Semi-Temp soundproofing

So, I'm looking to build a little recording room for myself. It's a small side room in our basement, 11ft long, 7.5 ft wide, and 7.5 ft tall. One of the long sides, and both of the short sides go straight into the ground, so soundproofing them isn't much of an issue, only acoustically treating them, but that's not the priority. The main issue is the one 11ft wall, which is the wall with the door in it. It leads out into the main basement room, which my family is converting into a home theater... obviously they aren't going to want to hear drums or guitars while watching a movie, but we run on different schedules, so it's going to be rare that it's happening at the same time. I can't really do anything permenant to the wall. I could attach a few screws or bolts, but nothing major. The thought I had, is making a plywood (or whatever other material) sheet matching the shape of the wall (or in 2 pieces) and attatching soundproofing foam to this board, and bolting it at the corners to the wall. How well would that work? What would be some other options? Also, both rooms have a drop ceiling, and I'm going to assume there's not much, if anything between the rooms up in the ceiling, so I would probably have to do something with the ceiling too. The starting budget is less than $500 if possible, and it could probably go over to accomidate the ceiling. I can't see myself spending over $1000 on the whole project, but anything slightly over would still be worth hearing. Thanks a lot! -Justin

There is no such thing as soundproofing foam :shock: Suggest you read here before asking any more questions or starting any work. It could save you time/cash. http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3231

I thought that studiofoam (basically glorified egg cartons) was for sound proofing... I did read through that thread, and spent a couple hours searching the site before making a post, but didn't come across anything that matched what I was trying to do, henceforth, I posted.

Foam, assuming it is fire resistant (unlike the crap they used in the infamous deadly fire at The Station in Warwick, Rhode Island), is for acoustical treatment, absorbing certain frequencies of sound so that they don't bounce around the room so much. It is not "soundproofing foam." There is no such thing. Any purveyor of the product who dares to call it "soundproofing foam" is a thief in my opinion. See this thread for a discussion on this fact. One of the reasons I talk so passionately about this is that I nearly wasted thousands of dollars on the lies that these criminals tell before I discovered this site and learned the truth about what it takes to increase noise isolation. By all means: buy [url=http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5670]Rod's new book: [/url]

can't decide whether your ID is hilarious or tasteless.... both?

Ok, thanks for the information on the foam. (I actually live in RI, and my band had played the station before) So what are some possibilities for my situation then?

Luftweg wrote:

can't decide whether your ID is hilarious or tasteless.... both?

I get that a lot, however, and you probably won't believe me, it is actually my real name!

Justin, you need to re-read this http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3231 specifically this part - "Include as much detail as possible about the existing construction. Having details about anatomy of your existing floor, walls, and ceiling is critical. In your searches of the forum, you'll likely find examples of the kinds of details that are needed, and you'll see that the quality and timeliness of the advice given are affected by the level of detail provided. New, 7/24/06 - By "detail", I mean enough detail so I might be able to go buy materials and actually BUILD a nearly identical version of your construction; things like type of material, size of framing if it's visible, style of construction - without this level of detail we can't recommend much of anything." The term, "wall" is about as vague as "vehicle" - can ya do a bit better, so we know what you're up against? Thanks... Steve

justinmikehunt wrote:

. . . you probably won't believe me, it is actually my real name!

So... Mind if we call you "Justin"? ;-) --Keith :mrgreen:

I knew your sister Helen; she was the credit manager for a store I used to shop at - when I asked for credit, I was told to go to Helen Hunt for it... :?

<---- plays rim shot