VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Zach Meissner]

I'm taking a room in the basement and converting it into my recording space. There is concrete on 3 sides, and then an unfinished wall on one side. The ceiling is also open. My plan is to fill the wall and ceiling space with acoustic denim and then cover it with a thin muslin fabric. The room is about 3.5' deep x 9' long.

I'm open to suggestions as to the best way to keep the batts in the ceiling and wall. In the ceiling I was thinking of using a duct hanger, like you see under the duct in the second pic, for the ceiling install. But for the walls i'm not sure.

I've found that over time the batts tend to sink a bit in the panels I built, so i could squeeze excess insulation in between the studs to make it tighter and hope it doesn't fall, but I wanted to see if there's a better way to perhaps 'hook' it to prevent it from sagging down and forward into the muslin.




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[Mike Harrison]

Hey Zach. I'm the furthest thing from experienced in this sort of thing but, as for preventing the drooping of insulation inside the walls, how about if you were to divide the total height of each vertical space into, for example, four smaller areas with three horizontal members? So, for example, instead of filling a single 8-foot space (I'm guessing the height), you'd instead be filling four 2-foot spaces. I can't imagine the insulation would droop that much that way.

Or, perhaps you could use Velcro to secure the insulation to your framework.

Just a guess.
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[vkuehn]

Based on your location, why not pay a visit to Farm-and-Fleet or Tractor Supply or maybe Home Depot or Lowes and find fence material like hog-wire. Put your insulation up between the beams, staple the fence-wire to the bottom of the beams and then put your muslin or some burlap or other suitable cloth below the fence wire.

And before you cover the walls and the overhead, plan some kind of ducts/channels/passageways where air can be brought in and exhausted. Even if you don't install a fan system til later, make the passage-ways now. Make their path LONG.... 10 times what would be their diameter if they were round. That will greatly reduce or kill the transfer of sound... coming in AND going out.

It looks like I get to do this in coming months. Some days I look forward to trying to get it right this time.... Some days I dread going through the nightmare of construction again.

[todd ellis]

#1 - i suggest putting owens-corning pink fiberglass insulation inside the studs - hang some 5/8" sheetrock - THEN make your panels out of 3" pine boards backed with 1/4" luan. once you have your box made use spray adhesive to keep the denim in place. make a simple french cleat to hang them. i've had mine up for 2 years now and they haven't sagged a bit.





if you're dead set on skipping the sheetrock just skip to the spray adhesive part.
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[Zach Meissner]

Thanks guys!!

Todd, that occurred to me, but I want to save some space and thus just installing the denim right into the wall. Outside noise isn't an issue in that spot so it's mostly for sound absorption. But perhaps I could install some thin rubber sheets inside the wall cavities if I really want to stop the sound. Good idea on the adhesive, forgot about that.
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[Lee Gordon]

Mike is onto something. There is no rule that says you must install an 8' batt of insulation as a single 8' piece. It will be much easier to work with above your head if you cut it into shorter lengths, especially if you are working alone. Of course, if will be much easier if you have a helper. They make little wires with pointy ends (both ends) that you can stick into the joists on either side of the bay to hold insulation in place. But those work better with fiberglass, which is likely to hold its shape without collapsing.

I don't know what the denim is like, but the Roxul Safe 'N Sound I used is a bit more crumbly than fiberglass and falls apart more easily. So I went to the fabric store and bought some upholstery webbing. I stapled the webbing to the bottom of the ceiling joists to form a kind of sling to hold the insulation in place.
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[Frank F]

The two items I would suggest are foam insulation and chicken wire. The chicken wire will hold up any insulation you have such as the pink stuff for the most of whatever. The foam insulation fills up every space that can be filled up and you don't have to worry about any kind of falling down or anything else as it simply fills in any wall or ceiling.

Four inches of foam insulation, whether it be soy foam or any other type of open cell insulation, will be perfect for this type of build.

F2
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[todd ellis]

in that case - i like the chicken wire solution combined with spray adhesive. 3M makes a really good one.
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[Frank F]

.I forgot to add, if you are doing foam insulation, right now, from the pictures. it is the time to do the deed before you put up the final inside treatment.

F2
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[Zach Meissner]

Great thoughts here guys, thanks a bunch. My list for Home Depot just got a few items longer
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[Monk]

Just keep thinking, Air and Mass. Keep it airtight and enough mass to stop the vibrations from sneaking in.

If you imagine you're building a watertight space, you're on the right track.
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