# soundproofing growroom



## 420forme (Mar 28, 2012)

I have a 10 x 12 x 7 1/2' grow room with like a shit load of fans, and a/c running, it sounds like a wind tunnel outside the growroom door. So I want to add some sound proofing to the walls and door. Can anyone recommend a affordable type to use? And where to get it? Everything i've seen is really expensive like $100 for a 4x8 sheet, and I would need like 10. Has anyone dealt with this before?


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## mike91sr (Mar 29, 2012)

If you could build a second entryway within the room, maybe 3x3, and then just insulate that that'd be ideal IMO. Otherwise beefing up the walls and door won't do much, the sound will still come right through the doorway.


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## cues (Mar 29, 2012)

I know this will sound mad but use the bottom of cardboard egg-boxes. The bit the eggs actually sit in. We did it in my younger days when I played guitar in a band for our practise room and it worked really well. Getting that many may be a problem though. We got them from a neighbour who was a market trader. Live off omelettes for a couple of months maybe


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## mikeharold (Mar 29, 2012)

If you want to knock the sound down by 80% and can do a little drywall damage, here's what you do. Find a local building supply yard (not Lowes or Depot, etc...) or insulation company and see if they carry sound board. It comes in 4'x8' sheets and is 1/2" thick. You will also need some RC channel. Typically you would put the soundboard on the wall first(with r13 insullation in the wall you will get 90% reduction) then attach the rc channel which stands off the soundboard 1/2" and attch your drywall to that. I've never added the soundboard over the drywall, but it should work pretty well. The soundboard is pretty cheap, only like $7 a sheet around here plus the channel. It really works extremely well and is about the cheapest way to do a whole room. Good luck.


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## bowlfullofbliss (Mar 29, 2012)

One thing I did was build a housing for all of my inline fans, which are the loudest. I took 2 x 4's and built a box to fit each one, enclosed the sides with drywall, placed the fan in it, made the connections, then stuffed the entire box around the fans with insulation. I then closed it up, and used expanded foam to seal in the ducting. You can barely hear them run. There is little you can do for the Ac and the standing fans, but this will at least quiet the big loud ones. You can still hear my rooms run, but it isn't as loud as it should be LOL.


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## RetiredMatthebrute (Mar 29, 2012)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/50-CHICKEN-PAPER-EGG-CARTONS-TRAYS-FLATS-HATCHING-CRAFTS-ART-PRESCHOOL-SCHOOL-/251025481610?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a7248df8a

egg cartons will work and some people save them, might be able to find a bunch in the local classifieds or here on E bay they have 30 count for 10 bucks, im sure if you ordered 150 of them it would be a pretty good start. 

also amazon has this stuff 

http://www.amazon.com/Sonic-Barrier-Acoustic-Foam-PSA/dp/B0007XFBE0/ref=pd_sim_MI_4

you will need 10 rolls of the stuff above to cover that whole area, it comes out to like 9.199999999999 rolls to cover you area so you can either order 10 to be safe or 9 and try and cut corners. not sure how many egg cartons you would need but they are pretty hokey looking. also the foam is black so your going to want to cover it with panda film or mylar. not sure how well it will paint.


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## 420forme (Mar 29, 2012)

Thanks for the ideas everyone. I should give some more details. My growroom is built in the corner of my basement and doesn't have any inner wall (exposed studs), and the outer wall is plywood. I grow in tents, inside the growroom. I like the price on those egg crates but don't think they will work very well for blocking sound, they make them out of foam as well, actually for noise reduction, they usually come in 12x12 squares, i'm just looking for a good price on them. I also wonder if I can just cut up some soundboard? I can't really finish the room with a inner wall now that everything is up and running.


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## 420forme (Mar 29, 2012)

Also like the box idea, but my tents wouldn't handle the added weight of the boxes.


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## skefaman (Mar 29, 2012)

build a box around your tent.


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## RetiredMatthebrute (Mar 29, 2012)

maybe hit up the home depot and get a bunch of 2x2 studs and some panda film, then you can frame out your area, dump the tents and build boxes right into the walls for the fans ect. 

probally be able to sell the tents (if you want to) to get the money for the new project, it will also leave you with more room to work and more options fo upgrade later down the road. 

then all you have to do is buy 1 piece of the egg carton soundproofing for the soundproof box you will be building and route everything through that, also getting it out of the tent enclosure will reduce the amount of fans you need as you wont have to worry about heat so much, just vent both room from the top with one fan and a Y connector and you can get rid of the other ones your running, save money on electric and cut down on noise + give yourself more room to grow, could even setup a nice little cloning station in the veg room and a mother station if you want. 

tents are great but if you have the room nothing beats a framed out grow room customized to your needs.


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## Rrog (Mar 29, 2012)

Egg cartons are an old urban legend. They do zero for soundproofing. They can cut a bit of echo, which is what leads people to believe there's some soundproofing happening, which there is not.

Soundboard is nearly as useless, I'm afraid. Foams are not what you want either. What you want is MASS. Heavy. Standard 5/8" drywall is good and heavy. Plywood is good, but more $ and not as dense. Using a sheet of both gives you a nail base anywhere you want to attach something. 

