Five to ten soundproofing tricks for a stand alone room... Help!? Please!!!

I have decided to move my indoor home office to a soon-to-be-built building where I hope to have less distractions from interruptions and noise.

Now, from what I have read on this forum... you are all soundproofing rooms within your homes. Is there much of a difference in trying to cut down sound getting into a stand alone room from the outside?

My contractor is great and willing to try some new things (and I keep telling him that with home theaters going into new homes.... he might want to read up on some of the techniques. But, he is great at what he does and slow to change things.

So, my questions for this group would be...

- What are 5 to 10 things that I could have this contractor do to cut out sound?
- Does anyone have leftover product (that might be suggested I use) that I could buy (at a great price)?
- I will have an AC unit in the room. SInce it needs to vent outside, what is the best way to soundproof that?


A little about the office.
* It will be roughly 11' deep by 17' long.
* There will be a 5' x 11' separate room (within the 11' x 17'). So, basically an 11' x 12' and an 11' x 5' room. The larger for the office and the smaller for a painting/testing room.
* It will be on a concrete slab.
* The back of the building will have concrete up about 4 feet (the area it will be built in is on a slope and the concrete will come up about 8" above the ground) at the back.
* There will be concrete on the sides, but it will step down with the slope of the hill and will end up at about 8" high in the front.
* He will then use 2" x 6" planks for the wall frames. I was thinking of having him use the staggered 2 x 4's on the frames. Good idea?
* I will have no windows in this building. I get distracted so easily that I want no sound or anything outside of a window to distract me. (Squirrel!!!!!)
* Solid entry door. Since I don't need as much soundproofing as a theater room, I will do just the one door, not double door.

OK, I hope that is enough information. I will continue to search the threads for ideas. I was just hoping to get 5 to 10 really important ideas in one place that I could show my contractor before he gets too far into the project. He is digging out the hole for the foundation tomorrow and also for the walkout basement door for my fathers apartment. So, anything I can get right away would be very appreciated.

Thanks you guys!!!!

Jeff
Night Sky Murals
Edited by NightSkyMurals - 6/23/12 at 3:27am

OK.... something else that I just thought about, which may (probably will) show my ignorance on soundproofing. The sound that most of this forum is trying to stop from leaving the room is bass sound as well as other sound frequencies.

I am basically trying to keep kid sounds from getting in. And, at times, the sounds that the kids make in the back yard might reach the levels as a home theater on full blast. But, it won't be too often that sounds reach those levels. There might also be an occasional dog bark as well.

With that said, will I need those special clips to decouple the studs, or will staggered studs with insulation, plus double drywall and green glue be sufficient? How about really mean chickens in the back yard to that the kids won't want to play back there? I'd say a mean dog, but at least I might get eggs from the chickens.

Thoughts?

Jeff
Night Sky Murals

Thanks... I'll read through that site too. The digging is going on even as I type. The backhoe is digging the footprint now. I'll need to read fast. Thanks again!

Thanks for the info. I was thinking about most of what you mentioned... but am wondering if the clips and things are as important in the home office as they are in a theater? Will the sandwiched sheetrock not keep out enough of the normal outside sounds (and kids from time to time)?

Would the sandwiched sheetrock be as good on the outside walls, as on the inside? Or, what about sandwiched sheetrock on both sides?

Also, if I do multiple layers of sandwiched sheetrock, will I need a larger foundation than the 2 x 6 I am putting down now?

I'll look into the clips just in case the room won't be very soundproof without them.

Thanks for your answers. I need to get as much info as possible before he starts to build.

Jeff

After looking everywhere for everywhere for where to get clips and things from TED.... I noticed that this was a link to his site. Thanks!

Jeff
Night Sky Murals

No windows going in the office. Its going to be the eternal night sky office, unless I decide to turn on the lights. Besides really having a night sky in there to relax under when I need to... the no windows in it is mainly because I get distracted easily (ADD) and I want to be able to focus, focus, focus. I'm also considering an electric fence around it to keep my kids and wife from bugging me. :-)

Thanks "Big",,,

What size would you suggest.... 1/2, 5/8, or 3/4 for each piece?

Also, since we get snow out here.... is there anything secial we should wrap it in, or just whatever is normally done to exterior walls?

I also found a local supplier for Ted's clips and glue... and plan on dropping in today or tomorrow. We're doing the foundation today.

