Soundproofing a wooden shed

[grey lagoons]

Soudproofing a wooden shed Hi all, I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on soundproofing my (soon to be) 12ft by 8ft wooden shed. It does not have to be completely soundproof, I just need to cut down on the sound escaping so as not to antagonize neighbours too much with my drum kit. I have done a bit of research and know I will have to insulate the ceiling and floor as well as the walls. I am also led to believe the two buzzwords when carrying out this sort of construction are Mass and Decoupling. It is this second word which I seek advice on. When screwing the plasterboard to the wall studs, is it possible to decouple them by using a layer of green glue on the stud before attaching the board; or could you use some other material (a strip of carpet underlay for example) attached to the stud before attaching the board? Also do the screws play a role in transferring sound from the plasterboard to the studs?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Roy/grey lagoons

[tomo2607]

I cant really offer any advice but im curious as to the answer as im hoping to do the same later this year...

[DrummerJonny]

While having never tried it myself, from discussions on other forums, the answer is pretty much good f*****g luck.

 

Your best bet, as you have rightly noted, is decoupling, building a "room within a room" for your kit. This internal room needs to be connected by as few points as possible to the external one. For total soundproofing, I seem to remember a vacuum being needed between the 2 walls, though insulation materials will go some way to help it out.

 

You are right on your points about the screws carrying the sound through, that will happen, hence the need to use as few points of contact as possible.

 

Also remember the door! the door is a weal spot! might need a double door, one in each wall.

 

My recommendation would be to use the several thousand pounds this would cost you to find a local rehearsal studio to rehearse at. Some will let you keep your kit there, and a full band will be much comfy in a nice studio than crammed in a 6' by 10' room (allowing 1 foot on each wall for insulation)#

 

HTH

 

Jonny (Eventually bought an electric kit after being declared a statutory nuisance because of complaints from my neighbour, and mother of my childhood friend. I'd known the woman for 10 bloody years and she still phoned the police before talking to me. )

[Brian]

I think you also need to think about your floor. If it's a normal garden shed with a wooden floor built on timber bearers resting on the ground/concrete then unless you built a second decoupled floor a lot of noise will be transmitted to the whole structure negating quite a lot of what you do to the walls and roof.

 

TBH I think you are wasting your time trying to insulate a wooden shed.

[Ynot]

Sorry, Roy, but a HUGE +1 from me - it just ain't gonna happen.

 

 

[DrummerJonny]

Maybe these guys can help?

 

http://www.aberdeen-music.com/forums/musicians-corner/63962-rehearsal-room-inverurie-7pm-till-11pm-%C2%A320.html

 

Only downside is it has no toilet, but hey! your shed wouldnt either...

[ramdram]

Decades ago one of my mates had to build a TV studio in Bratislava in an existing building. Naturally cash was an issue so the idea they evolved was a room within a room. The inner room was supported on rubber "cushions" and the cables were festooned to damp out any transmitted sounds.

 

So, once you have your shed you might consider laying down 2 inches of building grade polystyrene batts, so it is firm. (and can take over a foot of concrete if you were building a "warm slab" base for example).

 

Then a timber floor, possibly stirling board. As you build the internal walls (stirling board again), on an internal frame, so it is NOT connected to the outer "box" at all. Add rockwool between the inner wall of the shed and the outer surface of your internal box. This should be sufficiently packed to prevent too much lateral movement of the inner box. I suppose 3 or 4" inches would be a sufficient gap. Or measure the thickness of the rockwool and and make the gap slightly less so as not to compress the rockwool too much.

 

You could have a flat ceiling or pitched; just work backwards towards the shed door and pack the cavity with rockwool as you go.

 

When it comes to the door to your sound proof inner sanctum you can cobble in a "shed door" and use a timber fillet to hold in the rockwool but it need only be fixed to the inner room or the shed itself, not both, so you decouple any sound conduction. You might also be wise to use exterior grade stirling board, which, as I recall, has a green painted edge. Or you can use exterior grade MDF which is a very pale green colour.

 

(Top Tip: wear a mask and ear defenders when cutting the boards. Or do some detailed planning and get the boards pre-cut to your dimensions.)

 

You will need some sort of airvent(s), which will probably be the biggest obstacle to being totally noise proof.

 

Power and lighting to suit yourself. If you wanted natural light then you would have to cobble in a plastic type "window" aligned with the existing shed's, assuming it has one? Then perhaps a thick carpet on the floor and el cheapo cord carpet "Evo Stuck" to the internal walls???

 

You might find it worthwhile tripping down to your local Building Control Officer and asking about building regs, ie you might be advised to use a moisture permeable membrane on the inside wall of the shed, before you lay the rockwool.

 

(see: http://www.thenbs.com/topics/constructionproducts/articles/vapourPermeableUnderlays.asp)

 

The disadvantage of this tho' is that the shed may then be considered as extra habitation and a lever to extract more "rates" from your trousers, ** laughs out loud **.

 

Don't forget to put a decent lock on the place and add the structure to your house insurance if you intend to keep your kit in it. Probably best to inform your insurance co anyway.

 

HTH

 

Edit: typos.

[Jivemaster]

You cannot insulate a shed, simple, end of!

 

What you can do is create an acoustic drum practise room and then make it look like a shed by assembling a shed round it. Start thinking of concrete footing slab, DPM, concrete floor slab, acoustic float layer, then studio floor slab. Start thinking of BIG money, planning permission, building regs approval and then Acoustician's fees. The studio will not be a temporary structure like a shed so it will be controlled by planning regs, building regs etc.Also it will almost certainly affect the value of your property and the rateable charges. Also you will need mains services providing.

You are going to make 120dB inside your shed and in many areas 35 - 50db will be considered ambient so you need to provide 95dB of attenuation (a shed may provide 5dB!) This is probably at the limit of engineering technology in a "garden" environment.

 

Remember that you could become the start of messy and expensive litigation if you upset the neighbours and a nuisance case is raised by the local council. this may well force you to move and may also blight your property value.

[Junior8]

Rent an allotmernt and put the shed on that....

[Brian]

...you need to provide 95dB of attenuation (a shed may provide 5dB!) This is probably at the limit of engineering technology in a "garden" environment.

I haven't run the full numbers but to achieve that sort of attenuation you're looking at two 9" thick brickwork wall, fully decoupled from each other, plus something like an internal single sided Camden wall.

[Jivemaster]

Exactly! Drum kit in a fully isolated drum studio will cost and will work. Drum kit in a garden shed will be antisocial and cost by way of litigation. You can make it LOOK like a shed afterwards if you want, but fully isolated drum studio ISN'T "Garden Shed" technology.

[Matthew Robinson]

What about getting a shed built of brick? Better attenuation of sound, less easy to break into, stronger. You're looking at a lot of money anyway.

 

Also, would suspension of the internal room within the building do anything for noise levels? Just thinking, that's pretty much the ultimate in decoupling.

[T.Colwill]

.... you're looking at two 9" thick brickwork wall, fully decoupled from each other, plus something like an internal single sided Camden wall...

I think thats what you would call a house..... :P

[Brian]

I think thats what you would call a house..... :P

A house of course only has two 4.5" leaves; one of which is usually of lightweight blockwork. At low frequencies you'd be lucky to get 65dB attenuation out of that.

[KevinS]

Get one of these:

http://www.studiospa...om/invt/411500/

Put it on some old tyres for ground isolation and build a shed around it. ( or paint it green and grow some ivy up the outside)

 

It's still a temporary structure so no building regs/planning issues

 

 

KS