Hey guys, I realize asking for design help as a first post isn't necessarily great etiquette on the forum and I apologize. However I'm in a bind, overwhelmed by my options and lack of knowledge, and hope some of you wont mind responding when you have some spare time.

I bought a condo this year which was "fully soundproofed", cork under the floor and double studded & insulted walls.

Apparently there was a construction error of some type as sound passes right through one of the bedroom walls which is in front of my living room.

I can hear every cough my neighbor makes, and the day I had my sound system installed she came over and knocked and complained that "she was listening to my movie in her bed".

The sound barrier on this wall is so poor I basically cant use my surround sound whatsoever until I can soundproof it which is really bumming me out since i had ceiling mounted speakers and everything.

The wall is 13 feet wide, and 11 feet high with a fire alarm speaker in it and 1 outlet.

I'm hoping that including the labor of a contractor I can do this for under $1500.

What I'm looking for is a step by step How-To I can hand to a drywall contractor and make sure the wall is fully and correctly soundproofed.

I've looked at quiet rock, greenglue, etc and really I'm just clueless which options to go with... along with having questions such as should i use quietrock WITH greenglue for the best possible performance.. etc.

Could you guys direct me on the best option for my wall size, location (condo), and price range and help me to piece together a foolproof step by step guide i can hand off to someone?

I would really like to be able to listen to my surround sound at a solid volume with full bass... etc.

Thanks in advance!

I'm no expert here, but I'll share what I can.

Usually there is no such thing as soundproofing just one wall. You have to soundproof the whole room, as the sound can travel around "sound proofed wall", through the weak areas, and into the undesired location (research a term called "flanking").

To get the best results, you will likely need to treat the whole room (If the condo just messed up that one wall, I suppose you may just have to do that one). At a minumum, add another layer of drywall, with green glue in between. You'll still likely have issues with the low frequencies (you would need some sort of dampening, which will be costly and harder to add with the existing construction). But, I believe you can get pretty good results with just the green glue and other layer of drywall.

Sound can escape other ways though... through the HVAC ducts, electrical outlets, open doors, etc.

I'd suggest contacting one of the guys at the Green Glue Company, and explain your situation. They are great at helping out, and won't talk you into buying their product if they don't think it will help you.

thanks for your reply, how do i get ahold of the greenglue guys?

i dont have any ductwork or anything touching the adjacent unit... and i dont believe the the outlet or fire alarm speaker is touching them.

we're on the top floor and above me the ceiling is like 3 foot concrete (old converted factory building)

im not 100% positive only doing this wall will fix the problem fully but it will go a long way towards solving it.

thanks for your reply, how do i get ahold of the greenglue guys?

i dont have any ductwork or anything touching the adjacent unit... and i dont believe the the outlet or fire alarm speaker is touching them.

we're on the top floor and above me the ceiling is like 3 foot concrete (old converted factory building)

im not 100% positive only doing this wall will fix the problem fully but it will go a long way towards solving it.

You could try posting in the Green Glue Thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=456614).

Or email info@greengluecompany.com
There is also plenty of good sound proofing info on their site: http://www.greengluecompany.com/ Again, go read about flanking.

I may have PMd Ted White when I bought mine (his link should be somewhere in the GG thread).

cheers,
aaron

Green Glue is obviously his place of employment or sponsorship because its not really designed for Airborne noise you described

I work for a small software company. I have been a customer of GG, and am in no way sponsored by them. I've had good results with the product, and received excellent feedback when I asked them questions.

Hey guys, I realize asking for design help as a first post isn't necessarily great etiquette on the forum and I apologize. However I'm in a bind, overwhelmed by my options and lack of knowledge, and hope some of you wont mind responding when you have some spare time.

I bought a condo this year which was "fully soundproofed", cork under the floor and double studded & insulted walls.

Apparently there was a construction error of some type as sound passes right through one of the bedroom walls which is in front of my living room.

I can hear every cough my neighbor makes, and the day I had my sound system installed she came over and knocked and complained that "she was listening to my movie in her bed".

