Soundproofing a 2-car Garage

[brundaddy]

So of course one of the best ways to soundproof a room is by building a room within a room, or else using specialized construction materials and techniques during initial construction.

 

I am a renter, so that is not an option. And the budget is under $500. But maybe not all is lost. The garage is built into a hill (3 cinder block walls abutted to earth & framed out with FG insulation & drywall, and a multi-hinged rolltop door with plenty of windows... of course). So the only surface I have to fight is the garage door. I'm not too concerned about the roof, I just don't want a sonic cannon pointed at the house across the street. And I fully realize that this garage will not be soundproof -- I'm looking for a db reduction to where maybe you can hear it outside but when the neighbors go inside they don't hear us so much.

 

I realize low frequencies are a biggie, as well as not cranking the amps. And the speakers & drums will be pointed away from the door.

 

I would love to get input from people that have experience with this type of challenge. I'm thinking the best thing would be to build a floor-to-ceiling movable wall (stud frame, insulation, walls on both sides) that sits on furniture casters, perhaps joined to a wall by hinge. That way once the garage door is rolled down, we'd wheel this giant wall into place, seal the gaps somehow, and get to rehearsal. Maybe not the brightest idea, hopefully this is where some of you come in. Please help!

 

Thanks...

[ChanMan]

The rehearsal rooms I used to play in solved the issue by carpeting the walls. Can you apply strips of carpet to the garage door?

 

 

Hit a local carpet store... used to be able to get scraps for free.

[brundaddy]

So I just learned that my idea is called a Camden partition. Anyhow, I've tried carpet, curtains, foam, etc. in the past and they have a negligible effect concerning acoustic isolation. They help somewhat with some of the higher frequencies but it's the bass that's toughest to deal with.

[damian]

Hmmm...Can you post photos. This will help...I have some info, pictures would help though.....$500.00 is a small budget.

[L5Larry]

In soundproofing a room you must address two issues; air entrapment and sound absorption. A functionally soundproof room is airtight, and contains enough soft materials to absorb the sound and not transfer to the hardwall surfaces as vibrations.

 

The air leakage issue is probably the more difficult issue to address in a garage, especially the door. Air leakage is direct transfer of sound. The other point I'd like to mention is that you're going to have to address the ceiling in some way to get any kind of effective sound damping.

 

To do a very effective field test, crank a boom-box in the closed garage and then walk around the outside of the building and note the specific areas of leakage.

[damian]

One reason photos will help L5Larry is that I THINK the rolling door is the only way in and out...If thats the case, he may want to build a fairly well sealed 'wall' inside the garage with a door built into it. I don't think that the goal is a 'recording room' style sound proofing, but a damped room keeping the band volume from seeping out enough to trigger the po po's sound meters...Thick rockwool inbetween two layers of plywood would go a long way to help.....Blankets are as effective as expensive 'foam' products sold for high prices...It's important to remember fire safety as well.....

 

Study what bass traps are........interesting things.........drum sound waves are hard to supress..a real challenge..

[brundaddy]

Hey thanks for weighing in guys. The rolltop door is the only way in/out. I realize the ideal is to be airtight but that's totally unrealistic, and as I mention above, my main goal is to shield the door. My thinking with the camden partition is to swing it in to place once the band is all inside with the door rolled down, and there will be no doorway within the partition. I do realize that neglecting the ceiling will prevent actual soundproofing but this is more about remediating than soundproofing. The problem I'm trying to solve is that the 3 bedrock walls are going to direct everything straight out the rolltop door right into the living room across the street -- I'm fine with directing the SPL's up through the roof.

 

I'm not moved in yet so no pics. This is your basic 2-car garage with only the multi-hinged rolltop door. A scoop of earth was removed from the side of a mountain, a slab floor poured, with cinder block walls , a basic roof, and the interior has insulated drywall for the 3 walls and ceiling.

 

Bass traps in the corners is a good idea, I'm thinking that too. Thanks again for your input fellas! I appreciate it.

[damian]

O.K.; As an Aspie, I come up with unusual ideas ( like getting married ).......Since the sound waves will be traveling out the front, what about building portable sound barriers on rollable foundations, and rolling them out in front of the door OUTSIDE for pratice time...A great way to breakup the sound more is to give it another obsticle to pass through, or navigate; just an idea.......

[RobinTheHood]

We just dampened the sound in our practice pad recently. Its a basement, actually, so not the same as a garage. Anyway, we put framed bass traps int the corners. We also insulated the windows and other areas with Auralex mineral fiber sound inulation. It comes in sheets and in different thicknesses. It seems to work well for us. We havent gotten the cops called on us in quite awhile.

[EVOL!]

