Need help with soundproofing

I'd be inclined to seal the door first and see what happens. Thin 3/8" foam applied to the door stops. Try testing a big towel for that gap under the door. If the reduction is noticeable you can look at more thorough and permanent seals. If the door is hollow core, change out for solid core.

If the door sealing helps, the next level would be to apply drywall inside the closet. The added mass will likely be all that's needed.

At this point, I'd be inclined to hand my bro a sleeping bag, a cup of coffee and tell him there's only six more weeks of winter (To keep his morale up).

Sounds like you don't have a lot of money to dump into the project, and all of the ideas sound great so far. BUT, for cost effectivness- I like the idea of scrounging for old sofa cushions at the dump (has a survivalist element to it) and the solid core door sounds good but can tie up more cash.

So, what about building an access wall where the door is? Cut the vent and foam pad the inside of the closet as best as possible. Don't know if it will work, it just sounds plausible in my small mind and I'm having a hard time keeping up with all the talk of "flanking manuevers" and tea kettles floating in a Zen like pond that make no sound vibrations if no one is there to hear it.

Ted White said:

There isn't a sheet of "soundproof drywall" made that equals eight sheets of standard drywall. That's a well known unsubstantiated piece of marketing hype, I'm afraid.

Much better from a performance and economical standpoint to use standard drywall. In this instance, you're not producing enough noise to warrant exotic damping.

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Ted:

My understanding is that when they make drywall, they stir the gypsum slurry rapidly in order to introduce air bubbles into it to make it lighter. And, in fact, when I cut drywall, I often see small voids in the gypsum core.

I've heard of "Fire Stop" drywall and now "Soundproof" drywall, and it seems to me that the blindingly obvious way to make both is to NOT stir the gypsum slurry, and thereby keep those air bubbles out of the gypsum core. The result would be more gypsum between the fire and the studs and more mass between the noise and the listener.

Are you aware if this in fact how they make "Soundproof" and "Fire Stop" drywalls? It would seem to me to be the simplest way to make drywall do both jobs better without changing the production process much.

Easiest way to muffle the noise is to blanket the furnace or the closet with leaded foam of the type used to muffle engine compartments on boats. It is fire proof and very effective at muffling noise so long as the noise is not coming through the ducting from the motor which is often the case.

Most of the sound is probably traveling through the door so it can be improved by adding a layer of sheetrock adhered with Green Glue which is designed for use with home theater setups to dampen noise being transmitted to other rooms of the house.

Don't know about your furnace but variable speed fans make less noise on startup. After I replace my furnace with one using a variable speed motor the noise of it starting up was barely audible.

Countryboy;

The short answer is you have to box it in, man. If it's sticking out into the room like the picture seems to show, you'll just be spinning your wheels.

Turn off the stereo & the TV and really LISTEN to find out where the sound is coming from. Remove some of the panels to see if that reduces noise. If the panels are the culprit then Nestor's idea may help. If it's the motor buzzing, try cleaning it. If there is vibration throught the floor, you may be able to get some cushioning under it. You might even consider putting some support under the trailer if you need to build a wall.

Good luck on this one.

Ted,

regarding this statement “There isn't a sheet of "soundproof drywall" made that equals eight sheets of standard drywall. That's a well known unsubstantiated piece of marketing hype, I'm afraid.”
I would say the soundproof drywall will be better than few layers of drywall if not 8.

That's what you'd say, eh?

Nestor_Kelebay said:

Ted:

My understanding is that when they make drywall, they stir the gypsum slurry rapidly in order to introduce air bubbles into it to make it lighter. And, in fact, when I cut drywall, I often see small voids in the gypsum core.

I've heard of "Fire Stop" drywall and now "Soundproof" drywall, and it seems to me that the blindingly obvious way to make both is to NOT stir the gypsum slurry, and thereby keep those air bubbles out of the gypsum core. The result would be more gypsum between the fire and the studs and more mass between the noise and the listener.

Are you aware if this in fact how they make "Soundproof" and "Fire Stop" drywalls? It would seem to me to be the simplest way to make drywall do both jobs better without changing the production process much.

Click to expand...

Nestor my apologies for not seeing this post earlier. Im the past I have consulted with 3 of the 4 manufacturers of this factory-damped drywall. For years, drywall manufacturers have looked at ways to make drywall lighter. Incorporating air is one means. This happens to be counter to what we need for sound isolation, exactly as you have stated. In fact, if they pursued avenues to "mass-load" the board to make denser, sound isolation would improve furher.

Currently, the 5/8" TypeX fire-rated board you referenced is the best readily available board to start an isolation wall with. It's cheap and heavy.