Soundproofing Tips and Tricks

/ Brooklyn Insulation & Soundproofing/

A Quick Look at a Few Tips and Tricks When Soundproofing

When it comes to soundproofing a space there are a few things one would have to consider. Here are just a few items that we run into. 

  • You will lose out on either square footage of a room when dealing with walls. You will lose out on ceiling height when dealing with ceilings. This is a fact no matter how you cut it. There are ways to limit the amount of space taken up but if you really want a soundproofed place you will lose out on anywhere from 2” to 6”. 
  • Recessed lights or any cut out in ceiling or wall will reduce the soundproofing effectiveness. There are ways that we can still seal up those holes but keep in mind that anything that has a straight cut through that wall or ceiling is a weak point that sound will get through. 
  • Sprinklers or other hard connections will have to get lowered. We can work around items like these but depending on the building they might have a guys that already deals with the sprinkler system that can lower those for you. 
  • Filling the cavity with any insulation will not help out at all. This just adds more connection points for sound to transmit through. The best friend in soundproofing is air and allowing sound to travel through that air cavity and lose its energy over the distance. 
  • Mass Loaded Vinyl/Quiety Rock is not the end all solution for any soundproofing. There are several items that need to be addressed when soundproofing not just adding stuff to the walls or ceilings. Just adding mass loaded vinyl or another layer of drywall or quiet rock will not fix your problem. You might be better off just saving your money if that is the only solution your contractor came up with.
  • To reduce the dB in the space just by adding density you need to keep doubling the mass to get a 10dB reduction. So if you have 2 layers of 5/8” X-Type drywall you need to add another 2 layers. From that point if you want another 10dB drop you need to double the mass again. So add 4 layers and so on. Decoupling helps break that into a more reasonable source. 
  • Not all soundproofing companies are the same. Some out source all the labor so do your research on who is going to be doing the physical work. At Brooklyn Insulation & Soundproofing we have our own crews that are well trained and have been with the company for years. Just think if you had the best and expensive materials but had a crew that not clue how to install them properly, it would be like having a Ferrari with a lawn mower engine in it. Looks great but its not really a Ferrari. 

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