"Soundproofing" the garage...

[robinc]

I am moving into a house located in a relatively quiet residential neighborhood and I am planning on turning the garage into a practice/jam room. Now, I'm only renting the house so large-scale remodeling is out of the question, besides, I don't have the resources to build a studio anyway. All I really need to do is stop the noise form bothering the neighbors (as much as possible).  
 
The garage is your standard two-car size with a vaulted ceiling. Two sides of the garage share walls with my house. The other two sides consist of the wall that faces the nearest neighbor and the garage door. The neighbor-facing wall is pretty thin, i.e. a layer of plywood underneath and siding on the outside. I was thinking that if I focus my effort on controlling and dampening the sound going towards the neighbors, I might be able to pull this off.
 
This jam room will definitely be the home of a drum kit, bass, guitar, etc... Any suggestions?

[keith_h]

You need to control air leaks. It is these that allow the most transmission of sound outside of the room. In a garage the door will be the biggest offender. After that any windows you have. If you can build a false wall across these it should help mitigate noise escaping. For transmission through the walls rigidity and insulation will help some. You should also look at insulating the exterior wall and installing sheet rock (a double layer if possible). The last thing is to use sound dampening materials on the inside. Just be sure to use fire resistant stuff for safety.    
 
Keith

[811952]

All that Keith said is true.  Auralex, though a bit pricey, will do the most to control the sound (once you've sealed the air leaks) and can be removed/reused if need be.  Some of that strategically mounted on portable upright plywood flats can do wonders.
 
http://www.auralex.com/
 
John
 
(Message edited by 811952 on August 26, 2008)

[robinc]

any particular product from auralex you would recomend?

[matthew90046]

The only problem I have seen with investing in soundproofing a garage is the unpredictable behavior of neighbors.  My friend did a massive job on his garage and you could still hear the drums outside a bit.  One neighbor said that she suffered from headaches and would call the cops if she wasn't notified in advance.  
 
In contrast, I played with a band that left the garage door open on hot days and never had a problem.  Sometimes people would stand out in the street, listen and give us a hand.

[glocke]

Does the house have a basement?

[811952]

http://www.auralex.com/c_sound_absorption/c_sound_absorption.asp
 
http://www.auralex.com/category_bass_traps/category_bass_traps.asp
 
My wife uses a mix of their products in her video studio and equipment room at work..
 
john

[robinc]

no basement, unfortunately...

[crobbins]

I'm in the process of rebuildig my studio. Exterior walls will be 5/8 plywood, heavy building paper, 1/2 plywood,and then 5/8 T-111 siding. On the inside after insulating with fiberglass I will put 2 layers of drywall, and over that T&G knotty pine, then treat the room as needed with aurlex foam. half of the room has an 8' ceiling of drywall, and fiberglass insulation. The other half is about 10' open beam. The roof I'm redoing with 5/8 plywood heavy felt, and 40 year shingles..That ought to do it I reckon....
 
(Message edited by CRobbins on August 27, 2008)

[thumbsup]

Poor Mans Sound Room! The cheapest material you can use for sound board/deadening is asphalt sheathing available from most lumber yards which will achieve about the same db as sound board. Just install 2x4 walls 24 o.c. directly against the exterior walls of the garage and cover all openings (even the garage door).Insulate only approx 2 fiberglass batts before installing the asphalt sheathing because dead air space actually helps retard sound displacement. Apply asphalt sheathing directly to ceiling over sheetrock.  Is your foundation pier & beam or concrete? If pier & beam you will have eacape issues there. This is the poor mans plan that will work fairly well,easy to install and least expensive when compared to dbl layer systems,lead back sheetrock and other more expensive sound deadening products and systems.Just remember, even if you opt for a better more costly system,you are still in a neighborhood and bass and drums will more than likely still cut through.....no matter what you do.Unfortunaely you will not be the most popular guy on the block...most cities have a 10pm sound ordanance so check with the local PD. Hopefully you can get a little play time in....good luck! Steve

[anarchyx]

I heard somewhere that you can soundproof a room by using egg cartons. is that true?

[dannobasso]

Before Auralex et all I always used cheap black carpeting hung on ferring strips at the top of the sheetrock on metal stud wall and hung it to the floor which was also carpeted. worked out well back in the day.

[lbpesq]

In my experience, egg cartons won't soundproof a room, but they will break up the waves and tame down a room that is too live.
 
Bill, tgo

[thumbsup]

Jared, I actual did egg carton a room one time many years ago and it worked fairly well.It was a big hassell and took a lot of staples and cartons. As Danno suggest hanging carpet is probably the most common and cheapest way to sound deaden a room.

[elwoodblue]

Milk cartons work well but they have to be full...hard to staple them tho'