Soundproofing a bedroom to make a music room

I did exactly what you are looking to do. In my case, two extra layers of drywall on each wall and on the ceiling, sandwiching two layer of something called "green glue." Likewise with the room's closet walls and ceiling, so that sound waves do not escape that route. Floor, just plain old relatively inexpensive wood laminate flooring over layer of plastic insulation. Have had no complaints. Building has paper thin walls.

Lowery do you live a Pre-War or Post War buliding?

post-war - the walls are actually mostly hollow, with "fill" in mesh

Lowery. thank you for your helpful response. Did you do the work yourself or if not, can you recommend your contractor? How large a room did you soundproof and if you don't mind, can you tell us about what it cost?

for the walls is is best if you can construct a new wall that does not touch the existing wall, creating some dead space in between them.

lots of good info here:
http://soundproofing.org/

for materials look into QuietRock. i had a noisy neighbor in nyc. i attached a layer of quietrock to our shared wall and never heard her or her yappy dog again.
http://www.quietsolution.com/

^---- Be careful about creating a "triple leaf" effect. It makes the noise worse. Creating dead space is great, but usually the recommend amount of dead air space is approximately 6" or more. Way too much real estate for a NYC apartment. I'd recommend the double/triple layer of 5/8 drywall with AT LEAST 3 tubes of Green Glue per sheetrock, 3.5 or 4 tubes would be THE BEST.

^----- pa, Which Quiet Rock did you use to silence your noisy neighbor? I.e., 510, 516, 525, 527, 528, 530, 530RF, or 545THX?
http://www.quietsolution.com/html/quietrock.html?utm_source=onthehouse&utm_medium=OTHpartnerbannerQR&utm_campaign=OTH0709

i don't remember the model number. it was the cheapest one available a few years ago which was around $100 per sheet back then. it was totally effective for my situation. i had to cut it in half to fit it in the elevator, which was not easy. i think it was around 3/4" thick, and very heavy.

true that adding an interior wall is not practical for nyc.

sunshine, I used Pharris Construction as a contractor
The contractor's name is actually Patrick Harris
There are other solutions, depending on the space.
In mine, it was not possible to build a room within
a room with dead space in between, as it were, but
that is one solution.

You could ask City Soundproofing for advice/consultation:
citysoundproofing.com

Or choose your own solution and hire your own contractor.

I have heard all kinds of recommendations from people who "saw something at Home Depot" or "know someone who," etc. One thing I'm curious about because I heard of it in relation to Marcel Proust's eccentric lifestyle is cork. I don't think I've ever heard of someone in NYC lining their apartment with cork. Is that one of those old wive's tales?

I'm sure you've thought about resale; generally that type of modification wouldn't be a positive selling feature, I'd think.

Thanks lowery, psychoactive and 1OneWon for your excellent advice and recommendations. Lowery, I checked "search discussions" and there was a discussion 4 weeks ago entitled, "Cork Flooring, Good Idea or Not". You're correct about Marcel Proust. I'm always meaning to finish "Remembrance of Time Passed". It's yet another book I should have finished when I was younger and had more time and patience. Thanks again to everyone.

I just soundproofed the entire ceiling in my pre-war apt to combat upstairs neightbor noise ( footsteps) I have not moved in yet--still renovating and green glue takes a month to cure so cant vouch for results but the company who did it is called Brooklyn Soundproofing and Insulation, they worked very quickly and did a nice job--not sure of results though as I said and not cheap, but very professional and quality work.

Mjh - That is exactly the kind of first hand experience that I've been looking for. I've talked to general contractors who gave estimates of green gluing or quiet rocking just the noisy part of my ceiling (~500sf) from $4k to $8k.

If you wouldn't mind:

1. What did they charge you and how much square feet of ceiling did they do?
2. Be sure to post back in a few days, week, and months after you have moved in and let us know of the results.

Mmjh1962, did you soundproof the ceilings in the closets and bathrooms in or right near the bedrooms or just soundproof the ceiling in the bedroom or bedroom space only? Thanks.

re resale value, depends on the prospective buyer - for some it would be a plus - for me it's a necessity, and I did it for me, not for resale

sunshine - forgot to mention - doors are an issue as well, and the air space between the doors, floors and doorjambs - there are also solutions for those

Lowery, you are so right about the doors and the air spaces between the doors, floors and doorjambs. I hate to bother you again since you've been so great but do you have any suggestions to minimize noise leaving the room?

Also lowery, I totally agree with your response concerning possible impact on resale value. You need to be comfortable living in your space and for some people (like myself), soundproofing is a definite plus.

sunshine, in my case the existing doors were so flimsy I had to replace them. I took the contractor's advice to buy new solid wood doors, and he recommended a product which he then installed for me. It's a rubber strip that fills up the airspace around the door, and then there's a door stop that the action of closing the door closes down over the floor outside the door to seal off the bottom of the door.

You can still hear my music from outside my room, but it is very muffled, and it doesn't travel much outside my apartment. Without these measures I had taken, I would have been run out of the building, because I can literally hear conversation and TVs in neighboring apartments.

Lowery, do you recall the name of the rubber strip product and the door store item? Did you purchase these products yourself or did your contractor get them for you?
You've been so nice. If this wasn't an anonynous message board, I'd offer to send you a thank you gift for all your help.

I wish I could remember the name of the door stops and door strips by product name/manufacturer. I think they may have come in the same box, actually. I paid the soundproofing consultant I had hired, and would not have known of the product's existence otherwise. It's not a Home Depot item. Maybe research it via google. And of course, every home is different. I ended up spending much more than I had expected, but for the first time in my life I can play out as loud as I feel like playing and know that I will not get a nasty note, or a phone call from the concierge, or a letter from the managing agent. I suspect you can save money, though, if you know all the products' source. Call Pharris Construction.

You can find a lot of this type of item at zerointernational.com

Sunshine, I am a piccolo player and attempted to sound proof a practice area off my bedroom. We consulted and bought some supplies from City Soundproofing. You might want to give them a call - they are VERY familiar with soundproofing Manhattan apartments for musicians.

soundproofing to make a boom boom room? can i just combine the champagne and boom boom room? or is that redundant?

Thanks korenmcc for the helpful suggestion.