[davidden]

What is conventional wisdom on soffit acoustical treatment?


Some details: I'm ready to drywall a basement 22'x13.5' HT with a 20"x15" soffit around the perimeter and 8.5' drop ceiling in the center. Too many compromises already to sound isolate w/DD and GG (had to have drop ceiling and pocket door, limited budget, patience, etc.), but there is R13 to R30 in all the ceilings and walls.


Back to the original question, should I fill the soffit with R30 or better or at least fill the corners before I close it up?

 

[dc_pilgrim]

The conventional wisdom is that if building a soffit for accoustical treatments you use it as a bass trap and build it like this:

 

[davidden]

Thanks dc,


The soffit is there primarily to cover ductwork and piping along 40% of the perimeter walls, and it will be covered in 1/2" gypsum board. The thought was to make it semi-functional as a bass trap since it was there anyway. Am I wasting time putting fiberglass in it? By the way, this is HT 0.1 and I don't plan on being in the house more than a couple more years.

 

[dc_pilgrim]

I would put the fiberglass in their to fill the void, then forget about going over the top if you won't be there for long. Trust me, its painful to put a lot of effort into the space if you are just going to be moving on.

 

[budk]

I suggest you treat it like any other surface and cover the horizontal surface with linacoustic under the GOM. That technique was used in Greg Powers theater as well as others.

 

[GPowers]

here is a link to how i did the sofit

http://www.stargateunofficial.com/images/pdf/soffit.pdf

 

[davidden]

Thanks for the response, but I just figured out my biggest problem is I should have moved the screen to the other end of the room. I've been planning the layout for months if not years, and I couldn't see the obvious until a few hours after the wiring is done and the sheetrock is hung

. I guess the AT screen will wait until the next build.


Amazing how you can miss the obvious once you get a plan locked into your head (me anyway).

 

[MacBuster]



Quote:
Originally Posted by davidden /forum/post/15529766


Thanks for the response, but I just figured out my biggest problem is I should have moved the screen to the other end of the room. I've been planning the layout for months if not years, and I couldn't see the obvious until a few hours after the wiring is done and the sheetrock is hung

. I guess the AT screen will wait until the next build.


Amazing how you can miss the obvious once you get a plan locked into your head (me anyway).

Can you explain why you aren't able to do it?