Sound isolation

Mastiff

Senior Member
I live in a single family home and my drums are in a room located in a freestanding garage. Soon I will have the room fully dedicated to just drums and I'm thinking about how I might isolate the sound a bit. It's not bad now, in that it doesn't bother the neighbors (I don't think), but they can all hear me play if they are outside, and I never play after about 8PM just to be courteous.

What suggestions do you guys have to isolate the sound a bit more? The room is about 10' x 10' and has a concrete floor which is the slab for the garage. The room also has a small window, which is nice for light but probably is a major source of sound leakage as well.

Any experience with products like this?
https://www.audimute.com/soundproof...ound-absorption-sheets-soundproofing-blankets

I've also heard there are panels you can replace drywall with? I haven't found these yet though.

Ideally, I could play later at night and not worry about the neighbors hearing unless they are outside listening for it.
 
Is it dry walled on the inside?

You could replace with the window with a double-panel weather window, and if it’s not dry-walled inside, heavily insulate it and drywall it. It’s surprising to see how little insulation they put into the walls on a regular house. If you really filled that space between drywall, that goes a long way to reduce noise getting outside.

Once you do that, then put up acoustics foam to break up the standing waves the room will generate because it’s square.
 
Cheapest option....

Talk to your neighbours. Let them know that you are quite happy to add sound isolation if your drums bother them, and see what they have to say.

When I had my drums in the house, I made sure that my neighbours knew that I would never be drumming after 8pm, and also that if for any reason (sick kids, studying, whatever) my drumming was a problem for them, they had only to say the word and I would stop. It was never an issue.
 
Is it dry walled on the inside?

You could replace with the window with a double-panel weather window, and if it’s not dry-walled inside, heavily insulate it and drywall it. It’s surprising to see how little insulation they put into the walls on a regular house. If you really filled that space between drywall, that goes a long way to reduce noise getting outside.

Once you do that, then put up acoustics foam to break up the standing waves the room will generate because it’s square.

It is drywalled. I believe there is some insulation in the exterior walls, but I'm not certain since it was already done when I moved in. We'll be building a new wall in the garage soon anyway, so tearing down the drywall to get things right isn't out of the question. I believe the low frequencies would largely bypass the insulation by resonating the wall studs themselves though, right? I was talking to someone once who was talking about special panels and mounts that provide isolation to the wall studs. I haven't researched this yet though.

James, yeah, I don't have to do anything. I've been using what I have for a year, but I'd like to be able to practice after 8PM, if isolating the sound a bit is realistically possible.
 
I used a product called Green Glue to deaden the sound leaking from a room a few years ago. You add a layer of drywall to the existing walls (and ceiling if possible) and sandwich the Green Glue between them.

It worked well, as I recall. Not quite a "room within a room" but pretty darn effective.

https://www.greengluecompany.com/
 
Some guys near me put carpeting on the walls of their garage and I could barely hear the drums from out by the sidewalk.
 
I used a product called Green Glue to deaden the sound leaking from a room a few years ago. You add a layer of drywall to the existing walls (and ceiling if possible) and sandwich the Green Glue between them.

It worked well, as I recall. Not quite a "room within a room" but pretty darn effective.

https://www.greengluecompany.com/

This stuff looks promising. Did you do the install? It doesn't say explicitly in the instructions, but I assume you just use extra long drywall screws and attach the outer layer into the studs too? In other words, the second layer isn't just screwed into the drywall itself of the main layer?
 
When you replace the wall. Use Roxul insulation vs. Fiberglass as its rated for sound and thicker drywall - we did 5/8 in our basement and it helps. In less you use the fabric under the drywall, nothing is going to be hugely sound proof and your neighbors will hear (ours hear my son playing). The fabric/professional way to sound proof is very costly when I looked into it though I wish I did it more (but I didn't know at the time my kid would be a drummer). You could also try to insulate the garage door as well.

You can also get a thicker window - Home Depot sells hurricane glass and other types that aren't that much more. We got them for safety for our basement.
 
This stuff looks promising. Did you do the install? It doesn't say explicitly in the instructions, but I assume you just use extra long drywall screws and attach the outer layer into the studs too? In other words, the second layer isn't just screwed into the drywall itself of the main layer?

Correct - my helper and I applied the green glue to the back of the drywall panels before they went up and screwed them in place with longer screws. It was easy to do and very effective.

Here's a quick video description: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I8IoFw-Y24

It's important to install it correctly, naturally. You need slightly thicker drywall and the right amount of glue. It isolated my music/home theatre room noticeably when done.
 
