Almost done with a build....ran into a dilemma....helllllp

Hi everyone. First, I'd like to thank everyone for creating such a helpful forum. Ive used it along the way on the build of my new place and its turned out great.....except for one major....yet fixable issue. everything that has been done so far is working out nicely as far as the sound proofing/treatment. Its near a highway so I have to keep sound out AND in for the most part. the walls/new rooms etc sound great inside and the troubled spots have been dealt with...until we brought in an acoustic kit again to check . getting lots of audible sound coming from the roof/celing. its vaulted celing and you cant get above it to put insulation and its very odd angles so building a drop celing / double sheet rock would be very hard. my question is this.....ive been reading and can't seem to figure out the best way. What would you guys recomment to help keep that sound down in the room so its not going up into the celing/roof , getting bounced around/amplified and shot out hah. maybe some thick absorbtion panels or clouds on the celing and hanging? im drawing a blank. any ideas would be GREATLY appreciated (p.s. the room is about 22 long / 10 and 12 wide (at diff points) and 8-12 foot height (vaulted celing) . thanks in advance and ill also be posting pictures and a thread from the build as well! randall

Hi Randall. Welcome. Please read the forum rules for posting (click here). You seem to be missing a couple of things! :)

my question is this.....ive been reading and can't seem to figure out the best way. What would you guys recomment to help keep that sound down in the room so its not going up into the celing/roof , getting bounced around/amplified and shot out hah. maybe some thick absorbtion panels or clouds on the celing and hanging? im drawing a blank. any ideas would be GREATLY appreciated (p.s. the room is about 22 long / 10 and 12 wide (at diff points) and 8-12 foot height (vaulted celing) .

Sound absorption panels are no use for what you want, which is isolation. Absorbers are for treating a room, acoustically. Isolation and treatment are two different things, and what you need is isolation (then you'll need treatment afterwards). Isolation (also often incorrectly called "soundproofing") is accomplished with mass: Heavy, solid, rigid, thick barriers, such as brick, concrete, thick drywall, thick wood, etc. Light-weight things, such as absorption panels do nothing at all, or very little, to stop sound. But mass alone is also not enough. In reality, you need mass plus "decoupling". to do the job. Decoupling just means that you physically separate the mass on one side of the barrier form the mass on the other side, usually with just air. But mass and decoupling alone also are not the entire solution: you also need air-tight seals around the room, so that there is not even the slightest gap where air can get in or out. The combination of those three is how you stop sound getting in or out of a room. In your case, it's hard to suggest a solution without seeing what you have, so posting photos and a detailed diagram (in SketchUp) of what you have would help. But most likely what you'll have to do is to take off the existing ceiling, put resilient channel across the joists up there, then hang new drywall from that: probably something like two layers of 5/8" drywall, perhaps with Green Glue in between. That might not be all that you need to do though, but that would be the best starting point. - Stuart -

Stuart: thanks for the quick response! I apologize about missing a few things from the posting guidelines. I was in a rush but thats no excuse and Ill make sure I take care of it. As far as area, Im in longwood, FL. just outside of orlando a few minutes. I understand the generals of what it takes to "isolate" and what the difference between absorbtion/diffusion and isolation is. I worded what I wrote in the original post a bit wrong. The celing starts at one side at 8 foot height and end the other side (12 feet across aprox) at 12 ft high. It slopes upward. I like the angle and the height so my idea was exactly what you said. just find the joists, put sound clips on with the resiliant channels and then double sheetrock onto the furrings. The amount of sound going out isn't aweful and the 'room' itself is treated well and isn't sending anything out of it so i feel that hanging a floating celing with the clips/furrings would take care of the last little bit of noise i need to contain.... my issue now has become this....the contractors don't want to do it. keep giving me excuses about 'wires, popcorn celing being a pain etc etc'. first the wires are disconnected cat5 and coax from the previous owner (not a prob or carrying current and i can take down in a few min) and second....who cares about the celing being popcorn. its ugly, sheetrock it over and call it a day.... the clips don't use a ton of screws so the hardest part of the whole job is actually hanging the sheetrock upside down hah. Im thinking the guys are just lazy and don't want to do it obviously... this brings me to my next question....the room is around 200 sq ft on the celing. that comes out to around 375$ in materials (clips, furrings, screws, single sheetrock) add a few bucks if doubled up on sheetrock. so not too bad....what would be a fair price to have someone put this up for that amount of space? the room is rectangle 11x18. celing slopes up from the 18' side accross the 11 feet and ends up right at 12' height on the other side. pretty simple layout. its just the drum/live room. im on my phone but ill try and make a sketch

As far as area, Im in longwood, FL. just outside of orlando a few minutes.

OK, great, but check those rules one more time about where to put that information... :)

my idea was exactly what you said. just find the joists, put sound clips on with the resiliant channels

If you use clips, then you do not need resilient channel: just normal hat channel. If you do NOT use clips, then you DO need resilient channel, not hat channel.

and then double sheetrock onto the furrings.

If you have either hat channel on clips, or resilient channel without clips, then you do not also need furring. The channel by itself is sufficient.

my issue now has become this....the contractors don't want to do it.

Maybe it's a good time to find another contractor? :) But I'm not sure I understand what you are saying: if there is ALREADY a ceiling up there (popcorn or otherwise), then it MUST come off before you can put up your resilient channel (or clips plus hat channel). You CANNOT simply put the clips (or RC) directly over an existing ceiling: doing so would create a 3-leaf system, which very likely make your isolation WORSE for low frequencies. It is always a bad idea to have a leaf over a very thin air gap, since the resonant frequency is very high, and thus the final result will be poor low frequency isolation. So regardless of what else you do, that existing ceiling has to come out, completely, leaving only the joists.

who cares about the celing being popcorn. its ugly, sheetrock it over and call it a day....

:shock: The sound will care, very much. Thin air gaps with leaves on each side will not isolate well in low frequencies, as I mentioned above. This is not about what looks good or ugly, but rather what works acoustically. The existing ceiling has to come out first. And if it is a popcorn ceiling form the 60's or early 70's, then you have an additional problem: asbestos. Before you do anything to that ceiling, you better get it tested for asbestos.

the hardest part of the whole job is actually hanging the sheetrock upside down

Not if you use a drywall lifter.... makes things much simpler.

what would be a fair price to have someone put this up for that amount of space?

I have no idea what contractor rates are in your area. Call around and ask.

its just the drum/live room.

Drum room? :shock: Then you most definitely do not want to leave thin air gaps up there! Drums put out huge amounts of low frequency energy. Any plan involving thin air gaps in 2-leaf or 3-leaf system will simply amplify that, not attenuate it... - Stuart -