Anyone Ever Soundproof A Garage?

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I'm in the planning phase of getting ready to build a rehearsal room in my garage. My plan is to use one corner of a 3 car garage with room within a room construction for a 13×11 room with a 9 foot ceiling. I've read the applicable chapters of Rod Gervais' book, but still have some questions which maybe some of you with practical experience in this area might be able to answer.

First, the floor- it is a concrete slab and for best possible isolation you want to build an isolated slab. I'm not prepared to bust up the floor and pour a new pad though, so I'm wondering if rubber mats and linoleum would be a good idea for the floor of my room. Rod Gervais claims that building a floating wooden deck on top of a concrete slab does nothing to increase isolation because the deck will resonate like a drum head. Will rubber and linoleum help or will it just amount to throwing money out the window with no appreciable gain in sound reduction?

Next, the existing ceiling and walls are finished. I plan on integrating the ceiling and the two walls which make up the corner of my garage into the structure for my outer room. I was thinking that I would add 2 layers of 5/8 gyprock to the existing surfaces then add sound batt insulation. I would tie in the other two walls to the existing walls and ceiling, adding 3 layers of 5/8 gyprock to the exterior of the walls with sound batt insulation between the 2×4 studs. Inside this I would leave a 1" air gap and then frame up the inner walls and ceiling with sound batt insulation inside the studs/joists with 3 layers of 5/8 gyprock on the interiors of the walls and ceiling. The inner walls would be isolated from the concrete slab using foam strips. Does this sound adequate to contain the sound of a drum kit?

Lastly, I'm planning on adding air exchange by way of two vents with sound baffles over them with a bathroom exhaust fan added to one of the vents. The baffles will be MDF boxes lined with mineral wool, constructed so that air/sound will have to pass through several chambers before exiting. Would the use of such a system constitute a "short" which would negate the effectiveness of my wall construction? Apparently soundproofing is only as good as it's weakest link, so I wouldn't want throw a lot of money and time into my wall and ceiling construction only to have the ventilation negate it all.
 
Is the garage attached to the house?

Is this corner the furthest corner from the house?

Neighbors? Just you or a whole band?

Is there a room over the garage?

As for the floor, if you are worried about isolation, you can always build a riser out of platform from Aurlex. It works pretty well.
 
Is the garage attached to the house?

Is this corner the furthest corner from the house?

Neighbors? Just you or a whole band?

Is there a room over the garage?

As for the floor, if you are worried about isolation, you can always build a riser out of platform from Aurlex. It works pretty well.

The corner is the furthest from the rest of the house. Neighbors aren't a problem. Mainly it's a space for me to play my drums. There is no room over the garage.
 
Rubber mats (like in a gym) work great. The floor is the least of your worries.

Steel studs will transfer less vibration than wood because they are so thin. I'd suggest soundboard type sheeting, then drywall. You want to create a vibration damper and softer, more porous material will dampen better than sheetrock. Two layers of sheetrock will be dense and transmit the sound.
 
If you went though all of Rod's book you know that you need to rip the sheetrock off the walls/ceiling so that you don't have a "triple leaf" system.

Ideal is to have a complete freestanding structure within the garage with no physical connection to the existing structure. Where it's next to existing structure, remove the interior leaf (sheetrock) and fill with insulation up to your drum room's new interior leaf.

Next best, although it will leak more sound to the neighbors assuming you're talking about exterior walls, is to remove the interior leaf and put isolating clips and hat channel up to separate your new interior wall from the outside wall.

Two layers of 5/8s type X sheetrock is about the point of diminishing returns. I did the Green Glue in-between the layers in my room. I do know a guy who managed to get hold of lead lined drywall as is used in x-ray rooms in hospitals and his room has amazing isolation. Buying that stuff on the open market is cost prohibitive though.

As far as the floor is concerned, for the most part that's the least of the leakage paths. A garage floor is very massive and hard to get moving. You wouldn't do a hard core recording studio as passing trucks would cause rumble inside. But for a drum practice room it's fine.
 
