soundproofing a garage workshop

[nick brigg]

whats the best yet cheapest way to soundproof a garage workshop. total cement(walls/ceiling/floor) with the exception of the garage door. i have a great concern that my crazy neighbors will call the cops the instant they hear anything, so really anything is better than nothing. getting kinda worried here, thanks guys.

[Jim Nardi]

Why would you worry about everything cement but the door? Chances are most everything but using a large power planer won't make any noise outside the garage. Most of the time we spend in the shop is virtually noise free. Planning thinking sharpening laying out drawing up plans etc.

[Keith Webster]

My neighbor is only about 15 foot from my shop and they have told me that they can not hear a thing. I have standard 4 '' walls with r13 insulation. The garage door has 1'' foam on it. Widows are insluated glass also. The dewalt planner is the only thing he told me that he can hear outside some times.

[nick brigg]

im just worried, i really want to enjoy working(within the normal working hours, no late night routing) without bothering anyone else. how about hanging a thick carpet/tarp in front of the garage door too suck up the sound and preventing it from getting outside? i tested this a few minutes ago by blasting a stereo full blast, you can kinda sorta hear whats going on from the outside.

[Dave MacArthur]

You might consider just looking at your HOA rules, then getting the city rules online. Generally there is actually a decibel limit published between certain hours. I know this as I successfully honcho'ed a neighborhood effort to force the neighboring Von's to stop "beep beep beep" powerscrubbing their parking lot at 0300 in the morning with a giant zamboni looking thing, in Los Angeles. The limit was 65 decibels at property line between 10pm and 7am, there.

While it is good to not annoy the neighbors, it is ALSO reasonable that you can cut your grass with a lawnmower, use a weed-eater, vacuum the car, and do woodworking TOO, if you are in compliance with all city/local rules. In THAT case, YOU are right, and if a conflict comes, the other fellow pounds sand. Best to avoid that of course, but if you are this worried, I would just look up the rules, comply, and not worry.

[Allen Bookout]

how about hanging a thick carpet/tarp in front of the garage door too suck up the sound and preventing it from getting outside? i tested this a few minutes ago by blasting a stereo full blast, you can kinda sorta hear whats going on from the outside.

I have found carpet to be excellent at absorbing noise. I have used it on interior doors in an attempt to sound-proof them and it has worked very well. You might want to glue it to the interior of the door and then when the door is closed you also have your sound-proof material in place. And the best thing is that the cost is zero if you can find a house that they are replacing the carpet in.

[nick brigg]

thanks guys! hopefully the locals wont have their ear to the garage door...and if they do too bad. :)

[Rob Will]

Often times you can't add that much weight to a garage door without changing the lift springs. There are some high density vinyl sheets that are designed to block sound. Unfortunately, most anything that "blocks" sound transmission is heavy. JMHO

Rob

[Allen Bookout]

You are right Will, that would be a ton of weight for a garage door. When I had my new door put in they had an option of an insulated door which I declined due to the mild climate here but a check with a garage door company might yeild some sound deading material ideas.

[Jeff Raymond]

One of your options is to build a wall outside of the garage door (since we all know that you won't be using the garage for autos and stuff anymore) and then you can keep the garage doors down for possible use later on.

DO NOT mess with the springs on the garage door. They may not look like it, but have tremendous tension in them and will likely earn you a trip to the ER.

Insulate the bugger like crazy and you'll be fine.

[Zach Logan]

I will emphatically second the don't mess with the springs post. My elderly neighbor's foot slipped off his brake pedal awhile back and he smashed his door. He asked me to try and fix it so his old lady wouldn't be as mad. The door wouldn't move so I took it apart to change the panel. Sometime during the operation I removed the last bolt holding the spring cable to the door, and it shot up the track with incredible force. As I had my fingers through holes in there at several times, it scared the crap out of me. It was definitely one of those "how could I be so stupid" moments, but most instances where you end the day with fewer body parts than you began it probably are.

[Dave MacArthur]

Nick,
you might consider insulating the garage door with some foam.
I just did my 3 garage doors, it takes about 20 minutes a door. The quality of the job is better than what you get by paying for professional panels, and better insulation:
1. Go to HD or Lowes, buy 2 4x8 sheets of yellow foam insulation with metalized skins, per 1bay garage door. This is not the white styrofoam, but a yellow stiffer foam with an aluminum looking thin skin on it. The R value is much better, it is easier to work with (cuts with a utility knife with no crumblies!).
2. Measure the spacing for your door panels. Mine were like 2' x 44". Mark the foam, line up a ruler and just slice it with a utility knife. Slide it into the door panel. For a tight fit, you can make the insert bigger than the outer lip, then just run a slice horizontally across the foam insert, crack/bend it horizontally, stick the edges in, and then push it flat--it opens back out to a solid insert with no sagging.
3. buy a can of that expanding foam crack sealant. Squirt the stuff around the edges of the inserts to seal if desired and slice it off to a neat appearance. Be sure the foam inserts are fully "out", that is away from the metal door, leaving a gap behind them--this is the best insulation method (dead airspace), and increases the R value like 4. The shiny sides of the insul. also increases the R.
4. I did 3 garage doors in about 1 hour. The temp dropped immediately by about 30 degrees in the garage (Phoenix, west facing garage doors). The sound is also greatly deadened outside. They weigh nothing.
Good luck!