Soundproofing

[Jay H 237]

How much work are you willing to do to the room? Carpet and padding on the floor helps. To stop noises from transfering through the walls it is best to frame out another wall in front of the existing wall. Don't allow the two walls to touch (ie. don't attach the new studs to the existing wall, only anchor it at the floor and ceiling) because it would be a direct path for sound to travel. You can just nail or screw it to the ceiling or floor, or if the floor is concrete use lead shields or redheads. Insulate between the walls and seal (caulk) any electrical boxes and such. Drywall (sheetrock) is a good sound barrier. Use this on the "new" wall. You can also put acoustical ceiling tiles up. If you do a suspended ceiling you could also roll out bats of insulation on top of it. If the existing wall is already drywall and you don't want to frame another wall you could also add another layer of drywall on top of the current one (they actually do this in some apartments and condos) since drywall is dense and blocks sound. You'd have to extend the eletrical boxes but they sell the extensions at most home improvment stores. This won't be as effective as a second wall but in some situations works reasonalbly well.