For your partitions or gobos (go betweens), two materials I hear are great for sound dampening are mineral wool and cork. Not sure how cheap either of these are, but I think if you go with cork facing inside and put mineral wool inside of the gobos you will be OK (cork-->hard surface-->mineral wool-->hard surface). If the floor is concrete you will want to put down a layer or two of carpet. In the rafters I would put something to deaden the room.

[EVOL!]

We just dampened the sound in our practice pad recently. Its a basement, actually, so not the same as a garage. Anyway, we put framed bass traps int the corners. We also insulated the windows and other areas with Auralex mineral fiber sound inulation. It comes in sheets and in different thicknesses. It seems to work well for us. We havent gotten the cops called on us in quite awhile.

 

 

Even better than mineral wool.

[RobinTheHood]

Another thing that may help is to put movable partitions between the intruments...mostly bass and drums. A 3-ft high partition in front of the drums will help out. And it doesnt necesarily have to be insulated. Actually, when we tried it insulated it supressed the drums too much in the room. But we've performed in a radio station studio where they used plexiglass - that seems to work well. I know that was more for recording purposes, but it still helps to dampen the sound..or at least direct the sound.

 

As for the bass, I have a 4-ft partition on either side of me to help direct the sound. Those low frequencies are pretty much non-directional - which is why you can barely hear the bass in the room, yet you hear it the most outside of the house. The partitions will direct the sound so that you can hear the bass better without having to crank the amp to unruley levels.

[Golem]

`

 

 

I don't get how getting married

will help to remediate noise ?

 

 

 

`

[brundaddy]

I don't get how getting married

will help to remediate noise ?

 

Yeah I tried that too, it doesn't work.

[Thundergod]

`

 

 

I don't get how getting married

will help to remediate noise ?

 

 

 

`

 

 

[damian]

`

 

 

I don't get how getting married

will help to remediate noise ?

 

 

 

`

 

 

Simple; Ever hear, " Turn that darn thing down !!!! " ......?????

[Andy R]

`

 

 

I don't get how getting married

will help to remediate noise ?

 

 

 

`

 

Getting Divorced did that for me!

 

 

 

[Andy R]

as mentioned above Auralex has some good products as well as some good information on their site. I have dealt with them a few times since they are right around the corner from where I work.

 

Actual Sound Proofing is hard to do Cheaply. Changing and filtering the acoustics of a room is relatively easy. Unfortunately bass frequencies are usually what the neighbors complain about and are the most difficult to trap.

 

As mentioned above actual sound proofing basically involves making something as air tight as possible but also maintaing separation of surfaces so one surface does not cause another surface to vibrate and transfer resonant frequencies. In other words even if you fill the whole place with carpet, acoustical tiles, bass traps etc... your still going to have bass frequencies transferring and being amplified by every surface it is directly connected with...

 

 

Don't know if this helps or hurts....

 

Link to auralex

 

link

 

 

 

Regards,

 

Andy

[surfpup]

Yeah, you really need a floating floor and walls too. They make clips for that, but you are talking about spending a lot of money. Here's how it's done. They also sella special sound absorbing glue if you want to dousble your drywall panels.

I took the time to double drywall my recent office/studio. Added Auralex foam and made some bass traps too. The room sounds great, but all the sound comes right through the return air vent, doh!

[pete c]

we went around to local restaurants and dinners and got a ton of the bigger egg cartons, the two dozen size. make sure the are the card board type. we then spray painted them flat black. cheap and effective.

[Andy R]

we went around to local restaurants and dinners and got a ton of the bigger egg cartons, the two dozen size. make sure the are the card board type. we then spray painted them flat black. cheap and effective.

 

I'd be careful with the egg crates or foam

 

 

 

 

[pete c]

thats why i suggested the cardboard not foam. plus paint dissolves the foam type. and i used fire resistant paint. cost a little more but the piece of mind was worth it to me. also shouldn't be smoking in your studio. i go outside the studio to smoke. still cost less than the commercial sound products out there.

[damian]

I'd be careful with the egg crates or foam

 

 

 

 

 

Andy, I did a gig or two at that very club years back in my Boston days.......I was quite shocked, and not, when it burned up...........

[pete c]

no pyros in the studio ever

[Andy R]

Andy, I did a gig or two at that very club years back in my Boston days.......I was quite shocked, and not, when it burned up...........

 

I wasn't either and I guarantee the owner not only knew but expected the pyro! I felt bad for the guy that set them off (and obviously the victims). You know he has to have nightmares about that every night. I remember all the shoddy clubs we played with horrible wiring similar "Sound Proofing" etc... Also about every traveling hair band in the 80's had some form of pyro. I know we did...

 

In the end I guess a lot of people were liable for some responsibility in this tragedy. I still look at the Fire Marshall and the club owner as being most culpable. The club owner should have known better and the Fire Marshall should have shut them down long before that occurred. A small electrical or even a PAR can in the wrong spot could have had the same result.

 

 

My 2 cents