bmoc's Nearly Complete Gameroom Project

[bmoc]

The radon fan was installed a few weeks ago and it drastically reduced the radon levels. I'm caulking cracks in floor and that seems to be helping too.

Currently I am working on soundproofing the ceiling of the game room. My daughter's bedroom is directly above it so it needs a little more than just drywall. Last month I got insulation in the ceiling and sealed large gaps with canned spray foam. Today I started installing some mass loaded vinyl in the ceiling.

Holy crap, that stuff is heavy! It weighs about 1 lb per square foot. I had to rig up a tall brace with 2x4's so that my wife could help me install it. She was in charge of holding the brace while I nailed it up with a roofing gun. We got one row of vinyl up tonight and we hope to finish tomorrow.

When that is done, we should be ready for drywall. We are going to hire a crew for that because there is no way I'm installing drywall on the ceiling by myself.

[bmoc]

We finished installing the vinyl just now. It definitely makes a difference. Playing some music at a moderate listening level was barely audible in my daughter's bedroom upstairs. It will only get better with drywall and some acoustical caulk.

[8bit]

Thats awesome. I wish i could do that for every wall in my house! How much was the material roughly?

[bmoc]

I got it from here. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017DVK1IE/

I purchased two 25ft rolls so about $400 for me. It was way cheaper than using insulation made for soundproofing like Roxul Safe N Sound. It is a beast to install though. If I had it to do over again, I would have had two people with good upper body strength assist me. Two people to hold it up and one person to nail it in.

Don't even think about installing this stuff yourself unless you can get your hands on a roofing nailgun. Trying to nail it in by hand or with screws will kill your arms (and the arms of whoever is holding it up). On a related note, it is hard to find small quantities of coiled roofing nails at Home Depot. I got the smallest box they had and I probably have about 6000 leftover nails.

I looked into lots of soundproofing options: Safe N Sound insulation, Green Glue + an extra layer of drywall, mass loaded vinyl, and resilient channel. I figured regular R-13 insulation and mass loaded vinyl would give me the best bang for my buck. I wasn't looking for total soundproofing; I just wanted enough so that normal volumes would not keep my daughter up at night. If I were trying to soundproof an existing wall or ceiling, I'd probably go with Green Glue and an extra layer of 5/8 inch drywall.

[bmoc]

So drywall happened today unexpectedly. I didn't get the temporary lights down because I didn't know they were coming today. And they cut the drywall around them...

Oh well, it just means they get to patch it.

[bmoc]

They finished installing the drywall about two weeks ago and we have been painting ever since. Last night I put the final coat on the basement.

I worked on the electrical and speakers today. There are just a few more items to take care of before I'm ready to start moving stuff back in.

Home Depot will be installing the carpet in the next week or so. After that, I just need baseboard and a door.

[Ziggy587]

I got it from here. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017DVK1IE/

I purchased two 25ft rolls so about $400 for me. It was way cheaper than using insulation made for soundproofing like Roxul Safe N Sound. It is a beast to install though. If I had it to do over again, I would have had two people with good upper body strength assist me. Two people to hold it up and one person to nail it in.

Don't even think about installing this stuff yourself unless you can get your hands on a roofing nailgun. Trying to nail it in by hand or with screws will kill your arms (and the arms of whoever is holding it up). On a related note, it is hard to find small quantities of coiled roofing nails at Home Depot. I got the smallest box they had and I probably have about 6000 leftover nails.

I looked into lots of soundproofing options: Safe N Sound insulation, Green Glue + an extra layer of drywall, mass loaded vinyl, and resilient channel. I figured regular R-13 insulation and mass loaded vinyl would give me the best bang for my buck. I wasn't looking for total soundproofing; I just wanted enough so that normal volumes would not keep my daughter up at night. If I were trying to soundproof an existing wall or ceiling, I'd probably go with Green Glue and an extra layer of 5/8 inch drywall.

Just saw this now. I don't know if you are aware (I posted a thread) but I used Green Glue some years back for a wall between two bedrooms. The rooms were pre-existing with 1/2" drywall on either side and fiberglass insulation between them. I used 2 tubes of Green Glue per 4x8' sheet of drywall (you can use 3 per sheet for increased blocking of lower frequencies). I only added the Green Glue and a second layer of drywall to one side of the wall, and I only used 1/2" drywall for the second layer. Although I did add paneling on top of that, which is another 1/8", which would total 5/8" for the second layer. I followed the directions for the Green Glue explicitly, and I even used their "sealant" around the perimeter of the wall.

I was very pleased with the results. If you are speaking at a normal volume, it is extremely muffled on the other side of the wall. Extremely muffled meaning you cannot make out words but just barely a noise. My TV at medium volume, and mind you I have a 5.1 system and never use the TV's speakers, is very muffled through the wall. At low volume it can barely be heard at all.

Anyway, just wanted to give you some feedback in case you ever consider using it in the future.

They finished installing the drywall about two weeks ago and we have been painting ever since. Last night I put the final coat on the basement.

Nice! It's exciting at this stage when it all starts to come together.

[bmoc]

Just saw this now. I don't know if you are aware (I posted a thread) but I used Green Glue some years back for a wall between two bedrooms. The rooms were pre-existing with 1/2" drywall on either side and fiberglass insulation between them. I used 2 tubes of Green Glue per 4x8' sheet of drywall (you can use 3 per sheet for increased blocking of lower frequencies). I only added the Green Glue and a second layer of drywall to one side of the wall, and I only used 1/2" drywall for the second layer. Although I did add paneling on top of that, which is another 1/8", which would total 5/8" for the second layer. I followed the directions for the Green Glue explicitly, and I even used their "sealant" around the perimeter of the wall.

I was very pleased with the results. If you are speaking at a normal volume, it is extremely muffled on the other side of the wall. Extremely muffled meaning you cannot make out words but just barely a noise. My TV at medium volume, and mind you I have a 5.1 system and never use the TV's speakers, is very muffled through the wall. At low volume it can barely be heard at all.

Anyway, just wanted to give you some feedback in case you ever consider using it in the future.

Good to know. Thanks!

I had the drywallers put 5/8" drywall on the gameroom ceiling and 1/2" everywhere else. I also used some acoustical sealant around all the outlets, lighting and hvac vents. I did a quick test last night with some music on my phone at full volume. We could not hear it at all in my daughter's room so I think it will work out ok. Curiosity will probably get the better of me this week and I'll dig out my receiver out of the garage to test the in-wall speakers along with how well the soundproofing stops my subwoofer.

[bmoc]

I just tested the speakers and I am pretty satisfied with them especially for the price. It was a little echo-y in the room because there was nothing else in there. Carpet, shelves, and whatnot should fix that up down the road.

As for the soundproofing, it really did the trick. I played The Matrix lobby shootout scene at a moderate volume and it was barely audible upstairs.

Incidentally I was really scratching my head try to get my ancient JVC receiver to do Dolby Digital. I was using a PS2 with an optical cable to test with and I spent a good half hour fiddling with settings on my receiver before I starting suspecting the PS2 was the culprit. It turns out that Dolby Digital is disabled in the DVD player menus. You have to press Select -> go to Setup -> Audio to turn it on.

[bmoc]

The carpet is done and I got a new recliner. We are going to install baseboard this weekend and then we can start moving things back into the basement.

My dad is going to build me a custom entertainment center and I'm not sure when that will be done. I probably won't set up all my consoles until that is complete.

Almost at the finish line!