[speedboy]

Anyone know of a way to add some soundproofing to an existing door? Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks


Current door double hung 1 3/8

 

[ksharp4]

How about an automatic door bottom and some seals for the door?

 

[asolutions]

You definitely need acoustical door seals on the door. You can see light coming in underneath the door therefore sound will come in as well. A one percent opening around the door can let in up to 50% of the noise.


The last post suggested door jambs and an automatic door bottom - which is correct. However I would add astragal seals - since this is a double door you would need to seal the point where the doors come together. Also since you have carpeting in the room I would add a threshold for the automatic door bottom to land upon - that will provide a better seal for the automatic door bottom.


Feel free to call me with any questions at 1-800-782-5742 or visit my site for more details http://www.acousticalsolutions.com


By the way your home theater looks good. Nice job.


Dave Ingersoll

 

[Marshall F]

Dave, have you seen soem of the seals in these fancy new refrigerators? The new ones with the freezer on the bottom have two side by side refrigerator doors on top. They utilize a pretty slick back plate that is attached to one side, but flips around to allow you to open or close either side. Would this be something usable in HT soundproofing, or are the seals enough. HD and Lowe's have the apliances if you want to take alook, although I'll bet you already have a working system. Just thought it was pretty slick.


Marshall

 

[asolutions]

I have not seen that exact type of seal, but in general refrigerator seals would work for acoustics since they do provide a tight seal.


That being said the reason you could not put a refrigerator seal on a door is that they usually involve some sort of magnetic seal which would not work on a wooden door. Also there seals require certain temperature ratings which limit them to certain types of rubber for use within the seal, since we do not have that restriction we use neoprene instead of rubber which will perform better acoustically.


Dave Ingersoll

 

[Marshall F]

Hi, this particular part of the seal is not rubber, it's metal. It's roughly 1' wide, 3/8" thick, and runs the length of the door. The tricky part is that it flips around no matter which door you open or close first. I looked for a picture of the seal, but couldn't find one.


The doors open up and have no snter spar (like French doors) so this seal acts as a temporary back plate while the door is closed.


M

 

[asolutions]

Thanks for the pic on the fridge now I understand what you were getting at. Our astragal door seals also work for double doors where both doors are active or being used. This illustration should help see how they work.

Thanks

Dave Ingersoll
http://www.acousticalsolutions.com

 

[Terry Montlick]

Good seals will definitely help. You certainly need astragal door seals, though double doors are inherently leakier, even with seals. Ultimately, though, sound isolation is limited by the door itself. Even a heavy, solid core exterior wood door will not be as effective as a steel acoustical door. The latter run $$$, though.


- Terry

 

[speedboy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by asolutions /forum/post/0


You definitely need acoustical door seals on the door. You can see light coming in underneath the door therefore sound will come in as well. A one percent opening around the door can let in up to 50% of the noise.


The last post suggested door jambs and an automatic door bottom - which is correct. However I would add astragal seals - since this is a double door you would need to seal the point where the doors come together. Also since you have carpeting in the room I would add a threshold for the automatic door bottom to land upon - that will provide a better seal for the automatic door bottom.


Feel free to call me with any questions at 1-800-782-5742 or visit my site for more details http://www.acousticalsolutions.com


By the way your home theater looks good. Nice job.


Dave Ingersoll

I will check it out. How about for the walls. My wife says she could hear it all throughout the house. Any suggestions

 

[Terry Montlick]



Quote:
Originally Posted by speedboy /forum/post/0


I will check it out. How about for the walls. My wife says she could hear it all throughout the house. Any suggestions

To make it quiet, a home theater room needs special sound isolation construction when it is built. These include walls with more thickness (staggered stud or double stud), multiple layers of sheetrock, ideally with viscoelastic damping layers (e.g. Green Glue) between them, or resilient mechanical isolation (e.g. RSIC-1 clips).


Can we assume from your question that your room has none of these? Unfortunately, extremely effective sound isolation is difficult to add to a room once it is built.

- Terry

 

[speedboy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry Montlick /forum/post/0


To make it quiet, a home theater room needs special sound isolation construction when it is built. These include walls with more thickness (staggered stud or double stud), multiple layers of sheetrock, ideally with viscoelastic damping layers (e.g. Green Glue) between them, or resilient mechanical isolation (e.g. RSIC-1 clips).


