Soundproofing part of a basement

[David Drickhamer]

A friend of mine lives in a condo and has a son that likes his music loud. Yesterday I was asked a good way to sound proof part of a basement so as to not disturb neighbors in an attached condo. She already bought a sound proofing pad to put on the overhead. I was wondering if fiberglass insulation between joists would help. What's your opinion/ recommendations? The space in approximately 12x12 foot.
Thanks in advance.

[Jim Becker]

Actual soundproofing requires "walls inside of walls" to provide physical isolation in addition to absorbent materials. Insulation alone can certainly help a little (at least for high frequencies) but to truly create a quiet space, it's going to take a lot more engineering and material to do the job.

[Jamie Buxton]

Headphones? You can buy really good ones for a fraction of the cost of "walls within walls".

[Roger Nair]

"Oh how can I hear with beans in my ears" will not help a disturbed neighbor. The thing to keep in mind with sound proofing is sound is transmitted from a resonating surface that captures the vibrations to the structural elements in the wall and to a lesser extent the air in the wall cavity to a resonating surface on the opposite side. The effective methods used will embrace several strategies to break the transmission process. So with the common floor system of drywall, joist and floor, isolate the drywall ceiling from the joist by using a layer of soft fiber board fastened to the joist. Next layer is a resilient channel that dissipates the vibrations by lessening the lateral cross-section of the channel. Then a layer of drywall. Filling the void between the joist will help but to a lesser degree.

[Kev Williams]

Inside a condo, without massive amounts of money spent on sound-deadening materials and their installation, the neighbors are going to feel the house move courtesy of the air pressure generated by woofers & subwoofers. Back in my youth a regular weekend occurrence was the cops showing up because of neighbors complaining about my loud music, and this was in a house on a 1/4 acre corner lot and my sound system was in the basement.

[Myk Rian]

She needs to put on her big girl panties and tell her son to turn it down.

[James Pallas]

Very nearly impossible in a condo. Look up sound studio to get some ideas. No straight walls, no level ceiling, sound board, resilient channel, insulation, all inside the outer walls. Isolation is most of the answer. Picture a stealth fighter and all of the angles and you will have a start. In this situation volume control knob or cash money are the answer.
Jim

[andy bessette]

Headphones? You can buy really good ones for a fraction of the cost of "walls within walls".

Yes, head phones.

[Neil Gaskin]

Pending budget. Google both hat channel and quiet rock.

[Tom Bender]

A room in a room built with 4" block and a concrete ceiling should do it, if a little claustrophobic.

[Robert Engel]

Its hard to say without knowing what kind of music and how loud actually.

But, having dealt with veterinary clinic kennels, 2 stud walls with 5/8 sheetrock & insulation works pretty good. Leave a 1" gap between walls.

BTW, that includes the ceiling.

Might be cheaper to rent him a storage unit LOL.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

use a paddle! When I remodeled a 1950's basement for a teenager bedroom, I made sure all the walls were insulated well and stuffed 10 inches of insulation between the joists before the ceiling dry wall went up. It did indeed make a wonderful difference. We had a tv in the other part of the basement and if it was on, even at low volume it could be heard in the rest of the house, as if it was amplified. I got a new tv and put that one in the teen room and when the door was closed to the bedroom, it could not be heard at all up stairs, even at teenager volumes. The insulation in the ceiling worked so well, I insulated the ceiling over my workshop. I could work in there till 4 am and not disturb the rest of the family. (except for the high pitch scream of the table saw)