Hi all,

I've been doing a lot of poking around in the dedicated theatre thread, but I think its a different animal when you add a bar and rec room into the mix. You'll see from the pic below that I have a decent amount of space to work with and trying to decouple every single wall, double up on sheet rock and making sound boxes for my light cans is getting impractical.

I really want to limit sound from reaching upstairs, but what is really practical in a space this big? can I just focus on the immediate space where the main speakers reside? Will every little bit help or if I can't do it al right is it a wastes of time?

(I plan on having an office in one corner, a bar in the middle, and children play area in the back.)

I planned on and did non. Normal 2x4 studs w/ single drywall. I did insulate the interior and exterior walls w/ R-15, however -- mostly to keep the furnace room noise in the furnace room. My basement ceilings are drop w/ ordinary tiles except for the screen area which is 2" black certain-teed insulated panels. These panels were done because of their blackness, not their sound absorption qualities.

You can definitely hear things upstairs (especially when the sub gets going), but it is not too bad on the 2nd floor where the bedrooms are.

If I had a single story/ranch/extra time/extra money, I may have done things differently.

My opinion.

Bang for buck? Do double drywall, the thicker the better.

Serveral people's HT I have been involved with now have done only this and all are satisfied with the results.

I think the question is how much sound proofing does my wife want....

At minimum, I would decouple all of the walls and at least the ceiling in the main area. Double drywall and Green Glue (DD+GG) the main area and bathroom and bedroom walls facing the main area.

The things you are talking about you can't go back redo, with the exception adding the second layer of Drywall and GG.

So maybe I would amend my inital statement to at least decouple the walls and ceiling as above, insulate all the walls and ceiling and use IC and air tight cans. As funds become available, you could add the second layer of drywall and GG.

One more thought about something you can't go aback are-do...Use flex duct for any HAVC runs in the room.

I have an open floor plan that was just drywalled. I decoupled all walls and ceiling, insulated walls and ceiling, DD + GG'd the entire room. I did not do backer boxes for the can lights. I just did not have room to get them in there, but they are IC and air tight. I DID putty pad all of the outlet boxes and I DID replace all metal ducts with flex duct.

So far, there is little noise from upstairs getting IN the room, I've yet to test the noise getting OUT of the room. I really think my weak point right now is the door at the top of the stairs.

I did
1/2 "DD and Greenglue,
staggered stud / double wall for interior walls
Roxul S&S or Pink in all wall cavities (one layer)
sound clips, hat channel, 5/8" DD,GG for the ceiling
solid interior doors, weatherstripping
unconnected to the central HVAC
wall sconces instead of can lights

I did not
- putty the outlets

Happy with the results.

My room is about 20x25', the soundproofing -extra insulation, GG, 2nd layer of drywall, sound clips, hat channeling probably cost me about $3500 total.

The total renovation including coaster seats, projector, screen cost me about $14-15,000 CDN.

http://www.pjbj.ca/labels/home%20theater.html

ok, Now I have a question on it. For my ceiling. would I be better with one layer of 5/8th drywall or a double layer of 1/2? thanks.

At minimum, I would decouple all of the walls and at least the ceiling in the main area. Double drywall and Green Glue (DD+GG) the main area and bathroom and bedroom walls facing the main area.

The things you are talking about you can't go back redo, with the exception adding the second layer of Drywall and GG.

So maybe I would amend my inital statement to at least decouple the walls and ceiling as above, insulate all the walls and ceiling and use IC and air tight cans. As funds become available, you could add the second layer of drywall and GG.

One more thought about something you can't go aback are-do...Use flex duct for any HAVC runs in the room.

I have an open floor plan that was just drywalled. I decoupled all walls and ceiling, insulated walls and ceiling, DD + GG'd the entire room. I did not do backer boxes for the can lights. I just did not have room to get them in there, but they are IC and air tight. I DID putty pad all of the outlet boxes and I DID replace all metal ducts with flex duct.

So far, there is little noise from upstairs getting IN the room, I've yet to test the noise getting OUT of the room. I really think my weak point right now is the door at the top of the stairs.

Ya I was just talking to Ted and he mentioned that my stairway door was going to be the big problem. I only have one at the bottom in addition to the door to the storage under the stair case. Do you think that getting and exterior door would be beneficial there?

Also, I really don't want to rip the current drywall off the 'north' and 'south' exterior walls at all. Do you think that leaving those in tact with just R19 and single layer of 5/8 will undo most of what I'm gaining with the other stuff?

ok, Now I have a question on it. For my ceiling. would I be better with one layer of 5/8th drywall or a double layer of 1/2? thanks.

the thicker the better so....

2 x 5/8"
2 x 1/2"
5/8"
1/2"

probably in that order.... mass helps.... the GG helps with bass... (I believe...)

Do you think that getting and exterior door would be beneficial there?

Also, I really don't want to rip the current drywall off the 'north' and 'south' exterior walls at all. Do you think that leaving those in tact with just R19 and single layer of 5/8 will undo most of what I'm gaining with the other stuff?

TEd's really the guy with the answers. Based on his (and other's) earlier posts, an exterior door most likely WOULD be beneficial. I may have to take the route myself, Ijsut odn't know yet as I havne't done any real testing.

Are you saying you already have 5/8's with R19 in there? If so, then it's certainly better than 1/2" with NO insulation and it gives you a good option as funds become available to add the second layer and GG.

Will it "undo" your gains? Hard to say. YOU need to be the judge of the final product. IF you have some measuremetns of the "before" to use and can take measurements after, then you would have your answer.