John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

My goal is to soundproof a 12 X 24 garage for my band to practice in. I've done my homework reading this forum, and other pages about soundproofing but I'm sort of confused about a few things.

My garage right now is bare with 16inch center studs with the outside wall being some type of particle board (not sure the name of it, but typical stuff found on older homes) and then siding. I will be putting up new vinyl siding including house wrap which might help out (right?). From what I've read I've decided to do the following.

Caulk cracks > R11 (Kraft Faced) Insulation (caulked) > RC Channel (Dietrich) > 5/8 Drywall

I'm not worried about the garage door now (it's new steel|Insulated|steel)

I don't have to much of a budget to get better soundproofing insulation, and I'm not to sure if buying acoustical caulk is going to help me. If needed I could buy more Drywall and put up two layers. Is all this caulking overkill? or wasted time? Also when it comes to finishing the drywall.. would I be taping it and mudding it like normal? or would I be caulking that? Tape or no tape? I'm so confused.. hehe

For the ceiling I will use the double legged RC Channel from dietrich, 5/18 Drywall and I'm not sure about insulation.

One more thing, I will be running the flexible plastic conduit for power. Besides making sure that's sealed off good.. I haven't read to much about any special ways to run it (if plastic is bad? romex?)

Any help would really be appreciated.

Dan, if no one else catches this first I'll get to it by tomorrow night - I leave for work in about 6 hours so gotta go narcoleptic for a bit; sure would be nice if sleep were optional... Steve

I really appreciate your reply. Reading this forum really brings back faith in humanity for me... people really can be nice.. hehe.

Thanks

Your plans a certainly feasible. I would used acoustical caulk at the seams instead of mud and tape. (mud and tape is really for the look rather than sound control) Double layers would of course be the best solution.

And if you did Double layer and were planning on having the drywall visible then I'd caulk the 1st layer and mud/tape the 2nd layer of drywall.

If you can find a dealer for rock wool insulation that would improve your low frequency absorption quite a bit. and if you could stratch to run a 2nd fram of 2x4's that would be even better, but as it stands you plan to do is feasible.

As for caulking should I caulk the studs at the joint where it meets the outside wall? Also then caulk in the insulation.. should I buy acoustic caulk for all the caulking or could I cut corners somehow? I don't have plans on living in this house for to long.. a few years. (Its my first house)
Will I need to leave a gap where the drywall meets to caulk? corners?


Thanks

Acoustic caulk for the inside (as it is a produc for use with Drywall, On the outside wall, use a silicone caulk or equivalent product.

Acoustical caulk was not designed for extreme temperatures. (At least that is how the side of the bottle reads.)

Oops made a mistake, I reread the side of the tube (sometimes u just gotta slow down) it says to not use this product in moist areas (hopefully not your inside walls.

and temps not higher than 150 and lower than -55 fahrenheit.

Hope that helps. Personally however, i;d still usean exterior caulk for your outer wall shell and the acoustical sealant for the interior structure.

In my opinion talking about which caulk to use is nowhere as important as deciding what to do about the garage door, which I presume from your description must continue to be able to function as a garage door. This means that it is sound leak city.

Maybe I should design an 'acoustic garage door' someday and become rich.

IN the meantime I am guessing you should try for some sort of very heavy flexible curtain placed while you are practicing and removed when you are done and need to use the garage as a garage. Moving plankets are common, but not teally desinged for the task. Reinforced mass loaded vinyl is expensive but good. One product I have seen suggested as an alternative to mass-loaded vinyl recently is single layer torch applied roofing, available at Home Depot for about $36 per 100 sf roll.

Thanks for the replys... I think I have a few more questions. Should the drywall touch anything besides the RC Channel? Should it touch the ground? or another piece of drywall? (or should I leave a gap and caulk that gap?)

When it comes to running electrical outlets, Since the conduit will be running through the studs I probably shouldn't have it touch the drywall in anyway correct? I'm guessing caulk here right??

caulk caulk caulk..

Thanks
Dan

Should the drywall touch anything besides the RC Channel? Should it touch the ground? or another piece of drywall?

Leave a 1/4" gap from the floor, corners, ceiling.

Dan Allen wrote:Thanks for the replys... I think I have a few more questions. Should the drywall touch anything besides the RC Channel? Should it touch the ground? or another piece of drywall? (or should I leave a gap and caulk that gap?)

When it comes to running electrical outlets, Since the conduit will be running through the studs I probably shouldn't have it touch the drywall in anyway correct? I'm guessing caulk here right??

caulk caulk caulk..

Thanks
Dan

Let two adjacent pieces touch and tape/coat as per any other wall, but leave a narrow gap and caulk at the top and bottom.

As to the outlet boxes consider that this is a semi-finished garage and thus go with a surface mounted box rather than a recessed one. That way your hole size is small Either way maybe consider just one outlet and then one of those long power strips like they sell for computer racks.

Thanks for all the replys

If anyone cares, I'll start taking pictures.. and let everyone knows how it turns out.

Thanks again

I've mentioned electrical before, but I'm still not sure about running the conduit. How should I run it through the studs? Should I run romex through the rc? or drill holes through the studs and run electrical like normal, and then have surface mounted boxes through the drywall?

If you go with the surface mounted electrical, the conduit (cable runs) will be surface mount as well.

Then I run the conduit through the ceiling and drill holes to run it through the drywall? Sorry for not understand.. I'm sorta SLOW!!