I may just have to add a projector and screen into this office. I'm thinking it could be a write-off. :-)

Jeff
Night Sky Murals

I'm glad you said something. I thought I saw a local distributor on your site. OK, I'll call you in a little while.

Jeff

Thanks "Big"... you, and the others have helped. I called Ted the other day and he was super helpful. I can't say enough about our short conversation. He gave me great ideas (some of what you guys gave), but also told me that I really didn't need any of his products (after asking questions about my needs). That may seem not so important, but it was a big thing to me because it showed me that he was more interested in me getting what I really needed for my project, and not just pushing product.

I think that I have seen a lot of that on his forum. So again... thanks to those who have helped me with answers, and who are always willing to help others.

Now, back to figuring out all that can be written off in this home office. Maybe I should test home theater equipment since I paint so many theaters. A nice projector and sound system might be important. I think I should know just how the equipment reacts to the murals. Hmmmmm.....

Hi everyone... I just wanted to update you all and give everyone a big Thank You for your suggestions on this home office build. I should be about a week away from completion (finger's crossed) but this thing is a beast!

After taking all of your suggestions, and those from Ted (who was very helpful)... I decided to go with 2" x 8" staggered stud walls with insulation in both sets of 2 x 4's. One sheet of OSB on the outside, with one sheet of OSB plus a sheet of 5/8" sheetrock on the inside. What we did for the roof (and there was some give and take with the contractor who is new to this) was to do a similar staggered stud ceiling (the flat section), stuff it with two sets of insulation and then put the roof joists on top of the ceiling, cover it with OSB (obviously) and then stuff the inside with as much insulation as we could stuff in there.

Oh, and the floor is concrete with 8 inch thick walls that come up about 15 inches on the inside.

Every seam has been caulked and so have the electrical boxes and the sheetrock has mud and tape on it.

Now, we just need to put in the soffit (Come on, if anyone needs a soffit, it me) for the black lights and LED rope lights, plus can lights. That should happen on Monday, then we will hang the solid, fiberglass, external door on it, then he'll texture and leave it for me to paint. Oh, and we need to put in a dead vent on the outside before he throws up concrete siding.

I didn't go all out with the clips and double outside walls, or green glue because, though I have noise here (and Dennis, you are correct... we are directly under a flight path).... what I have now should keep out all of the noise that I need kept out. I just need to put up an electric fence to keep the kids (and wife) out so that I can work... and answer emails, which I am months behind on.

Anyway, I have already tested the room out a little. I've had the kids go around the back of the building and yell at me, and I have at them. The only thing that we can hear is the sound that is leaving the door opening in the front and going around. So, for what I need, this is perfect. Actually, more than perfect. I appreciate everyones help!!!!!

Jeff

I just wanted to thank all of you who posted in this thread,.. and Ted for taking a good amount of time to talk me through some things on the phone. I'm heading to Wisconsin, then Los Angles to paint... and am hoping that by the time I return next week, the dead vent and primer will be completed.

My contractor, who fought me on staggered studs, loads of insulation and Sheetrock on top of OSB on the interior walls is now on board after seeing the results. First of all is how cool that room is (even though it gets the sun pounding it from sun up to sun down. But, even without the door hung... you can lready tell how much sound is kept out (and I didn't even use clips, chanels or green glue). Yesterday, we had my kids go around the back of he building (after the door was roughed in) and had them yell at us, right up against the wall. Nothing. Well, we actually did hear them slightly, but through the gaps that are still around the door. That's it! I can't wait to start working in there!

What's funny, is this contractor who kind of blew me off in the beginning is now talking about building similar walls around a room that he's building off his master bedroom. I've been trying to get him to Ted's site since we began, and onto this forum.... and he just asked me for the web addresses the other day on his own. I smiled inside. Hopefully, another contractor who I'll actually take the time to learn real techniques, instead of what he thought he learned in the past.

Thanks you guys!

I've tried uploading some pics, but they won't load

Again... thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions in my office build. It worked out great and I am in it right now typing this... and can't hear a thing outside. Of course, there isn't much noise at 3 AM in the morning, but even at 3 PM in the afternoon it is just as quiet.

Here is a link to the thread with pictures of the build...

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1426767/night-sky-murals-new-stand-alone-office-build-inspired-by-all-your-builds-thanks