A lot of people on the forum have done soundproofing. You can also get advice from Rod himself if you just post your question to the Gearslutz forums.

It will take a lot longer and be a lot more expensive than any other kind of remodeling. You need a lot of backer rod and caulk. Use GE silicone 2 paintable.

The way I did my basement drum room was 2x3 wood studs with Roxull in the spaces, resilient channel and two layers of 5/8 with greenglue and lots of caulk and backer rod.
If you use Greenglue, I would spend the money for the tubes. I bought the bucket and it's slower with more clean up.
Mud and tape butt joints and caulk corners and ceilings.

Your venting idea sounds like it would work.

If you use resilient channel or iso clips and hat track, install them with a level. It will make them easier to find when screwing. Make sure you use the proper length screws so they won't hit studs.

The new room will echo. Make bass traps and absorbers for the walls.

Add plants that absorb toxins and create oxygen and a grow light. Maybe even run an air filter for a few minutes. You don't want to breathe paint fumes or anything else that would be trapped in your sealed box.
 
If you went though all of Rod's book you know that you need to rip the sheetrock off the walls/ceiling so that you don't have a "triple leaf" system.

Ideal is to have a complete freestanding structure within the garage with no physical connection to the existing structure. Where it's next to existing structure, remove the interior leaf (sheetrock) and fill with insulation up to your drum room's new interior leaf.

Next best, although it will leak more sound to the neighbors assuming you're talking about exterior walls, is to remove the interior leaf and put isolating clips and hat channel up to separate your new interior wall from the outside wall.

Two layers of 5/8s type X sheetrock is about the point of diminishing returns. I did the Green Glue in-between the layers in my room. I do know a guy who managed to get hold of lead lined drywall as is used in x-ray rooms in hospitals and his room has amazing isolation. Buying that stuff on the open market is cost prohibitive though.

As far as the floor is concerned, for the most part that's the least of the leakage paths. A garage floor is very massive and hard to get moving. You wouldn't do a hard core recording studio as passing trucks would cause rumble inside. But for a drum practice room it's fine.

Above the ceiling is just attic space, so I was thinking that adding mass to the ceiling (2 layers of 5/8) would constitute the outer massive layer of a two leaf system with the insulation underneath it. I would have to prop the sound batt up on the ceiling by some means, I'm thinking of using string to hold it up there and then covering it with a fabric layer. Could I not do the same with the two existing exterior walls? As long as I bulk up the existing surface and then place the sound batt on the inner face, would that not constitute the outer wall of a two leaf system, even if there are studs, insulation, and cladding behind that?
 
Cheap method

Rope off a square within the room, about 6 or so feet off the deck.

Drape moving blankets over the rope like curtains. And then over the top. You can secure it with those dollar clamps at building supply stores.

Making a moving blanket room within the room.

Good for recording in.
 
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Rubber mats (like in a gym) work great. The floor is the least of your worries.

Steel studs will transfer less vibration than wood because they are so thin. I'd suggest soundboard type sheeting, then drywall. You want to create a vibration damper and softer, more porous material will dampen better than sheetrock. Two layers of sheetrock will be dense and transmit the sound.

Apparently you want a lot of mass on the inside or your inner wall and a lot of mass on the outside of your outer wall with no sheeting on the other side of each wall at all and an air gap between the two walls so there is no mechanical connection to transmit vibration.

The idea is that the whole mass/airspace/mass assembly will act like a spring or a shock. It makes sense to me that the more mass you have on the inside wall surface, the less vibration you will end up with everywhere else due to the increased inertia. The added mass will resist movement more, causing less compression of the air between the inner and outer wall assemblies, therefore passing on less vibration to the outer wall.
 
Above the ceiling is just attic space, so I was thinking that adding mass to the ceiling (2 layers of 5/8) would constitute the outer massive layer of a two leaf system with the insulation underneath it.


