Sound Proofing

[MrSquigle]

I want to sound proof our new bedroom, wife likes to scream and neighbours can hear us, let alone what the nanny is thinking.

What is the best, most attractive method. You could use those recording room tiles on walls and roof, but they are ugly, then how about the windows and doors.

Does double glazing actually work well with soundproofing ?

And how about the door, plenty of room around a door for noise leakages.

[Naam]

I want to sound proof our new bedroom, wife likes to scream and neighbours can hear us, let alone what the nanny is thinking.

leave as is. you should be proud of yourself... you lucky b*st*rd!

[Naam]

And how about the door, plenty of room around a door for noise leakages.

leave door open. no more room around the door where noise can leak.

[klikster]

I want to sound proof our new bedroom, wife likes to scream and neighbours can hear us, let alone what the nanny is thinking.

What is the best, most attractive method. You could use those recording room tiles on walls and roof, but they are ugly, then how about the windows and doors.

Does double glazing actually work well with soundproofing ?

And how about the door, plenty of room around a door for noise leakages.

Sound "proofing" in residential is a barrel of snakes.

Sound "reduction" is accomplished in a combination of ways. It's generally the "weakest link" approach.

1 - Most effective is "sealing", eliminating cracks around doors and windows. Double glazing is often negated by leakafe around winfows. Doors are even worse. A 1 cm opening at the bottom of a door probably reduces the effect of closing the door by 50% due to "flanking".

2 - Next best is absorption. Terrible for appearance and collecting dust. It doesn't actually reduce the sound transmission very much at all, but it reduces the reverberation buildup.

3 - Increasing mass of walls and doors plus double wall effects (double glazing) .. you only get a 6db decrease in sound pressure level with every doubling of mass.

In short, if the house was not designed with acoustics in mind, it's probably a lost cause.

Following in the spirit of Naam's post .. were it me .. I would install a P.A. system.

[MrSquigle]

Lol, but I am shy.

I dont know any person, nor ever heard of a person building/designing their home with accoustics in mind.

Keep in mind this is just one room....and occassionaly the bathroom or office or kitchen counter top...oh and the sofa and the outside deck.

But I realise all the other points are useless, so trying to keep one area where she can express herself without thought for me or neighbour would be nice....it would be my special gift to her.

How about double bricked walls with foam insulation, same for the ceiling and double glazed windows with some thought for the window sealing and door problem...maybe a sliding door....or built into the bedroom an entry way, like a small hallway before actually entering the bedroom proper and then this hallway lined with absorption materials.

[jackr]

Bung up some batten around your walls, fix plasterboard all the way around, bung some loft insulation up above your ceiling, double-glaze your window with lined velvet drapes for curtains, rubber mats or that wiry type carpeting for the floor, and then bung one of those snakes down over the gap in the door at night before the action begins

Could also make yourself an absorber panel out of that 2" foam to stop the reverb of your, sorry, the missus' screams going out the door. Simply cut into different size rectangles and glue to some plywood... hang on the door

[kangeroo]

what about tying something around her mouth ?

[MrSquigle]

I've tried a different version of that and it works to an extent, but I am not ambidextrous

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

Those old cardboard egg cartons are great for sound installation. But I agree with putting something in her mouth to keeep the sound down.

[chownah]

How about double bricked walls with foam insulation, same for the ceiling and double glazed windows with some thought for the window sealing and door problem...maybe a sliding door....or built into the bedroom an entry way, like a small hallway before actually entering the bedroom proper and then this hallway lined with absorption materials.

This sounds good (no pun intended). Playing semi loud music all through the parts of the house near the bedroom should drown out what little sounds escape the bedroom....just be sure that the music you play doesn't pause or have breaks in the sound level that might come (no pun intended) at the wrong time. Having closets or better yet walk in closets on the walls your bedroom shares with other rooms can make a big difference and likewise having closets in the adjoining rooms on the wallls they share with your bedroom will help alot too. A closet full of clothes is a good sound deadener. If you decide to use sheetrock use the thickest you can find. A typical sound deadening wall in the US is basically two wood stud walls built back to back with staggered and slightly offset studs (no pun intended) so that the sheetrock one side is nailed to on set of studs and the sheetrock on the other is nailed (no pun intended) to the other studs and the two walls are thus seperate from each other so that sound can not transmit straight (no pun intended) through.

Chownah

Edited December 18, 2007 by chownah

[Naam]

Keep in mind this is just one room.... and occassionaly the bathroom or office or kitchen counter top...oh and the sofa and the outside deck.

hey Squigle! what about the pool, spa, under the waterfall, on top of a wardrobe, hanging from a chandelier, below a desk, behind the garbage cans or the hot attic?

[Naam]

forgot the dining table

[MrSquigle]

Found an alternative to the problem last night.....got a hotel room and let her rip.

I think I will go with the double brick and foam inside, I did see a type of glass used in a shop in Sukhumvit, on the 5th floor and was 12mm thick and it really did cut down a lot of noise inside from the traffic and skytrain from Sukhumvit, so would like to try that, or double glazing.

Mr Naam, we have done the pool and spa yes, but do not have a waterfall, although have done it at a waterfall in a national park north of Chiang Mai and in a sauna.