If you're in a corner, you'd want two real walls built. Heavy drywall on them and the ceiling as well. 

For the door, look at an exterior steel door, as it has weatherstrip. Or get a solid core (1 3/4" thick) door and apply your own seals.


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## fall3n (Mar 29, 2012)

I used studio foam. But very expensive works amazing.my friend however used queen size eggshell foam bed covers then lined that with panda. he bought 5 covered his whole room. He uses 2 790 cfm fans, 4 oscillating fans two window mounted ac and one split ac. Almost zero sound .outside


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## Someguy15 (Mar 29, 2012)

Inline fans seem to be the worst offenders. Can't really hear box fans or wall fans through doors. Insulated box for the inlines + duct silencers afterward if necessary. It is cheaper to deaden the problem area then the entire room.


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## Rrog (Mar 29, 2012)

Studio foam and egg cartons do not assist with soundproofing. Plus you have to be careful about adding incredible surface area for mold. Take a trip to studio building or home theater building forums to see for yourself. 

Building a muffler for the fans can be a good thing. Requires drywall, insulation and flex duct


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## cues (Mar 29, 2012)

Rrog said:


> Egg cartons are an old urban legend. They do zero for soundproofing. They can cut a bit of echo, which is what leads people to believe there's some soundproofing happening, which there is not.
> 
> Soundboard is nearly as useless, I'm afraid. Foams are not what you want either. What you want is MASS. Heavy. Standard 5/8" drywall is good and heavy. Plywood is good, but more $ and not as dense. Using a sheet of both gives you a nail base anywhere you want to attach something.
> 
> ...


Old Urban legend? I think my old neighbour would disagree. Yes, they cut echo. They also cut sound getting out. No doubt, take it from one who has done it.


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## Rrog (Mar 29, 2012)

cues said:


> Old Urban legend? I think my old neighbour would disagree. Yes, they cut echo. They also cut sound getting out. No doubt, take it from one who has done it.


Here's the scoop. If a sound wave has sufficient energy to leave the room it has WAY MORE than enough energy to pass through the egg cartons. They have nearly no mass. Conversely, if a sound wave has so little energy that a low-mass foam or egg carton could affect it, then it by definition had insufficient energy to pass through the walls in the first place.

People confuse a reduction in reverberation (echo) as soundproofing, when they are in fact completely independent.

By the way, sound doesn't actually "pass through" a wall like an X-ray does. A sound wave is actually re-created on the other side of the wall, but I'm looking to keep this a straightforward dialog.


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## 420forme (Mar 29, 2012)

I want to keeps the tents because i'm running sealed environment with co2. I may try the box idea, mabye I can hang them with chains running through the tent attached to ceiling studs, but space is at a minimum. Other than that, I guess heavy drywall will be the cheapest. The matress foam would be easy and cheap, but I question how well it will work, its very lite. Real sound dampening foam is like 3lbs per sq ft.


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## Rrog (Mar 29, 2012)

The number one factor in sound proofing is mass. Drywall is very cheap, easy to work with, mass. I cannot emphasis this enough. Mattress pads, memory foam, egg cartons, etc are not used in soundproofing, unless someone was sold a bill of goods. Fortunately there is real lab tested sound proofing data online.


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## 420forme (Mar 29, 2012)

well this got me thinking, what is the easiest/cheapest way to put up some walls. Instead of using two 5x5 and a 3x3 tent, I could split my room into two 6x6's, and a 3x4, and still have a 4x9 work space.


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## Rrog (Mar 29, 2012)

2x4 wood or steel studs, 24" on center. Use 5/8" drywall. Heavier than 1/2". Ventilation is an issue. You're poking a hole in the massive wall. You can build mufflers


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## 420forme (Mar 29, 2012)

Build a muffler? Like a drywall box filled with insulation?


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## 420forme (Mar 29, 2012)

Do the walls need to be attached to the cement floor?


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## Rrog (Mar 30, 2012)

Yes. You can use Tapcon screws or power-actuated nails. Seal the bottom plates to the slab with sealant. Is this a rental unit where landlord will mind?


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## Rrog (Mar 30, 2012)

420forme said:


> Build a muffler? Like a drywall box filled with insulation?


Yes, essentially. I can detail that better if you decide to build them.


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## RetiredMatthebrute (Mar 30, 2012)

420forme said:


> Do the walls need to be attached to the cement floor?


for a job well done....yes

if its a square box framed out well it should sit without being nailed down, you can fasten it to the floor joists above to help sturdy it if you dont want to nail into the cement. 

nailing into the cement is going to help you keep good square and keep anything from moving, they sell concrete nails and you dont need many, if your decent with a good 21 oz framing hammer (or bigger) you can just pount them into the floor but it takes a bit of work. alternatly they sell a gun that will drive the nails for you but its expensive. you may be able to find a rental one somewhere but ultimatly a good heavy hammer is just as good. 

also if you plan on this being up for a good while (more than 2 years) use pressure treated lumber against any cement surface. this is not a MUST but concrete holds moisture and regular kiln dried lumber will absorb the moisture and rot fairly fast, also keep your drywall about 1/4 of a inch from the concrete to avoid it taking on excess moisture


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## Rrog (Mar 30, 2012)

I agree with all that


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## cues (Mar 30, 2012)

Rrog, I owe you an apology. Called my old drummer (who doubled up as our recording man/sound sound technician!) and he confirmed what you said. The egg boxes were more about the echo/reverb. Apparently they help to some extent with sound-proofing but not a lot. He went right into one about why we recorded one track in a church as is was the reverb that we needed.


