If you’re like me, you just want a place to play your music, play with your band, mix, etc. without your neighbors calling the police. The solution is to soundproof your study or room so that when you are playing music, the sound is minimal for people outside this room. Soundproofing a room will also allow less sound to come into the room, but more importantly, it will allow less sound to come out of the room. Now, I didn’t know much about buildings and carpentry before starting this project, but doing the project allowed me to learn a lot more, and I want to pass that knowledge down to you to help you avoid the many mistakes I made. I am a musician. Ask me anything about music and I’ll answer you … carpentry or construction, not so much, but I knew I wanted a soundproof studio so I wouldn’t disturb my neighbors while mixing or having a session. Researching the web, I found tons of advanced construction procedures for professional builders, but not many for construction hobbyists, so I decided to write a basic guide for those of us with minimal construction skills.
Note: Before starting this project, I didn’t even know that drywall is the same as rock sheets! Let me teach you to avoid the obstacles that I had to overcome … Even if you have never touched a hammer in your life, after reading this tutorial, you will be able to build a basic soundproof room so that you can play with your heart. happy.
Ok, let’s get started … We will be soundproofing a studio that is 1 room with an iso booth (an iso booth is a room built with sound proofing to record vocalists, guitarists, etc.) We also built this room, and I will develop it in another article. The walls have plywood facing out and that’s it. The roof has a sloping roof with a loft, which we will cover completely. Our goal is to soundproof the room so that sound does not enter or escape.
I. Tools
You will need the following tools:
1) T-Ruler (This is a construction tool that looks like a silver T-shaped ruler. It is used to cut straight drywall.) Highly recommended as I didn’t have one at the beginning of my project and it was a problem.
2) Razor (usually used to open boxes, also called “Box cutter)
3) Drywall (you need to measure enough to cover all 4 walls and ceilings)
4) Caulking (Any type will do … there are special types, but any type will do, depending on your budget)
5) electric screwdriver
6) drywall screws (many !!!)
7) Carpet
8) Insulation (there are many types, but for simplicity, we will use “The Pink Stuff”
9) staple gun
10) Safety gloves
11) Glasses
II. Steps
What we will do is basically create a wall with our drywall, then cover the drywall with carpet, and then treat the wall. Now your room may be different than mine, but the concept is the same. I was lucky enough to have plywood on the outside of my room, so all we had to do was insulate between the 2x4s and cover with drywall, then cover the drywall with carpet.
to. Isolation – The first step was to insulate between the 2x4s with regular insulation (you know, the pink stuff). You will need to insulate the entire room, which could be a bit expensive, depending on the size of the room. I went to Home Depot and got my insulation. It costs about $ 11 per roll and I bought 10 rolls. Insulation is very easy to work with. Be sure to wear protective gloves and goggles, as insulation particles fly everywhere and some people are allergic to it if it touches their skin. Measure the piece you need and then cut the insulation with a sharp razor … watch your fingers !!! To make sure the insulation stays on the wall, I used a staple gun to staple it to the plywood, facing outward.
B. Drywall – I was a little intimidated by drywall before starting this project, but no more !!! Drywall is very easy to work with once you get the hang of it, and it’s pretty inexpensive at $ 8.00 per sheet. Make sure you get the thickest you can find … I used the 5/8 instead of the 1/2 because it is thicker.
First, measure the size you will need. To save time, try laying out as many full sheets as you can, then start measuring and cutting the drywall.
A short note on how to cut with a razor blade: Be sure to keep your hands out of the way when cutting. I was surprised I didn’t cut my finger because I always made sure to always be aware of where my fingers were in relation to the blade. To be sure, always wear safety gloves before cutting.
Now to the fun part – Cutting … Once you have your measurements, place your rock blade on the floor, white side up, making sure it is level. Start with the length and, using your T-ruler to cut a straight line, draw a straight line with a pencil on the drywall. Then start cutting with your razor along the line you just drew. Now, you are only trying to cut 1/3 of the way with a straight line. Once you cut 1/3 of the way, lay the drywall face up and it should bend back to the brown side. once folded, just cut off the brown side to make a full cut. Next, take the piece you just cut and screw it into the plywood, making sure to use a lot of screws. A friend helped me, especially with the roof. We cover every wall and ceiling before adding the carpet.
vs. Carpet – The carpet is really easy to work with and helps keep sound in and out of the room. How? Well, in order not to be too scientific, sound is considered a “wave”. Your goal is to dilute this “wave” as much as possible by providing resistance to the “wave” as it travels through each wall. Now with carpet, as with rock sheet, make sure it’s thick … the thicker the better. I used a staple gun to staple the carpet to the drywall before treating the walls.
D. Treatment – Again, without being too technical … treating a wall is different from a sound barrier in that it treats a wall to make the “wave” sound better. There are many ways to treat a wall … There are absorbents and diffusers that you can buy. It really depends on your room. We will not go into treating a wall in this article in depth, as there are many variables. For our room, we simply added bass diffusers in each corner to reduce bass and low frequencies, as this is the most common problem area. We also added absorbers and diffusers to the main mix wall, as well as the main listening wall.
That’s !!! Put on some music and make sure no one can hear! Turn up the volume until it is a good volume for you and your neighbors. I sure did notice a big difference once I finished this project. Decreased sound volume by about 35%.
If you want to add an extra sound barrier, after adding the first layer of drywall, add sealer (any type of sealant will do) and then cover with another layer of drywall and then cover both layers of drywall with the carpet. This increases the sound barrier by up to 29% more. However, I was over budget and could only afford one layer, however I noticed a considerable difference and can now perform sessions at a good volume.
III. Conclution: There are many reasons why you might want to soundproof a room. Many of us are musicians, or just music lovers and not builders, so I thought I’d try to help those of us who are struggling with this problem. Hopefully this will help you on your musical journey or whatever journey you are on to enjoy a soundproof room.