on the inside. This is terribly difficult and time consuming, especially when you consider that you probably have in excess of 12 recessed lights and 4 atmos speakers. The insides of those boxes are lined with drywall or that rubber soundproof material to add as much mass as possible. Those boxes need to be caulked on the joints and to the ceiling. I can't properly explain how huge of a pain in the ass this was for me to build, but this is the #1 reason my kids sleep at night while can watch The Force Awakens at tremendous volumes. Even the slightest hole is the ENEMY!! Seal, seal, seal. 2- Floating Ceiling with whisper clips. This is the room within a room theory. This isolates your massive ceiling from the floor above, and sound will not travel through as vibration. Very Important. 3- Double 5/8" drywall on both the walls and ceiling. This adds mass to everything. Remember your new mantra. Green goop is optional. I used it, but in hindsight it was probably unnecessary. Ideally you want these walls to be free standing as well. 4- TIME. It took me 200 days to properly soundproof my basement (I work a full time job, so this was all after work and on weekends). I had a contractor in to mud and tape my drywall, and he laughed his ass off when I told him it took me 200 days. But don't rush things, do them right. One weak link can be a failure. THink things through before you do them. 5-Ted White. If you are talking whisperclips and green goo, you probably have already learned of Ted White. This man is a tremendous resource. We had a 2 hour conference call, and he explained everything. Email him, talk to him on the phone. Send him your blue prints. Ted White works for the Sound Proofing Company. 6- Mountain Dew. You will be in constant need of caffeine and sugar if you plan to go at it alone. It is hard work, but it is totally and completely worth it. I have the guys over to watch football and we can hoot and holler all we want. Wife upstairs never complains. Movies, I watch at the volume I want to watch at, which is the ultimate goal.

10-06-2016, 12:13 PM	#11
Gravy4547 Active Member Member since:Sep 2015 Location:Glenview IL, Chicago Suburb Home Theater Gallery:15	spc-ceiling-solution-03.2.jpg This is what my ceiling in my basement looks like. From thesoundproofingcompany.com.

10-06-2016, 08:46 PM	#12
lamont360 Active Member Member since:Mar 2009 Home Theater Gallery:20 4K collection:32 Blu-ray collection:358 Blu-ray reviews:1	gotcha. thanks a lot for your input. I think my next step is to figure the atmos and can light enclosures. I'll insulate all the cavities and then do 1 or 2 layers of drywall. Might not do the channels since nothing is attached to the ceiling joists.

10-07-2016, 06:55 PM	#14
lamont360 Active Member Member since:Mar 2009 Home Theater Gallery:20 4K collection:32 Blu-ray collection:358 Blu-ray reviews:1	Pondo - That is what I am worried about! My can lights are currently all in a tray ceiling... But I haven't added drywall to anything. Which means that I don't have drywall keeping the lights inside the room. Bad planning on my part, but honestly I did the best I could. I'm trying to figure out how to handle the situation now. Might have to add some sort of sound box to each lighting fixture. Or just surround each one with Safe N Sound. So as for now, framing and electrical is already completed... so I can't really afford to tear it down and re-do it. So any kind of suggestions like that aren't going to be helpful.

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