Sound-proofing a garage - recommendations

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Hi guys,

I want to sound-proof my garage to accommodate acoustic drums for my son, a place for me to play at a nice volume and possibly band rehearsals.

I can't undertake any of the work myself and so I'm looking to see if anyone has done this and can recommend someone/a company close to Surrey..

Cheers 
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Comments

  • olafgartenolafgarten Frets: 1648
    The basic idea behind soundproofing is that you need to block both airborne sound and vibration energy from being coupled to the ground.

    Airborne sound is blocked by adding mass to the walls floor and ceiling, dense material can be added to stop it moving through.

    Vibrational energy is usually blocked by decoupling the source of the vibration from the room, this is usually achieved by building a 'room inside a room'. A smaller timber frame room is built inside the building and is isolated by using clips to connect it to the outer wall. 
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    You won't be able to soundproof to any reasonable degree with spending more than I am guessing you are willing to for a son's hobby.
    You need a lot of mass to do it properly and if you don't do it properly you might as well not bother.

    Either get an electronic kit for him, and/or convince him to use low volume cymbals and mesh pads.
    This is how I practice (a bit of both).

    To do it properly you will need to float the floor, build a room within a room and install HVAC.
    It will cost £20k minimum and will only get you a degree of soundproofing, you will still hear the bass drum outside the room.
    I've done this myself (doing the work so the costs were down on £20k) and it was ok, but not perfect.

    To go lower you will need more mass, which is more expense.
    A friend of mine in Switzerland did it properly and he spent about £60k.
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  • JalapenoJalapeno Frets: 6378
    This is worth watching

    Imagine something sharp and witty here ......

    Feedback
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  • KebabkidKebabkid Frets: 3301
    Thanks everyone for your comments.
    @Jalapeno - I watched that very video about a month ago and it's excellent.

    @Octatonic- The room would double/treble up as a rehearsal space/music den for me as well as for my son, plus my wife is a music/singing teacher and could occasionally make use of the room if showing off mic technique with a PA etc and so we're ready to throw decent (up to £20K) at it but not *stupid money after this as we know the room will get use from all of us.

    It certainly wouldn't be a DIY project as I'm crap at that sort of thing. From what I understand, we need at least 50db damping but it is a worry when you say that even doing the things you mention, and they're already things we've taken as a given, it still wouldn't be ideal :(

    My son already has a Roland Kit, which he's learnt on and been playing for 4 years, and he manages to play on an acoustic kit once a week at Rock School. However, he's getting up to a fine standard (Grade 5-6) and we need to get him an acoustic kit and so we're serious about it.

    I've checked out a few links to sound-proofing companies and they give consultations and some have recommended contractors, but I just wondered if anyone in London, Surrey or around the M25 had used someone with a successful outcome.

    Extra Rooms are very good but they don't use existing structures and build from scratch. They guarantee you won't hear a thing and have plenty of examples for you to visit but we're talking *£30-40K!

     
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  • poopotpoopot Frets: 9098
    This is my pals studio that he had built in his garden. Cost just for the “shed” was circa £80k





    Floating room inside a room etc... with a full band at volume in the studio, from the outside it’s compleatly silent.
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  • KebabkidKebabkid Frets: 3301
    @poopot - yep and I can believe that. Looks like an Extra Rooms jobbie or very similar.
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  • Jimbro66Jimbro66 Frets: 2418
    Kebabkid said:
     
    ......but it is a worry when you say that even doing the things you mention, and they're already things we've taken as a given, it still wouldn't be ideal :( 
    This depends on how close you are to neighbours who are likely to be affected, and also what the general level of background noise is in your location. Sometimes a small amount of overspill can be acceptable.
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  • KebabkidKebabkid Frets: 3301
    edited June 2018
    True and we're lucky the garage isn't attached to the house and is probably 5 metres from the nearest neighbours. It's a quiet neighbourhood.

    A stroke of luck. A local friend is a studio engineer, runs his own studio and venue and teaches the subject and has experience of this and contacts. He's coming round next week to take measurements and give advice as to what's possible and give me an idea of what it might cost - it's a start
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  • Jimbro66Jimbro66 Frets: 2418
    Kebabkid said:
    True and were lucky the garage isn't attached to the house and is probably 5 metres from the nearest neighbours. It's a quiet neighbourhood.