Do not like chandeliers, cupboards are built in, under a desk not comfy, dont have an attic and garbage cans just smell too mutt.

Have done it on a bus, taxi, train, helicopter...but not a plane.

Anyway, freedom of speech is the issue here.

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

Really a helicopter, I'm impressed. The pilot must have had trouble keeping his mind on flying. But then I forgot the chopper noise would muffle the screams so who would know?

[jackr]

don't mention it

[Naam]

Really a helicopter, I'm impressed. The pilot must have had trouble keeping his mind on flying. But then I forgot the chopper noise would muffle the screams so who would know?

i think Squigle was flying

[tjo o tjim]

Look for the expanding foam-- foam in a can-- it fills air gaps very well in an existing building. Great for gaps around windows and door frames. Heavy construction is the best route for ground-up construction, but for working with an existing building the best approach is to prevent direct air movement from inside to outside. (Again, the expanding foam works great on this front.)

The egg crates work pretty well for deadening a space (especially for the high frequencies), thick carpets, and insulated walls do well to attenuate noise inside, and prevent reverb from noise on the outside. Sand bags on pendulums are the ultimate way to deaden noise are the best approach inside, in general.

Active noise reduction is also an option-- noise cancellation with a microphone and speaker outside to try and broadcast out-of-phase versions of the noise. Harder to pull off for a wide area, but not bad for an isolated area.

[klikster]

Active noise reduction is also an option-- noise cancellation with a microphone and speaker outside to try and broadcast out-of-phase versions of the noise.

But beware of crossing wires and getting an in-phase condition .. double your fun?

[Naam]

Active noise reduction is also an option--

like gagging with a pair of socks?

[MrSquigle]

Carpet is a good idea and I forgot about that one, would be ok for a bedroom I guess, but I like hardwood floors.

What is a sand bag on a pendulum ?

As for the helicopter....well it was not really sex, just an oral form and no noise to worry about here at 500 feet or so.

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

Mr Sguigle

Don't know what to say.Here I was looking up to you (especially in the helicopter) and you go and blow it! Well actually I guess it was your G/F that blew it . Oral sex in the helicopter just dosen't impress like the real thing does. Guess I will have to find a new idol.

[Naam]

Mr Sguigle

Don't know what to say.Here I was looking up to you (especially in the helicopter) and you go and blow it! Well actually I guess it was your G/F that blew it . Oral sex in the helicopter just dosen't impress like the real thing does. Guess I will have to find a new idol.

Squigle should be more specific on who oralled whom. of course there's only one logical conclusion (because there was no noise)

[ProThaiExpat]

Clearly, adding sound absorbent materials to all surfaces will markedly reduce the sound conduction.

If your serious about this issue and are unwilling to carpet your bedroom floor with a thick pile carpet, then your are at cross purposes.

Gluing foam rubber to the walls and then covering the foam with a very attractive curtain fabric does wonders for sound absorption. A canopy type ceiling covering out of heavy drape material also gives an exotic look and absorbs much sound. In other words, a tent type covering for the ceiling, draped down from a central point suggests a middle east look.

Weather stripping from HomePro that comes pre-sticky-backed takes care of door cracks and a door bottom sealer works well. They come with screws for the most reliable.

If you have an air-con in the bedroom, turning it on to the desired temperature adds "white sound" to the mix and will drown out much of exterior noise and likewise will mask interior noise.

I suspect with careful shopping you could do all the foregoing for 20k. Especially if you placed the wall edge wood stripping in yourself and stapled the rosette edging for the fabric walls to the wood stripping. Very much like upholstering a chair yourself.

Sliding fabric panels or very heavy drapery works to cover windows without going to the expense of double glazing.

[MrSquigle]

We have reasonably heavy fabric on the windows now and we have the aircon on when required, except fro a few sessions where we wet the bed.

With the above, we can hear the neighbours and they are accross the road, so god knows what they are hearing from this end.

The tented 'Gadaffi' style Boudoir is attractive, but high maintenances with dust collection all over and with a child with a possible allergy/asthma problem who loves to come and jump in our bed, not such a good idea.

I am thinking to buy 50 rai upcountry and build in the middle, as long as not in a valley and no echo around, should be ok.....except for the nanny and other staff.

[Crossy]

I'm with the "suppression at source" fix

My (farang) ex. was into the mild bondage scene, nothing violent just a bit of tie-up and gagging (actually finished our relationship, she found a boyfriend who was more willing to indulge her). The 'Japanese' ball-gags are safe and very effective, she can yell as much as she likes with no problem, cheaper than insulation

Probably wise to lock the bedroom door, don't want to traumatise the nipper or (worse) the maid

[MrSquigle]

We dont have japanese children.

[BangnaBound]

Along with the double glazing, using laminated glass also reduces sound transmission.

[jackr]

So are you going to actually give some of these ideas a go or is it more of a sexual awareness thread?

[MrSquigle]

Certainly will be including as many as seem practical in the building....but egg cartons and the sound deadening material on walls is not an attractive option, so will be looking to use what works along with what looks good....after all it is the boudoir, the main entertainment room, the room of action, the coloseum of the modern world.

Curious but, would this thread have got to 2 pages if it did not have sex in it ??

[chownah]

Curious but, would this thread have got to 2 pages if it did not have sex in it ??

barely (no pun intended)