The sound barrier on this wall is so poor I basically cant use my surround sound whatsoever until I can soundproof it which is really bumming me out since i had ceiling mounted speakers and everything.

The wall is 13 feet wide, and 11 feet high with a fire alarm speaker in it and 1 outlet.

I'm hoping that including the labor of a contractor I can do this for under $1500.

What I'm looking for is a step by step How-To I can hand to a drywall contractor and make sure the wall is fully and correctly soundproofed.

I've looked at quiet rock, greenglue, etc and really I'm just clueless which options to go with... along with having questions such as should i use quietrock WITH greenglue for the best possible performance.. etc.

Could you guys direct me on the best option for my wall size, location (condo), and price range and help me to piece together a foolproof step by step guide i can hand off to someone?

I would really like to be able to listen to my surround sound at a solid volume with full bass... etc.

Thanks in advance!
Hi - I am in a very similar situation to you - I have a living room that has one wall that I "share" with my neighbor. (2 of the other walls are floor to ceiling windows and the last "wall" is open space into the kitchen.

Anyway - I'd like to soundproof that wall. I realize that soundproofing one wall (or one part of the wall) isn't the best thing but I assume it is better than nothing.

Currently on that wall - I have a 60" TV, a center channel & electric outlets. The wrinkle in this is that I really really do not want to reinstall the mounting bracket for the TV as I have drilled directly into the metal studs. So I was thinking of basically making a niche for the bracket and living with it.

I'd like to do the most "efficient" thing - this isn't a studio and I live in manhattan so I realize it won't be completely sound proof.

My contractor suggested drywall and homasote, I saw things about green glue and quiet rock. I just don't know what is applicable and whether I'm looking at this the right way.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks

Hi there,

I would look at using GG and a second layer of 5/8 drywall. If you could use GG Clips or equivalent, that would help as well. Is the wall insulated? If not, just some fluffy R19 batts will help a little. Not really necessary if you are using clips. Again, there may ultimately be a need to soundproof other walls or the ceiling in your room, but maybe just try the wall first that affects your neighbor. With regards to the panel bracket, I would suggest that you measure exactly where the holes are, install your second layer of GG and drill through the drywall so that you can use the same holes in your studs. Just make sure that you use longer screws so that they have enough bite in your studs. Also make sure that you seal any gaps with acoustical caulk. Pretty cheap and will considerably reduce leakage through the wall. Look at items like acoustic putty for your electrical outlets as they are on the offending wall and these are a problem for sound leakage through the wall.
Best of luck
Greg

First you need to find out the construction of the wall; what was planned and what was constructed may be two different things. Take the cover off an outlet or two and see if there's insulation around it. Then see if you can push something flat between the outlet and drywall until it meets the drywall on the other side. If that measures ~3.5" then it's a standard 2x4 wall. If it's more than that it's likely staggered or double studded, which is what you want. Since some construction is going to be needed though, it may be more straight-forward to just cut out a section of wall, stud to stud.

Just an observation. For the 20 odd "I share a wall with a neighbor" and I can't enjoy my theater set-up threads that have popped up over the past few years I can't recall a single I did this and it TOTALLY solved my problem end to the thread. Please somebody prove me wrong.

Treating the main source should satisfy the 80/20 rule though; might be enough.

Big, can't prove you wrong. It's pretty much always the same answer. A half assed job gives a half assed result. I think that the 80/20 rule may suffice but depends more on how well natured the neighbor is. Maybe the best advice is to save your money and invest on some fantastic headphones. Or do a thorough job and GG and double drywall the room and ceiling. Good luck!

OP, get in touch with the contractor who built (renovated) your building originaly. They must have the plans in hand and they could probably tell you what kind of wall you're dealing with and also, give you details on how it's supposed to be insulated.

