First post, hello! Need insulation/sound help

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seanysean

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I am finishing my basement and I have a section that will be the TV room with surround/sub etc. Well right above it is our bedroom, so I was wanting to somewhat sound proof that section. The floor joists are 12" tall and the ceiling will be sheet rock for the TV room. Will that be good enough to baffle the sound or should I put up some r13/r19 insulation? I am very green to this sort of thing. Of course I am doing most myself on a budget. I am just about done putting up the insulation on the walls and will be going back to the store to get the last bit needed and whatever I'll need for that part of the room. Any input is appreciated, thanks

Sean
 
Thanks, we actually have drop ceiling running through the middle of the basement where the pipes/ductwork is, but not in this sections, just drywall.
 
To minimize noise transmission, you don't want the drywall in the ceiling directly attached to the floor joists. You can build a second ceiling with 2x6s off set just enough so that no contact exists between the ceiling drywall and the floor joists. Seal all holes between the floors thoroughly with caulking. Adding insulation will help a little for the higher frequency noise. I'd use two layers of 1/2" drywall on the ceiling.
 
Ok seanysean, to start with, how much money do you have to accomplish this and how extensive do you want to get. Just kidding, but lets see if we can help.

Of course start off with insulation, the bigger the better. But one thing that you have to remember about sound is that it will find a way to the upstairs, so it is best to seal up everything you can. Seal around all wall and ceiling outlets with some kind of caulk. Sound caulk is the best, but a little expensive.

If you have the ceiling height I would also recommend using resilient channel and sound board before the sheetrock. You can find both at a drywall supply store. resilient channel will help with the sound transfer through the floor joist and sound board will help with the low bass sounds coming through.

Then if you wanted to go crazy, use two layers of sheetrock with a product called "green glue" in between them. Or another product which is made for sound transfer is called "Silent Board", I've used it a few times and it is quite amazing.

Let me know if you need anything else.

Perri
 
A drop ceiling will stop significantly LESS sound than drywall. The suspended ceiling is really lacking in mass, and not at all sealed.

Insulation would only be a small contributor to any solution. As Travelover said, you would prefer not to attach any new drywall directly to the joists. Instead, consider a system of resilient clips and channel

Resilient channel is highly problematic. If anyone wants more detail on that, please let me know.
 
I'm thinking that the best way to have the quietest bedroom upstairs while watching "Godzilla eats Tokyo" downstairs would be for the person downstairs to don a pair of high quality headphones.

That's not what you wanted to hear, but that IS the way to have the sound as loud as you want downstairs without hearing a thing upstairs. Even if you spend a pile of money trying to soundproof that home theatre downstairs, you're still going to have enough noise upstairs to annoy anyone trying to sleep.

In your situation, headphones would deliver the best results for the person upstairs.
 
Last edited:
Nestor_Kelebay said:
I'm thinking that the best way to have the quietest bedroom upstairs while watching "Godzilla eats Tokyo" downstairs would be for the person downstairs to don a pair of high quality headphones.

That's not what you wanted to hear, but that IS the way to have the sound as loud as you want downstairs without hearing a thing upstairs. Even if you spend a pile of money trying to soundproof that home theatre downstairs, you're still going to have enough noise upstairs to annoy anyone trying to sleep.

In your situation, headphones would deliver the best results for the person upstairs.
Click to expand...

Largely true, however if a complete re-build were possible, you would be surprised how loud you could have the theater without disturbing anyone. Such a re-build would be far beyond simply adding more drywall, however.
 
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