Sound Proofing/Dampening a basement

urahonky

Yeah it's me again! I have a new house and found out that our basement has very poor sound insulation. Basically the master bedroom and my daughter's (1 yr old) bedroom are right above the basement. In the basement we have our computers and gaming consoles. If my daughter is laying down in her bed and fighting her nap then you can hear her everywhere in the basement and that's bothersome.

We have a drop ceiling in the basement so it shouldn't be too hard to place something down there, but I have no idea what to look for or what is good/bad. Also is there a way to dampen the sound in the air vents for the AC?

schuss

Looks like something like this may be the best bet (or other insulation solutions):

http://www.acoustimac.com/owens-corning-703-6/?gclid=CjgKEAjwoJ-dBRDbjfKN7IzN0FsSJAAP0G_DcwIqG7QjFdtMbosVq0Mx7sESmSNolmw2T7aksVNmXfD_BwE

Thankfully with a drop ceiling, you likely have a bunch of space to work with. Note that if your problem is things like thumping, you usually can't solve that short of updating the structure to have things like offset joists etc. that means any thumping will transfer through a number of connections. That would involve completely tearing up the floor and redoing it joists-up.

schuss

Even easier

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ceilume-Soniguard-24-in-x-24-in-Drop-Ceiling-Acoustic-Thermal-Insulation-Case-of-25-SONIGRD-CASE/204260961

bowen

So, in order to soundproof the room you're probably going to need to "finish" the basement. That means pulling down the drop ceiling. Once that's done you have a few options. I'd probably just toss in some noise reducing insulation. The thicker the better, check the reviews on it before you buy it, but that's a good one there.

As for silencing the HVAC duct work... that's a big hassle and probably not even worth it. Anything you do to dampen sound will increase the amount of energy to cool/heat the rooms. Is it the AC itself that's annoying or noise carrying from room to room? If it's the former, meh, you'll get used to it. The latter, there are baffles you can install, but you may not want to.

bowen

BTW, You can leave the drop ceiling, but it's not as good as drywall at reducing noise.

bowen

schuss wrote: »

Looks like something like this may be the best bet (or other insulation solutions):

http://www.acoustimac.com/owens-corning-703-6/?gclid=CjgKEAjwoJ-dBRDbjfKN7IzN0FsSJAAP0G_DcwIqG7QjFdtMbosVq0Mx7sESmSNolmw2T7aksVNmXfD_BwE

Thankfully with a drop ceiling, you likely have a bunch of space to work with. Note that if your problem is things like thumping, you usually can't solve that short of updating the structure to have things like offset joists etc. that means any thumping will transfer through a number of connections. That would involve completely tearing up the floor and redoing it joists-up.

Yeah the best way to silence a room is from the offending room itself.

I'd probably tear up the floor and put a sound-proofing membrane down if it was from a laminate/tile/hardwood floor. Carpet pretty much stops sounds completely. But you'll never get rid of thumping noise.

urahonky

schuss wrote: »

Looks like something like this may be the best bet (or other insulation solutions):

http://www.acoustimac.com/owens-corning-703-6/?gclid=CjgKEAjwoJ-dBRDbjfKN7IzN0FsSJAAP0G_DcwIqG7QjFdtMbosVq0Mx7sESmSNolmw2T7aksVNmXfD_BwE

Thankfully with a drop ceiling, you likely have a bunch of space to work with. Note that if your problem is things like thumping, you usually can't solve that short of updating the structure to have things like offset joists etc. that means any thumping will transfer through a number of connections. That would involve completely tearing up the floor and redoing it joists-up.

Luckily it's just actual noise. When my buddies were downstairs helping us move we could hear what they were saying almost clearly from our bedroom.

urahonky

bowen wrote: »

So, in order to soundproof the room you're probably going to need to "finish" the basement. That means pulling down the drop ceiling. Once that's done you have a few options. I'd probably just toss in some noise reducing insulation. The thicker the better, check the reviews on it before you buy it, but that's a good one there.

As for silencing the HVAC duct work... that's a big hassle and probably not even worth it. Anything you do to dampen sound will increase the amount of energy to cool/heat the rooms. Is it the AC itself that's annoying or noise carrying from room to room? If it's the former, meh, you'll get used to it. The latter, there are baffles you can install, but you may not want to.

The AC itself isn't that noisy. I am honestly not sure if the air vents are carrying the noise at this point (I'm assuming the drop ceiling is the main offender). I just wanted to see if there were options just in case it was a problem in the future.

bowen

The insulation into the span between the joists should pretty much stop it if the ducts are picking up sounds. Unless someone is talking right into a duct or something.

urahonky

Thanks for the info guys! This should be plenty of reading for me!

bowen

Also how old is the house?

If you have vent covers like this:



Change them to vent covers like this:



They stop noise a whole lot better.

urahonky

It's the bottom one. And they actually close easily! Unlike every apartment I've ever lived at.

bowen

Yeah it seems like they get their vent covers from the dump or something because I usually have to pull them up and close from behind.

Donovan Puppyfucker

If the sound is carrying through the ducting, could you apply adhesive asphalt sound deadener like this:



to the outside of the ducting to reduce sound travelling along the vents?

bowen

Yeah plus that doubles as a minor insulator, eh?

Donovan Puppyfucker

I know it gets warm to the touch when it's trying to deaden 136dB of subwoofers in a car boot.