a sound proof room: the plan

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so, i realized that the biggest expenses when building such a thing are the odd dimensions that don't match up favorably to the cuts of lumber i'd be getting which leads to waste, and the walls and floor.

so, I've decided to dig a hole about 8 foot square and 5 foot deep and stick a roof on it. it will be a little more complex than that. i'll make the walls and interior with plastic to keep out the moisture and use a small ac shielded from noise to get ventilation.

i can use the dirt to form a sort of sound blocking levy around the construction.


this is not the whole idea, but the basics of it.

any suggestions?

You could look at the way they've built completely soundproof rooms in universities. John Cage was inspired to write 4'33 after going into a completely soundproof room. I'd say finding the right material is key.

Ask a muscian I have know some drummers and guitarists who sound proof their basements or guest rooms. Do some google searches for sound proofing a room in a house.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2ixs66tCds[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgCuusnTRFU&feature=related[/youtube]

http://www.ehow.com/video_4971320_sound ... eaply.html

http://www.acoustimac.com/home/diy-acou ... KgodJS3z8g

http://www.soundproofingplus.com/2010/0 ... ow-to.html

Just promis me you are not sound proofing a homemade cell.

Last edited by Todesking on 03 Aug 2011, 10:59 am, edited 2 times in total.

You said in another thread that you rent your lot. It is very unlikely that the owners will let you do it and if you go ahead and do it anyway without their permission on the grounds that they ought to keep the kids quiet, you could get in some legal trouble. Better to just move to a more remote location.

You can sound proof with thick blankets pinned up on the wall.

if i could i would. don't think they could sue me over it as it'd be easily fixable and i would fix it before it leaves. the rest of the place is such an eyesore that they couldn't really claim any losses. i don't see how it'd be a criminal matter.

From best to ok:

1. Select an apartment or room that has as heavy and solid walls as possible--like cement or brick. Then, just have enough furniture, carpet, or similar in the room to reduce echoes. Super.

2. If you have a house, you can build "double walls": two layers of drywall with a couple inches between them, then put pink fiberglass insulation in the gap. That works well.

3. That ghetto soundproofing video used air-vent duct board. That and mineral-fiber board work pretty good.

4. Blankets on the wall will only reduce echoing inside the room. And, that reduction will be very uneven across the frequency spectrum. Better than nothing.

Sound proof is not the same as acoustically dead. Blankets would change the way sound behaves within the room as well as deaden any sound coming from external sources. Which begs the question, is a sound proof room sufficient or is a room without sound necessary? A soundless room would suppress noise from within as well as from out.

the problem comes from without mostly.

If this is a specific sensory issue, you may find it less expensive to deal with certain frequencies. Low frequency sound is harder to eliminate.

low frequency is the biggest issue by far.

OMG I wanna soundproof my room!

Usually as long as the door is shut it's rather quiet up here in my room.

I guess earmuffs could be a low tech cheaper option.

Good thread. Never thought about it until now but i'd like to sound proof my bedroom. I worked as a construction labourer for a couple of years so I saw how they did it. They used these green panels, a bit thicker than the dry walls they put on top of the panels. They called the panels sona board or something. I remember getting green s**t from the boards all over me just from holding them, it wasn't very solid but it was pretty heavy. These things are dead easy to put up but like I say they're messy so you'd need to put a layer of drywall over them. Maybe you could just plaster over the green boards though. Even painting them might do the trick.

Yup. I was told the way to block LF sound was with lots of weight......a foot or so of sand ought to do it. I like the idea of just digging a hole, which would probably give the required insulation for the floor and "walls," but drainage might be difficult, unless the sewer is lower than your floor.

My cheap alternative is to mask the offending noise by playing a recording of pink noise. It's still noise but I don't find it anything like so invasive as other people's muzak and yelling. Probably because pink noise is more predictable and smooth, it's easier for the brain to screen out.

But the trouble with all these methods is that they trap the Aspie in a confined space. A better solution would be to silence the people who make the noise in the first place. I suppose you could try asking them to knock it off.