Soundproofing shop

[GHS Milworks]

Last year I built a small woodshop (moved it out of my garage).
Since I know nothing about concrete, I made the foundation from pier block with 6X6 girders and the 2x6 joists. The walls are standard 2X4 on 16" centers with bottom plate & double top plate. It has insulation black board sheathing and T111 (15/32) exterior.

My question is this. I have a new neighbor and the noise from my table saw seems to upset him. Although the noise cannot be that loud I am going to try and accomadate him because I only have time to work in my shop at odd hours (10-12 p.m.) weekdays (all night) Saturdays.

Does anyone know what I can do to the inside walls to quell some of the noise? The walls right now are just exposed studs and insulation.

Specifically.
1- Would the pink interior sheathing and dry wall fix the problem?
Other than the floor the noise barrier is almost what you would get in a gargae with the door down.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as this is a sideline business and a hobby.

God Bless,

[Joe_Zuki]

I can't answer any of that, but there is a thread over here > http://forums.woodworking.com/cgi-bi...rum=DCForumID4 which discusses noise emanating from shops.
Good Luck,
Donald

[Chagrin]

When soundproofing walls, the idea is to not have any solid connections to the outer wall. If you screw through gypsum directly to your existing studs (whether that be through foam or not) you're not going to help things much.

Your best bet would be to use some "resilient channel". Basically, imagine a 6" wide piece of tin with two 120 degree bends in it (something like ___,--- ). It makes the inside wall "springy" to help dampen the sound. Unfortunately, it's not very conducive to shelves or such.

Alternatively, you could create what is known as a "staggered wall". Here, you're basically adding a second set of studs set away from the outer wall, and your inner wall is attached to that. Normally you'd plan for this at construction time by using a 2x6 for the top and base of your frames and changing the stud spacing to 20" or more.

[Limey]

Limey,
I don't know about building codes or availability. But attached housing is far more prevalent in the UK and noise issues are much more common between neighbours.
Solutions available were foam insulating slabs which were placed between the studs...about 1 1/2 " thick or getting a contractor in to squirt a foaming compound into the cavity behind. In your case you would have to sheetrock first.
One spin off advantage is that you would gain protection from severe cold or excessive heat in addition.
Even loft insulation packed between the studs would absorb some noise.

Cheers Limey

[Rodney Jenkins]

GMS:
I'd start with conventional insulation -- R11 paper backed fiberglas (paper side in). This will not only deaden the sound from inside, but will blunt the weather from the outside (don't forget the floor and ceiling joists). It'll make your shop much more comfortable. This is what I did. The next thing, however, I didn't do, and wish I had: put 1/2" ply on the walls instead of sheetrock. In addition, you should insulate the door(s), assuming you have an overhead door, with blocks of styrofoam. This is a prime source of energy, ergo noise leaks. In TX, if we are closed up tight, we have to air condition for survival in the summer, although I have screens on windows that allow cross ventilation when insects are active (sundown).

If the noise level is still unacceptable, take the muffler off your lawnmower and mow the lawn at a leisurely pace. When you shut it down, you could run the planer with the doors open and it would seem quiet by comparison.

More reasonably, a little chat with a neighbor goes a long way toward tolerance; maybe a little something from the workshop?

rotsa ruck & bee safe

Rodney J in TX

[bluekey88]

Ahhh...sound deadening. Something htat is neart and dear to my heart (I'm a musician who seeminglyu has made a career out of bothering hte neighbors).

Now, I've never tried to sound proof a shop before...but the theory is the same. Like was said before, you want to m,ake sure that teh vibrations of the sound can't carry through your walls...so whatever means you use should not be fastened into the offending wall too much. I think limeys idea of using the styrofoam isnulation sheets will help a lot.

Another thing ot keep in mind is that sound likes to reflect off of objects. It also tends to lessen (lose energy) the farther it has to travel. So, if you are surrounded by flat, reflective surfaces (like flat wallboard ocvered walls) the sound will reflect off of and react with the surface...thus allowing sound to escape to the outside. The solution is to make the reflecting surfaces as not-flat as possible. That's why recording studio walls are often covered in that bumpy foam stuff or old egg cartons. The sound gets trapped in the random surfaces of the wall and loses all it's enegry bouncing around without getting outside.

You could by lots of the bumpy foam material, or egg vcartons and fo the wall with them. Aalternatively, you could hang heavy curtain-liek fabric on the walls. It would accomplish the same thing. Not veyr shop-liek, but effective. If I think of anything else, I'll post eagain. Hope this helps.

Peace,
Erik

Windows 95: A 32-bit extension of a 16-bit shell for an 8-bit program written for a 4-bit processor by a 2-bit company that can't stand 1-bit of competition!

[Steven Wilson]

You're trying to reduce the transmission of noise from your shop through your shop walls. This is a different issue than breaking up standing waves or reducing reflections (i.e. using eggcrates or foam). It would be best if you can isolate your shop floor from the foundation but that would be a cost prohibative retrofit (i.e. a slab floor independant from the side walls and foundation). That would tend to reduce low frequency transmission from motors and machine vibration. For higher frequencies you want to reduce the transmission of sound through your walls. The basics are fairly simple; insulate, isolate, and seal. Insulate the walls the best you can (i.e. highest R-value), also consider double drywall (two layers of drywall w/ Z chanel if you can). Isolate noise transmission - place stationary machines on vibration damping pads, remove windows from the part of your shop facing the neighbors, etc. Seal - if you want to cut down on sound transmission you need to seal everything - no air leaks anywhere. That means all joints need sealing, all electrical outlet boxes, everything; air tight to the point of being AR about it. You can also line your walls with lead sheeting which works very well for isolating a space (use on the wall facing your neighbor).

Of course you can just not use the noisy machines at night !! Invest in some good handtools, and the time to learn them and you can do a great deal of high quality work quietly.

[Sonny Edmonds]

Give the wheining neighbor some ear plugs.
Cheapest fix of all. ;)

:D

Sonny Edmonds
"Precision Firewood Specialist"
http://home.earthlink.net/~sonnypie/
God Bless America !

[GHS Milworks]

I really appreciate the ideas.
Steven,
I used R11 in the walls. The floor is wooden girder with 2 x 6 joists over the top. This would seem to meet the requirement of keeping the vibrations down.

Also for anyone who is interested I think I have deivsed a solution.

I used common 1/2 bubble wrap in the walls and this seems to have dampened the noise considerably. I am still playing with the interior cover for the walls.

Additional info.
Shop has no windows.
Shop has 2 4" double doors in one end.
Airconditioning unit in one end.


Thanks,
george

[merickson]

Plant some fast growing bushes between your houses.