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Thread: Soundproofing for workshop entry wall

  1. #1
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    Soundproofing for workshop entry wall

    Finally getting a contractor to put the walls up in my workshop. I've been looking at a variety of techniques for soundproofing the walls (it's an interior wall to my garage, the exterior walls are cinderblock and aren't being done now. There will be a double outside rated entry door from the garage to the workshop.

    Been Googling like crazy, but getting conflicting information.

    1.) What's more effective - a double 5/8" drywall with Green glue noiseproofing compound between the sheets, or a layer of MLV (mass loaded vinyl). The more I look, the more conflicting answers I get for that. I've been seeing that the Green glue is cheaper AND more effective, but then other sites say the exact opposite.

    2.) I need insulation in the wall (air conditioned space in Florida), so was planning on putting insulation in the walls. Is Roxul better than just putting normal R38 or R39 pink fiberglass insulation in the walls? Is there a better material for insulation that I should use? It appears that Roxul is 24" width, so I'm concerned about a ton of waste with studs 16" on center.

    4.) Also, it appears that anything nailed into the stud on the double sheetrock side defeats the purpose on the double wall and greenglue. Should I place the double wall on the garage side of the studs instead of the workshop side?

    Anyway, thanks in advance for any and all advice.
    - After I ask a stranger if I can pet their dog and they say yes, I like to respond, "I'll keep that in mind" and walk off
    - It's above my pay grade. Mongo only pawn in game of life.

  2. #2
    Yes, lots of conflicting info. I'm convinced that much of the stuff is intended to make you give up ,and call a "pro". The
    Roxul "safe 'n sound" has no insulation value, does have some quieting and fire retarding. Sheetrock alone is effective and it's cheap. Mass loaded vinyl should hang
    free,not be tightly sandwiched. Green Glue gets high marks but look at the price ! Dense packed cellulose is good and cheap , but messy. There are some caulk tube cheap subs for Green Glue.

  3. #3
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    Regarding your second question: In my experience, Mineral wool is more effective at reducing sound transmission than fiberglass. And it's readily available (at least here in OH) in 15" width for 16" OC stud bays.

    Are you planning on a double wall or at least offset studs in the wall? It makes for a thicker wall but not having studs bridging between the two surfaces goes a long way to reduce transmission.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mel Fulks View Post
    The
    Roxul "safe 'n sound" has no insulation value.
    That simply is not true.

  5. #5
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    FWIW, I have firsthand experience with the materials you are considering, but with a different purpose.

    I have an office in the house we built that is set up as a music studio. The goal was to soundproof it in both directions; don't disturb the rest of the house, and don't let house sounds in to mess up a recording session.

    Our solution works wonderfully for both. Staggered stud walls went in first. Insulated with denim-wool insulation (similar to Roxall, etc.), two sheets of 5/8" drywall on the inside walls, with green glue between them as recommended for install.

    two things to watch out for. Low frequency vibrations will transfer through the floor; the only way to avoid that is to float the floor, which is non-trivial. Concrete may mitigate that; ours are wood. The other issue is HVAC. Both for noise and dust, the shop system should be completely separate from the home system.

    K

  6. #6
    No R value is given for Safe N Sound and the company reccomends their Comfort Batt insulation for insulation. The language about not using SNS for insulation does seem less emphatic than when I last read it.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kevin Nathanson View Post
    FWIW, I have firsthand experience with the materials you are considering, but with a different purpose.

    I have an office in the house we built that is set up as a music studio. The goal was to soundproof it in both directions; don't disturb the rest of the house, and don't let house sounds in to mess up a recording session.

    Our solution works wonderfully for both. Staggered stud walls went in first. Insulated with denim-wool insulation (similar to Roxall, etc.), two sheets of 5/8" drywall on the inside walls, with green glue between them as recommended for install.

    two things to watch out for. Low frequency vibrations will transfer through the floor; the only way to avoid that is to float the floor, which is non-trivial. Concrete may mitigate that; ours are wood. The other issue is HVAC. Both for noise and dust, the shop system should be completely separate from the home system.

    K
    I did the staggered wall setup in my last house with double sheetrock and insulation for the theater. Worked amazingly well, but not in the cards for this 15-1/2' tall wall. I'll have to look up denim-wool insulation. Never heard of that.
    - After I ask a stranger if I can pet their dog and they say yes, I like to respond, "I'll keep that in mind" and walk off
    - It's above my pay grade. Mongo only pawn in game of life.

  8. #8
    How about having them put up a concrete block wall when they do the rest?

    I know a contractor that has built several veterinary clinics and this is how they do it. The walls extend up into the attic close to the roof line.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Engel View Post
    How about having them put up a concrete block wall when they do the rest?

    I know a contractor that has built several veterinary clinics and this is how they do it. The walls extend up into the attic close to the roof line.
    I’m not sure that the raised access floor can handle the weight of a concrete wall, so thinking drywall. Don’t want to give up the room for the staggered studs, even though I know that works well.

  10. #10
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    You can do staggered studs with the studs sideways and still use 3.5" plates. As long as you can offset the studs you will have 2" of insulation minimum between the studs and opposite surface (which happens to be the thickness of rockwool safe-n-sound batts). This will give you better sound isolation but less thermal insulation. Up to you which is more important to you.

    It's true that Rockwool (new name for Roxul company) doesn't specify an R value for Safe-n-sound as its density is optimized for sound isolation not thermal performance compared to Comfort-batt. It still has thermal insulation value.

  11. #11
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    I used 6" steel track top & bottom with 2 rows of 2.5" steel studs and 2 layers of 3" Safe'n'Sound. That is clad with 2 layers of 5/8" drywall with Greenglue between. The whole thing is built as a room within a room.

    It is very effective. Standing 3' from the wall, the dust collector cannot be heard at all. I can stand there with the remote turning it off & on & can't hear whether it's running or not. The compressor is also in there & it can be heard, but it's a noise melonfarmer & I'm sure most of the people in this hemisphere can hear it when it kicks on.

  12. #12
    I’ve seen Mike Holmes use Quietrock in a couple episodes and he said it worked very well.
    Dont know anything about the cost or availability in your area but here’s a link:

    https://www.quietrock.com/

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Daily View Post
    I’ve seen Mike Holmes use Quietrock in a couple episodes and he said it worked very well.
    Dont know anything about the cost or availability in your area but here’s a link:

    https://www.quietrock.com/
    Quietrock is super expensive. Better to just go with more layers of fire rated 5/8" with GG between them.

  14. #14
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    I was told that a wall made of lead bricks is quieter insider the cave area. Wonder what effect sheet lead inside walls ,like at a dentist office, would have. I do not notice it at my dentists.
    Bill D

  15. #15
    A friend loaned me "Home Recording Studio Build it Like the Pros" by Rod Gervais and it's the best info I've found. Only a small portion of the book is relevant but it's worth reading. The author is a builder so solutions make sense from a builder's perspective. Noise transmission is complex and to get decent results, you need to address all pathways. High frequencies like routers transmit differently than lower frequencies like dust collectors.

    My shop is in my basement and since we were building new, we had the opportunity to really address it. We would test it after every step and were always surprised at how minimal the improvements were until we got to the final step. We insulated between floor joists, hung separate ceiling joists to isolate the lid from the floor, hung 2 layers of 5/8" drywall (mass loading is very helpful and drywall is cheap). As we went, we air sealed every crack and made sure there were no penetrations. All lighting and electrical is in conduit inside the envelope. Added cost for a 900 sq ft shop was maybe 1,500.

    My 5 hp dust collector is the worst offender but my wife says it's still quieter than when my shop was in a separate building 30' away.

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