Don't put two layers of drywall on the ceiling. Drywall is HEAVY and gravity is powerful. Just blow in as much cellulose insulation as possible above it. Soft porous material stops sound. Hard dense material passes sound.
 
Don't put two layers of drywall on the ceiling. Drywall is HEAVY and gravity is powerful. Just blow in as much cellulose insulation as possible above it. Soft porous material stops sound. Hard dense material passes sound.


Soft material absorbs high frequencies, hard dense material is the best sound reducing material. Mass blocks sound. Mass blocks sound the best.

I have two layers of 5/8 type x on my ceiling, screwed to resilient channels which are spaced every two feet. It's not too heavy. It's completely within code and specs for the build.
 
Ideal is to have a complete freestanding structure within the garage with no physical connection to the existing structure.

This ^^^

I made queries years ago to insulation specialists, the answer was always the same, creating a box within a box with no physical connection to either boxes, it was suggested that this was the most efficient way for noise reduction.
 
Cheap method

Rope off a square within the room, about 6 or so feet off the deck.

Drape moving blankets over the rope like curtains. And then over the top. You can secure it with those dollar clamps at building supply stores.

Making a moving blanket room within the room.

Good for recording in.


That will do absolutely nothing to stop sound transmission outside the room which is what the OP is trying to do. That will only stop internal reflections in the room. To sound proof/control a room you have to build there's no easy way around it.
 
I helped a friend build a small recording room.

The "before" was sheet rock walls and carpeted floors. So, we built a room within a room. We framed it again...up against the sheet rock, insulating it really well. Then did the whole mudding, sanding, and painting. After we were done with that, he installed Auralex. It worked pretty well.

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Don't put two layers of drywall on the ceiling. Drywall is HEAVY and gravity is powerful. Just blow in as much cellulose insulation as possible above it. Soft porous material stops sound. Hard dense material passes sound.


This is bad advise (if your ceiling structure will handle it). Blown cellulose, fiberglass, foam, etc can absorb some sound but it wont stop sound transmission. Mass does that.

Looks like no one mentioned it up to here ... But you need to seal all air leaks and if you will be installing a HVAC system you have to take special precaution to not undo any soundproofing you may have done up to this point.

If your budget can handle it a floating room in a room is how the pros do it. If not adding a second layer of sheetrock and carefully sealing all doors and windows will buy you some inprovement. Solid core doors help too.

Floating platforms to put your drums and amps on will lessen impact transmission and likely provide you the best bang for the buck.
 
Don't put two layers of drywall on the ceiling. Drywall is HEAVY and gravity is powerful. Just blow in as much cellulose insulation as possible above it. Soft porous material stops sound. Hard dense material passes sound.

Actually that's not an accurate statement. Soft porous material will help with reflection but will not stop sound. Mass and air are the two items needed to stop sound transmission. Roxul/Mineral wool insulation is the preferred insulation material for sound controlled rooms in both the ceiling and walls not blown in or fiberglass insulation. When constructed properly with 5/8 drywall especially a room within a room construction there is no common wall for sound to transmit through. Even if doing just a single wall construction using an RC channel or staggered stud design using 2x6 for the floor and top plate will minimize that transmission. You need mass to stop sound.
 
This is bad advise (if your ceiling structure will handle it). Blown cellulose, fiberglass, foam, etc can absorb some sound but it wont stop sound transmission. Mass does that.


1) Ever tried to communicate (from in the house) with someone in an attic filled with cellulose?

2) If the ceiling will handle the weight of insulation?? lol


But, everything I say is only based on my observations and hands on construction experience so I have no scientific arguments to make.
 
1) Ever tried to communicate (from in the house) with someone in an attic filled with cellulose?

2) If the ceiling will handle the weight of insulation?? lol


But, everything I say is only based on my observations and hands on construction experience so I have no scientific arguments to make.

Big difference between spoken word and the sound and frequencies generated by a drum kit. Did a lot of research on this years ago when I was building a room all the articles and info referred to mass and air and dense insulation not loose.
 
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