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I'm about to move a kit to my detached garage. I haven't had the chance to do it yet so I don't have any experience but this is what I've been planning so far. Hopefully this can help and maybe I can get some insight from guys who's done this as well

https://youtu.be/jMs1Z_K8cR8 These blankets are used in studios and I've heard good things about them. I bet these or similar products would work well

As for the garage door something like this might help, but I bet a lot of sound still leeches through
image1.JPG

Double panel windows would probably be your best option for windows. And the green glue stuff is supposed to really improve noise isolation. Professional sound panels replacing drywall is probably your best option, but probably more expensive

Like I said I don't have any experience with this stuff but this is what I came up with after some research for myself. I think using multiple different sound reducing techniques is probably the smartest way to go. But if anyone who had real experience could weigh in that would be best. Good luck with the project man
 
There were some bad reviews of the green glue, so I'm a little torn on it, given the labor involved. The blankets look convenient...

In my case, I have a room out there (it's a big garage) with a normal human door, so I don't need to deal with the garage door. I think that would be a challenge.
 
I used resilient channel furring strips with two layers of 5/8" fire code drywall with green glue in between.

Here are some photos of how I did my room. It's not the absolute best way, but it's one of the most economical.

The channels are on the studs and the drywall screws to the channels without letting a screw ever go into the stud.

It will make your doors much thicker and you will have to build them out.

All openings must be sealed.

Green glue comes in five gallon buckets. If you buy a sausage gun it will make it much easier and cheaper than using tubes of the stuff. It's very sticky and never dries. You need to use gloves because it will get on you.

It's a lot of work. I probably wouldn't do it again if I had to. It's much too technical and there's a big learning curve to getting it correct. It's very different from simple drywalling.
 

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In my case, I have a room out there (it's a big garage) with a normal human door, so I don't need to deal with the garage door. I think that would be a challenge.

That's good because I'm not really sure how to tackle a large thin garage door. I have a feeling that I'm going to spend a lot of money on noise isolation stuff and at the end of the day it won't matter because the garage door will leak so much sound
 
There were some bad reviews of the green glue, so I'm a little torn on it, given the labor involved. The blankets look convenient...

In my case, I have a room out there (it's a big garage) with a normal human door, so I don't need to deal with the garage door. I think that would be a challenge.

I suspect that the majority of poor reviews are due to botched installations and/or unrealistic expectations. YMMV.

My listening room was in the basement and you could barely hear the music playing from the room above it.
 
That's good because I'm not really sure how to tackle a large thin garage door. I have a feeling that I'm going to spend a lot of money on noise isolation stuff and at the end of the day it won't matter because the garage door will leak so much sound

Google it - there are lots of ways to at least help some - use can DIY your own foam panels or buy a kit.

https://www.soundproofable.com/a-garage-door/
 
williamsbclontz;1598869... at the end of the day it won't matter because the garage door will leak so much sound[/QUOTE said:
Right. If there are ANY air gaps it won’t make much difference at all how you treat the door. Just like with a boat, if theres even one small leak the boat will sink.
 
Right. If there are ANY air gaps it won’t make much difference at all how you treat the door. Just like with a boat, if theres even one small leak the boat will sink.

Which raises a question. Any suggestions for how to best seal a normal interior human door? At present it has nearly an inch gap at the bottom. This leads into the main part of the garage, which I'm not concerned about in itself, but still best to keep it in the room.
 
To really help isolate sound a room within a room is the best option. Mass and air are your friends when it comes to reducing sound transmission. Decoupled walls, rc channel, roxul insulation, 5/8 dry wall, loaded mass vinyl. The list goes on. Most things you hang on the walls like blankets, studio foam, egg crate material, those things really only reduce the internal reflections in the room. They do not stop the sound from going out. So your room will sound more dry/less lively on the inside but the sound is not being reduced getting out.

Here's a great resource on this very subject. Check out the section Acoustics 101

https://www.auralex.com/
 
Which raises a question. Any suggestions for how to best seal a normal interior human door? At present it has nearly an inch gap at the bottom. This leads into the main part of the garage, which I'm not concerned about in itself, but still best to keep it in the room.

Fill a fabric tube with sand and jam it against the bottom of the door. Also, use rubber weatherstripping as a gasket on the door.

Green Glue works if done correctly. If I knock on my wall, it's as quiet as concrete. You can only hear the knocking if you put your ear against the other side of the wall.

I have basement windows. I made insulated boxes to fit in the opening. If it's a double pane modern window you can stick a slab of 703 insulation between the panes and hang a Producer's Choice blanket over the window.
 
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