Sound Proofing a room?

Question

I and 3 of my friends leased a townhouse, and i need to figure out how to soundproof my room with out damaging the walls... Im also in college so like money is an issue as well

Answer 1

egg cartons like in the old days they would try to sound proof the music rooms. also sirofoam would work.... you could collect egg cartons from everyone wouldn't cost a dime..

Answer 2

Let's look at this objectively.

Most of the other suggestions are not really soundproofing. They will have some effect on mid and high frequencies, but won't help to any significant extent with bass ... the real problem. Further, they will make the room acoustically dull (this may be a concern for, for example, your sound system, or TV)

Unfortunately there are only two things that will really help with bass: increased mass (like concrete or drywall), and resilient decoupling of the room. The latter can be done most simply by "gluing" drywall to the existing wall using a non-hardening elastomeric adhesive (e.g. Green Glue). If finished and painted it would not damage the room ... but is probably more work and cost than you had in mind (and would require prior approval of the landlord). And it won't help with the floor, which is yet another problem area.

So .... you could try some of the other suggestions (the foam panels approach is arguably the best), but don't expect wonders. It may be less expensive and more effective to consider headphones (if you plan to originate the sounds) or wax earplugs (if you need to keep out noise from others).

Hope this helps clarify a bit.

Answer 3

The other suggestions are good ones, such as foam "egg crates" carpet, quilts, etc. You can get carpet "seconds" cheap at carpet warehouses (these are leftover pieces). This would be very cheap because it doesn't matter if the pieces match. Just remember that you also need to sound-proof the ceiling. A nail in each top corner will be good enough for the carpet to hang from the walls. Just remember that the sound will transmit upward and over as well. For this reason I would do the same on the ceiling and maybe even the floor.

Answer 4

I've seen this Q asked dozens of times, and with all due respect (Thumb down or not) I've never known an egg carton to be effective. Despite its shape, which is a primary shape in acoustical foam, sound studio walls, cardboard and air are not very good sound deadeners..

Damage to wall may happen in any case but might not be anymore than normal if you hung pictures etc. I assume you have a security deposit issue.

Carpeting, lined drapes, help some. 4x8 sheets of styrofoam panels against the walls will help as well, and if aesthetics is less important than quiet,, you could do foam panels covered by drapes, or just paint the foam.

You might also have occasional group meetings to work out issues like noise, etc.

Steven Wolf

Answer 5

You're screwed dude. You cant effectvely sound proof a room without tearing down walls and doing it the right way, inside the walls, unless you want to shrink the size of yor room considerably by stacking and tacking things to them. I thnk earplugs or earmuffs would be the most cost effective while giving desirable results..

Answer 6

I would invest in noise cancelling devices that create white noise to hide the offending noise.

A fan running usually creates a good white noise to mask noise.

Answer 7

Blankets(quilt like) on the walls helps.