I am going to add another layer of drywall to an existing bathroom wall for better soundproofing. I thought it would work even better if I sandwiched in a layer of a different type of material (like the QuietRock drywall is made). I thought shipping foam may work – the 1/8 stuff they use to pack fragile items. Would this work? Are then any other better materials to use?
Thanks
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Replies
What you suggest probably won't work so well, because the fasteners will still transmit the sound from the framing to the new finished drywall.
It would be better to install resilient metal channel over the existing drywall, then attach your new drywall to that, with it's fasteners just going into the channel and not bridging to the inner layer of drywall.
Resilient channel has perforations along the two sides. They also make a channel without the perforations, but that won't dampen sound.
Assuming you can't afford to lose to much room in the bathroom I would say that glueing foam board to your studs and then glueing the drywall to your foam should help a little bit. What we've done in the past for offices, or master bedrooms or anywhere sound sensitive is to build an extra wall drywalled and insulated in both sides the most important thing is to leave an airspace between the two walls, the more airspace the more noise you'll stop.
That probably won't help enough to be worth the trouble. 1/2" is better. Just double plying the SR will help a lot
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I've actually never double layered the drywall before, I guess I just figured that sound would travel almost as easily through two peices of half inch as it would one. I'll give it a try in my bathroom if youre sure this works b/c I have not started to sound proof it yet.
Remember that QuietRock is constructed with a 1/16 inch of metal between the sheetrock, but more importantly, with a viscous, goopy, never-drying out compound on each side of the metal in the sandwich, so that the sound dies in the goop... (sheetrock, goop, metal, goop, sheetrock).
They sell the goop in buckets; if you really wanted to go it alone, you could buy their goop and so on and so forth; but a sheet only costs $40 for a 4X8 (and they just came out a new line that is THX certified)---so really, how much is your time worth?
NotaClue
Edited 9/18/2005 11:52 pm ET by NotaClue
$40? I thought it was $80 a sheet. Are you sure?Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
In DYI'ing my basement sound control was a big priority. I've done a mess of reading.
The short of it is this; add mass. Sheetrock is, $ 4 $, pretty inexpensive mass.
If you have the ceiling space I'd go over the existing SR with 5/8" X type. X type having more mass than regular 5/8" rock. If you don't mind spending a bit more money purchase a product called Green Glue (yes, it really is). This is exactly the goop that was noted above, 'cept from a different manufacturer. Stuff comes in tubes. Folks who do home theaters SWEAR by this stuff, as do I now that I've used it. http://www.audioalloy.com/
This is what I did on the ceiling of my basement - in addition to the insulation in the joist bays. 5/8" X rock, GG. 1/2" rock.
Dan
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ss3964spd/my_photos
Thanks Dan, I think I'll try the green glue. I checked the web site, it would be nice to see a comparison between doing to just two layers of drywall and doing two layers with green glue. Application looks simple and fast.
Happy to help Mark.
I stumbled onto that stuff while surfing the http://www.avsforum.com site, in their dedicated home theater forum. Lots of into about sound deadening/proofing. There's a guy - Brian R....Brian Rrrr....oh - what ever his name is, that is apparently THEE authority on sound transmission and coincidently the master mind behind GG. He has bags-o-information/data to back up his findings. You could read for hours - I did.
Easy test though, rap on a 2X wall with one layer of DW with your knuckles, then rap on a 2X wall with a DW/GG/DW sandwich. The first sounds hollow, the second is dead.
GL......
Dan
Hmm; I could be wrong, sorry about that.
Still, it works out for economics--buying it ready made versus putting together something yourself.
RE: Mass; yes, that will do it, but understand that Lucas/THX specifically addresses that issue in its newest pronouncements on media rooms meeting THX requirements; you can get there with a 2 foot thick, lead lined wall filled with concrete; or, you can building something with a layer of QuietRock on each side on staggered studs that takes les room and won't crash through the den floor into the basement...
NotAClue
Wow, if I could have found QR for 40 a sheet - I would have opted for that.
The suppliers I called wanted 125.00 for a 4X8 sheet. Made the 5/8-GG-1/2 sandwich far most tasty.
Dan
I used Roxul rock wool (aka mineral wool) insulation for my interior walls to act as a sound deadener. Works very well for me. I even stuffed it around the sides and bottom of a one-piece acrylic tub/shower combo. When the shower water is hitting the tub, you barely can hear it. Which was/is important to me to prevent any bathroom noises from waking my children in the adjoining bedroom.
Roxul.com