    A stroke of luck. A local friend is a studio engineer, runs his own studio and venue and teaches the subject and has experience of this and contacts. He's coming round next week to take measurements and give advice as to what's possible and give me an idea of what it might cost - it's a start :)
    That sounds excellent. Please let us know the outcome. I'm sure it will be of interest to many here.
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  • John_PJohn_P Frets: 2744
    I’ll be following your progress.   All being well I’m planning a similar project this summer but I’m going to knock down the garage and use some of the currently wasted ground around it to build a bigger one - I estimate I can somewhere around 5mx6m.   
    It’s about 20m from the nearest house so I aren’t stressing about getting silence on the outside but as close as I can.   
    I’m going to lay a concrete base and build double walls with dense concrete blocks and insulation.  Float a wooden floor and add More insulation  and a double layer plasterboard inner wall.    
    My worries are more about windows and doors but hopefully having two layers of double glazed window and double doors will do the job. 
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  • robinbowesrobinbowes Frets: 3021
    poopot said:
    This is my pals studio that he had built in his garden. Cost just for the “shed” was circa £80k





    Floating room inside a room etc... with a full band at volume in the studio, from the outside it’s compleatly silent.

    Do you happen to have any links/contacts for the people who built it?

    R.
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  • poopotpoopot Frets: 9098
    Do you happen to have any links/contacts for the people who built it?

    R.
    I’ll ask tomorrow!..
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  • KebabkidKebabkid Frets: 3301
    edited June 2018
    @robinbowes - it looks very similar to extrarooms. Take a look at them

    http://www.extrarooms.co.uk/sound-proofed-rooms/



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  • vizviz Frets: 10645
    We just had one done by Myspace Studios. It’s not 100% soundproofed, though they can offer that. It’s pretty good - it has soundproofing in the walls floor and ceiling, two floors, triple glazed doors and windows and special seals, and it’s damped inside with tapestries etc so it sounds excellent inside and very quiet outside. 

    http://i.imgur.com/s7kHoXZ.jpg

    http://i.imgur.com/XJk9qjY.jpg


    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • KebabkidKebabkid Frets: 3301
    That looks good Viz. I think I could live with faint noise outside if it came down to it.

    If it progresses and is financially viable, I'll keep people posted.
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  • poopotpoopot Frets: 9098
    poopot said:
    This is my pals studio that he had built in his garden. Cost just for the “shed” was circa £80k





    Floating room inside a room etc... with a full band at volume in the studio, from the outside it’s compleatly silent.

    Do you happen to have any links/contacts for the people who built it?

    R.
    He used a builder who had done similar to do the job... builder is now retired unfortunately!...
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  • vizviz Frets: 10645
    Kebabkid said:
    That looks good Viz. I think I could live with faint noise outside if it came down to it.

    If it progresses and is financially viable, I'll keep people posted.
    The guy Mark Alvarez is a star and really easy to deal with - give him a call. 
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • KebabkidKebabkid Frets: 3301
    viz said:
    Kebabkid said:
    That looks good Viz. I think I could live with faint noise outside if it came down to it.

    If it progresses and is financially viable, I'll keep people posted.
    The guy Mark Alvarez is a star and really easy to deal with - give him a call. 
    Thanks Viz and here's a link to his website if anyone else is interested
    http://www.myspacestudios.co.uk/pricing.htm


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  • KebabkidKebabkid Frets: 3301
    edited September 2018
    Well, I finally found a good, local company that had acoustic/sound proofing consultants and a build division and was all set to have work start on my garage to studio conversion and then the b'stards fell out with each other and it's dead in the water!

    Pissed off and back to the drawing board and this was literally Eleventh Hour stuff :(
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  • I too am following this with a keen interest. If you haven't seen I already have a thread about turning an existing garage at the back of my house into a music room. Won't have bands in there so soundproofing isn't a priority just enough not to piss the neighbours off. I've been quoted up to £18k to do the whole thing (its just bricks and mortar currently) so everything from roof to rendering, inside plasterboard, bricks and electricity supply. Just waiting on prices from a couple of builders to do the roof and outside. 
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