John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

I'm thinking of making my outer-leaf studio door like this:

1. Get two heavy solid-core firedoors of standard size and thickness, bog standard cheap ones from DIY shop.

2. Get a sheet of sheetblock or some other insulating material the same size as the doors.

3. Screw the two doors together with the insulation between to make one thick kick-ass mofo Door From Hell.

4. Remove the jamb on the door frame and re-attach it further back, to accomodate the extra thickness of door.

5. Get some of the required seals from here to seal between the door and frame thoroughly, and install these.

I'm reckoning this should come in under about £250 (though I'm not sure about the insulation), compared to over a grand (Sterling) for those pre-built studio doors and frames, which I really can't afford. My outer wall will be dense concrete block, so I want something with as close as realistic to the same isolation. The inner wall will be plasterboard and I'll also try to do a good door for that, certainly with the seals though possibly a bit lighter on the door itself.

What do you think? Will this make a good soundproof door?

And what would you suggest for insulation between the two layers of wood? I'm thinking it could be something that's normally quite expensive used on walls, since I'll only need a small amount of it.

Anyone made a door like this?

I think you'd be spending more on your doors than is needed; in most doors, the seals are the weak point not the door slab itself. Since you'll have double walls, you should get as good results (without having to do hinges that will support 2 tons) by using the two fire doors one in each frame, and using good seals on both... Steve