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## 420forme (Mar 30, 2012)

Ok, I think I can handle this. Build the walls with drywall, and cover with panda. I can attach to existing walls and ceiling, hoping to avoid nailing into floor. still want to make some mufflers. I looked at the ones they sell on Ebay, can't I just buy a 2' pc. of 8" duct, glue a pc. of egg crate foam inside, and duct down the ends with 8-6" reducers, for a 6" line?


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## CashCrops (Mar 30, 2012)

Higher Metallica to play over the noise? Shouldn't cost that much


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## FR33MASON (Mar 30, 2012)

A product that is used in commercial sound proofing is rock wool. Roxsul is the brand name and is mfg. by saint gobain. It comes in batts just like other insulation. It is used to dampen the noises made by hvac units traveling through the ducts. It also is used around bathroom walls for the same purpose. I figure that if you are going to frame and drywall, that would definitely be a plus with your build.


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## cues (Mar 30, 2012)

A quick google came up with this.
http://www.gowallpaper.co.uk/category/Wallrock_Range/Wallrock_Thermal_Liner,b.html


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## 420forme (Mar 30, 2012)

Too bad i'm in the states. Expensive too!


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## Rrog (Mar 30, 2012)

cues said:


> Rrog, I owe you an apology. Called my old drummer (who doubled up as our recording man/sound sound technician!) and he confirmed what you said. The egg boxes were more about the echo/reverb. Apparently they help to some extent with sound-proofing but not a lot. He went right into one about why we recorded one track in a church as is was the reverb that we needed.


Most people would not have half the class you display with a humble reply like that. Clearly you are a man who takes the high road. I tip my hat to you, sir.



FR33MASON said:


> A product that is used in commercial sound proofing is rock wool. Roxsul is the brand name and is mfg. by saint gobain. It comes in batts just like other insulation. It is used to dampen the noises made by hvac units traveling through the ducts. It also is used around bathroom walls for the same purpose. I figure that if you are going to frame and drywall, that would definitely be a plus with your build.


Independent lab data shows that standard fiberglass works as well. This lab data is available online. Insulation improves things, but not as much as you'd expect. Stick to fiberglass since it's cheaper. Use kraft-paper faced R13.


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## Rrog (Mar 30, 2012)

cues said:


> A quick google came up with this.
> http://www.gowallpaper.co.uk/category/Wallrock_Range/Wallrock_Thermal_Liner,b.html


That's a medium density insulation. Note the frequencies affected are 2000 and 4000Hz. Standard drywall at $9 a sheet will do a heck of a lot more. 

If the noise you have is simply fans and blowers, a standard single stud wall will work with 5/8" drywall. You should frame at 24" OC studs, use the R13 I mentioned. You'll want to do the ceiling as well. By the foundation walls there will be a gap where the ceiling drywall does not contact the foundation, You will need to reinforce (block) this area with plywood, etc.

If you want to have a music system in there, that can be sound proofed as well, but with a modification to the aforementioned wall.


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## cues (Mar 31, 2012)

Thanks Rrog but we are all her to move forwards together. Being corrected when I was clearly wrong is surely a good thing. It's how we all learn.


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## Rrog (Mar 31, 2012)

You're a gentleman


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## Gr8ful2Bgrowin (Aug 14, 2012)

bowlfullofbliss said:


> One thing I did was build a housing for all of my inline fans, which are the loudest. I took 2 x 4's and built a box to fit each one, enclosed the sides with drywall, placed the fan in it, made the connections, then stuffed the entire box around the fans with insulation. I then closed it up, and used expanded foam to seal in the ducting. You can barely hear them run. There is little you can do for the Ac and the standing fans, but this will at least quiet the big loud ones. You can still hear my rooms run, but it isn't as loud as it should be LOL.


Would you happen to have a few photos of these fan housings? I think I understand how you built them but I'm a visual learner and not that great with construction. Thanks for posting a great idea. Peace.


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## hotrodharley (Aug 14, 2012)

cues said:


> Rrog, I owe you an apology. Called my old drummer (who doubled up as our recording man/sound sound technician!) and he confirmed what you said. The egg boxes were more about the echo/reverb. Apparently they help to some extent with sound-proofing but not a lot. He went right into one about why we recorded one track in a church as is was the reverb that we needed.


Jimmy Page recorded the first Zeppelin in small rooms with an added single mic waaaaaaay outside. The Turk taught him that and he used it in ever recording - a distant dynamic mic. Added some latency and texture. Add some bounce I guess. It worked for Page & Company.


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