If you're dealing with a 2X4 or 2X6 standard wall, I would take off the drywall and start from scratch. I would use ROXUL (or similar) sound proofing material, I would pay attention to the top and corner areas of your "shared" wall as it usualy tend to be overlooked... Sealing electrical outlet is very important, use casings and seal them with the putty material they sell now. I would use 5/8" drywall, green glue (or clips), and another 5/8 drywall.

There's a million way to do this but, that's what I would probably end up doing if I was in your shoes...

If that doesn't work, then build a brick wall!

It would be hard to decouple the original wall. This would require removal of the original drywall, then installing clips and channel. Re-using your original holes in the studs negates a good deal of the decoupling. So Decoupling isn't a practical option perhaps.

Sound board is a contractor favorite, unfortunately it does very little. It's an older method / technology which is why he favors it. ""it's what we've always done" sort of thing.

Really at this point about all you can practically do is to laminate 5/8" drywall over the existing wall and damp that drywall. THen hope for the best.

As others have said, treating one wall is only a partial solution. You may not even hear any benefit if there is considerable flanking sound. http://www.soundproofingcompany.com/library/articles/flanking/

Would building a new stud wall (DD+GG and seal the edges) in front the existing wall work or make it worse by creating a triple leaf? Should be able to do that for $1500.

The triple leaf would likely result in the new wall not performing any better or worse than the old wall.

http://www.soundproofingcompany.com/library/articles/triple_leaf_effect/

There's actual lab data in the above article. Quite surprising

You could do a second wall without getting a triple leaf if you removed the drywall from the existing wall first. That'd give you a double-stud wall, and with both walls insulated that'll provide a sufficient air cavity like the link shows.

Otherwise since the sub-floor will still link the rooms, I think the most cost/space effective solution would be to remove the existing drywall, add 2x2's to the bottom and top plates and make a staggered-stud wall. Insulate and do DD+GG an yer done.

I would use ROXUL (or similar) sound proofing material, I would pay attention to the top and corner areas of your "shared" wall as it usualy tend to be overlooked...Do not use ROXUL. It is no more effective than standard R-19 and a whole lot more expensive.

You could do a second wall without getting a triple leaf if you removed the drywall from the existing wall first. That'd give you a double-stud wall like the link shows. If both walls are insulated that should provide a sufficient air cavity right?

Otherwise I think the most cost/space effective solution would be to remove the existing drywall, add 2x2's to the bottom and top plates and make a staggered-stud wall. Insulate and do DD+GG an yer done.

Can't argue with any of that.

Do not use ROXUL. It is no more effective than standard R-19 and a whole lot more expensive.
Correction ROXUL is a company that makes a wide range of insulation using mineral wool. That range includes R-19 type insulation. Depemding on the region construction market, local suppliers, phase of the moon, etc. mineral wool type insulation may be more expensive or cheaper.

Andre

Generally in Canada, Roxul can be the same or less cost than fiberglass. Generally in the States it's quite a bit more.

EDIT: Just saw the "phases of the moon" I hadn't counted on that...

Generally in Canada, Roxul can be the same or less cost than fiberglass. Generally in the States it's quite a bit more.

EDIT: Just saw the "phases of the moon" I hadn't counted on that...Ah, Didn't know that. Thanks Ted.

Do not use ROXUL. It is no more effective than standard R-19 and a whole lot more expensive.

Don't know where you got that info.... ??

I can speak only for myself -- I used Roxul safe N'sound (LINK) (http://www.roxul.com/residential/products/roxul+safe'n'sound%e2%84%a2) in my build and the difference between an R-19 insulated wall and a Roxul insulated wall is impressive. As simple as that.

Not as simple as that, I'm afraid.

Your ear would not at all be able to detect the difference in a wall insulated with fiberglass vs. Mineral Wool. It's not enormously evident in a lab with controlled variables and specialized microphones.

Much data here. http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/obj/irc/doc/pubs/ir/ir693/ir693.pdf

When you collate the data, fiberglass has a slight edge in the low frequencies. Mineral fiber has a slight edge in the upper frequencies, however since we build for low frequency performance, fiberglass is the choice.