Can we assume from your question that your room has none of these? Unfortunately, extremely effective sound isolation is difficult to add to a room once it is built.

- Terry

Terry I did put in Sound Isolation. I used Dynil. Here check it out http://dynamat.com/download/arch/2038_Dynil_Lit.pdf The sales rep told me it works like 11 sheets or sheet rock. I don't know if that that is true. Any other Ideas, maybe padding to the walls?

 

[Terry Montlick]



Quote:
Originally Posted by speedboy /forum/post/0


Terry I did put in Sound Isolation. I used Dynil. Here check it out http://dynamat.com/download/arch/2038_Dynil_Lit.pdf The sales rep told me it works like 11 sheets or sheet rock.

Don't believe everything a sales rep tells you.

Looks like plain old mass-loaded vinyl to me, which is about equal to 1 sheet of drywall -- and then only if it is completely sealed at the edges.

Quote:
I don't know if that that is true. Any other Ideas, maybe padding to the walls?

Nope. Not for sound isolation. At this point, you could add an additional inner layer of drywall on top of Green Glue, with all drywall sealed airtight.


- Terry

 

[asolutions]

What they sold you is most commonly known as mass loaded vinyl. If they said that it would work like 11 layers of sheetrock they overpromised drastically. I do believe in mass loaded vinyl, however that has an STC28 value, 1 layer of drywall is a STC22 (approx.) Mass loaded vinyl is flexible and has other benefits.


However if that is all that is in there than I am not surprised you are having a problem. My recomendation for home theater walls is the RSIC-1 sound isolation clips from PAC along with Green Glue. If money is not a consideration than also add in the mass loaded vinyl.


At this point with the wall already constructed the only thing left would be to use Green glue to your exising drywall and put up one new layer of drywall over top or go all out and use multiple layers (drywall/ green glue/ drywall / green glue /drywall) I know that sounds bad because the wall is already finished but that maybe the only choice. Use 3 tubes of Green Glue per 4' x 8' sheet of drywall - that will help with the low frequency since it is to late to add the Isolation clips.


Dave Ingersoll

Acoustical Solutions
http://www.acousticalsolutions.com

 

[ctviggen]

I think the sales rep lied. The pdf file says that the material has an "STC" of 28. A typical, normal wood plus drywall has the same STC. (See:

http://www.saecollege.de/reference_m...TC%20Chart.htm )


The PDF doesn't really list what you need to know, which is how much this material helps the STC rating when incorporated into a wall. Because this stuff has quite a bit of mass, I think that it would help the STC rating (ie, as compared to a wall without the stuff), but it's unlikely to help that much.

 

[Randito3]

Some times I hate sales reps. Some are honest but then some just blatantly lie OR just saying what they were told and dont know any better.


I still need to treat my door to my theater. It's the only thing that lets sound in or out. I need to do something soon.




Randy

 

[Terry Montlick]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Randito3 /forum/post/0


I still need to treat my door to my theater. It's the only thing that lets sound in or out. I need to do something soon.

Unfortunately, it is not the only thing that lets sound in or out. Plugging up one leak in a boat full leaks will not slow the boat from sinking.

 

[speedboy]

Terry


Do you think adding panels to the walls would help any? I have finished the room and it would be a great production to add another layer of sheetrock with Green glue. I welcome all other ideas. Thanks for the help.

 

[asolutions]

Adding the acoustical panels to your wall will give you better sound quality within your HT and thats it. They will not stop sound from passing through the walls. Acoustical Wall Panels are sound absorbers not sound blockers. Sorryy, I agree you are back to more sheetrock and Green Glue.


Dave Ingersoll

Acoustical Solutions
http://www.acousticalsolutions.com

 

[speedboy]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I don't think I will add another layer of rock yet. Any other quick and easy suggestions??? I really should have done more research. Live and learn. I am looking into seal the door as a starter. Thanks

 

[MauneyM]

On this topic, we have just finished our HT, and we are also having noise leaks around the door. We have a 36" safe-n-sound, but with no special sealing. If I push the door firmly against the frame, I get a dramatic reduction in transmitted noise, but it (the door area) still seems to be the worst offender for leaks.


Any ideas? Dave?


[FWIW, we have used 5/8" drywall with RSIC, combined with AudioSeal woven through offset stud walls. This part seems to work pretty well....]