Expert: Richard Taylor, AIA - 11/12/2007

Question
Hi,

I am an enthousiastic guitar player wishing to build a room in my house with adequate sound-proofing. I've managed to get the details for the floor, ceiling and doors. The only details I have to find somewhere are those of the walls.

Do you happen to know where I can find them?

Yours sincerely,
Dagmar Cats

Answer
Dagmar - thanks for your question!

I can't point you towards the details you're looking for; but you should try the article archives at jlconline.com and Finehomebuilding.com for a start.

As you know, sound travels through buildings by conduction through building materials and by convection through the air.  The real trick to keeping sound in one room is to isolate the materials in that room from the surrounding structure.

Wall details that will help accomplish that include staggering the studs so that there's no unbroken path for vibration to follow from one room to another.  Another is to isolate the drywall from the studs with resilient channels.  There are a few other ways to isolate materials, you'll probably find them at one of the sites above.

The convection must also be addressed - simply placing fiberglas insulation batts inside the wall will help, but you also need to close up any openings between rooms.  This means caulking and sealing around electrical outlets and gasketing around doors.

You'll also find several products that promise to limit sound including isolation mats, etc.  They can be good, but always start with the proper construction details.

Finally, check out my article at this link: http://www.rtahouseplans.com/noisyneighbors.htm for additional discussion about soundproofing homes.

Hope this helps!

Richard Taylor, AIA
www.rtaplans.com
www.rtastudio.com