Sound Proofing walls

what should i construct my walls of in my soon to be movie room? it will be on the second floor of my house and would like to keep it as quite as possible form the rest of the house! the room i am going to gut so i have access to everything and i am a carpenter so the work is prett easy. thanks
tony

 

I used to live in a noisy place and researched this at one point. Here are a few ideas, but I would research it for yourself before doing any work. I do not have the experience to say if they work or not.

Containing sound to a room is easier than keeping sound out.

You could use 2x6's for the bottom and top of the walls, then stagger 2x4 studs. Place them so that one stud is next to one room, then the next is closest to the other room, and so on. You still should have 16" spacing for each room. This will help keep the studs from transferring vibrations. This would also give you a space to weave insulation. Alternatively, you could build a new wall just inside (but not touching) the current wall.

You can buy metal strips that attach to the studs, then the drywall attaches to the strips. This helps reduce sound transmission.

There is caulk available that can go between the drywall and the studs to help reduce sound transmission; and it can be used to fill any voids around junction boxes, etc.

I would use 5/8" drywall. You can even do two layers of 5/8" drywall. A heavy door will help reduce sound transmission as well.

I would somehow soundproof the floor of this room. Maybe you could insulate the space between the floor joists; or soundproof the ceiling below. Using carpet might help.

OR, you could just turn down the volume when people are trying to sleep. Good Luck.

 

This is called Resilient Channel, a.k.a. Sound Channel. It's important that the screws used to attach the drywall don't penetrate through the channel into the studs. The purpose is to "float" the drywall.

In any case, it's relatively easy to insulate and isolate a room from passing frequencies above 1kHz.

It's the bass and subwoofer frequencies that will kill you. Subs can vibrate the structural components of the house, and they'll be heard everywhere just as if you're seated in front of it.

The only way around it is to build a completely isolated "room within a room" where there are no direct connections between the structure and the room's walls, floor, and ceilings. Usually this is done from the floor up by starting with a sandbox, adding a layer of rubber or foam insulation, then building from there.

Even then, a subwoofer in direct contact ("coupled") with the floating room will vibrate the room and structure. The sub must be put in its own sandbox.

It's not cheap to do it right, and not really feasible in an average home.