Soundproofing a rental home wall?

[phattybudz]

So my 24,500 btu a/c & fans are ridiculously loud. The neighbor's bedroom is next to the room, so that's not good. 80F+ temps are also not good...I'm building duct mufflers, but that loud-ass A/C really need to be dampened down somehow. It's in a box, in a metal pipe frame hanging from the ceiling.
I'm thinking I need to soundproof 2 large sections of the shared wall, only I don't want to fuck the wall up, because I need to move out in the next couple years.

Tried searching, anybody got tips?

 

[boxmunch9]

I used that 3inch strofoam insulation 4x8 sheets. then I bought a bunch of accustic blankets for the internet and layed them over the strofoam. it will leave you will tiny screw holes that can be filled by you in about 5mins.

 

[Ender]

sweet, had a similar question, appreciated!

 

[ultima]

Soundproofing sections of a wall is a waste of time and money. and most importantly - it will not help.

Tell me more about your room and i'll try to help.
What kind of floors,Walls , ceiling are we looking at ?
Wooden? Cement ?
There are ways to build a new wall in front of the old one , minimal damage if any to the old wall. Remember that to soundproof you need mass and differences in density -Wall, Airgap-rockwool.
Is the sound low frequency that you are dealing with ? Low frequencies are hard to stop , essentially the low end behaves like water - it goes through every crack.

Again , tell me more .....

 

[Mist]

So I am assuming that this is the only AC in the apartment?

 

[phattybudz]

It's a townhouse-style complex type... place. 10x13 room, not sure what the walls are made out of, it seems like standard cheap home wood&drywall, they are pretty thin...

I will take some pics when lights come on

 

[boo]

google dynamat...100% sound absorbtion...it is used to accoustic deadening in jets, high tech autos, and residential...not cheap but either is a lawyer if you don't control the noise

 

[geopolitical]

I've got your solution. It's absolutely not environmentally friendly, it's nasty to work with, but you could have a CANON go off and barely hear it on the other side.

Lead sheeting.

I used to do soundproofing for booths WAAAAY back in the day, and by far the best material we ever used was lead sheet. Mass = noise reduction and it was pretty near impossible to beat. Doing a quick google search I find a lot of suppliers still around.

Find one near you. It's fairly easy to put up. I really recommend starting at the top FIRST and rolling down, it's much easier.

 

[apartmentblower]

I've got your solution. It's absolutely not environmentally friendly, it's nasty to work with, but you could have a CANON go off and barely hear it on the other side.

Lead sheeting.

I used to do soundproofing for booths WAAAAY back in the day, and by far the best material we ever used was lead sheet. Mass = noise reduction and it was pretty near impossible to beat. Doing a quick google search I find a lot of suppliers still around.

Find one near you. It's fairly easy to put up. I really recommend starting at the top FIRST and rolling down, it's much easier.

lead sheeting.... you mean the same stuff they put in x-ray rooms and around film storage fridges so the film doesnt get fogged over time by gamma ray? can you give any more info? doesnt seem like something that theyd have at home depot

 

[geopolitical]

Yup. See, soundproofing works by two main methods.

Isolation: Physically isolating one room within another (double walls with a small 1" or so gap between them).

Absorption: Putting enough mass between the sound and the other side of the wall that it absorbs the energy of the sound. Sound waves are just kinetic energy. If you have enough mass they won't propagate further.

Mufflers that use complex channels and diffusers can combine the two above.




Dynamat works because it's quite dense. It's not as good as lead, but it's quite decent as a low level sound proofer.

Here's an overview of soundproofing techniques with noise reduction capabililty

http://www.stcratings.com/assemblies.html

Here's the first link I found via google

http://www.soundproofing101.com

Here's a manufacturer:

http://www.soundaway.com/Soundproofing_Lead_Barrier_s/36.htm

 

[PharmaCan]

lead sheeting.... you mean the same stuff they put in x-ray rooms and around film storage fridges so the film doesnt get fogged over time by gamma ray? can you give any more info? doesnt seem like something that theyd have at home depot

I don't know about lead sheeting, but in medical dental suites we use leaded drywall - it's actually the lead sheeting already attached to drywall. I doubt this info is applicable to your situation, but, who knows, it may come in handy in a trivia contest someday.

PC

 

[ddrew]

You really need that big of an AC to cool a single bedroom?
I have a 7800btu that keeps the same size room with 2K lights on in the 70's
But I suppose it's still going to be loud, big or small.

 

[Mist]

Lead sheeting, that is a bit overboard isn't it? LOL~~

THe simplist and least expensive thing to use, that will actually work, is 4x8 1" thick insulation board. The kind with one side that is shiny. It is available at home depot, is easy to install with sheetrock screws and roofing washer disks to keep the screws from sucking through the board.
Just go down to your local home depot and look in the lumber department and you will find it. The cheaper stuff is pink so it will be easy to spot.
I have used it for years and had it in my boa breeding building 12'X17' on the inside walls for insulation and you could fire off a 12 gauge in there and not hear it outside. And another benifit is that not only will your room have extra insulation to help keep it cool, but with the shiny side in it will kill your heat signiture. I have it over my only window in my grow room now for that.

 

[phattybudz]

So the walls looks like this:

Here you can see the AC and the wall behind it; behind that front wall is my roommate's bathroom, and to the left of that is our neighbor's bedroom. The front wall and the wall you can see off to to the left come together in the corner where the neighbors balcony is.

The AC is fucking huge but I've already got it, can't afford a new one...+ I hope to keep it arctic cool in there with 6 lights...

Insulation board sounds like the cheap&easy fix so far but I need to know it will be enough...

 

[Mist]

The 1" should be fine. Isn't there central AC in the townhouse?

 

[boxmunch9]

Soundproofing sections of a wall is a waste of time and money. and most importantly - it will not help.

Tell me more about your room and i'll try to help.
What kind of floors,Walls , ceiling are we looking at ?
Wooden? Cement ?
There are ways to build a new wall in front of the old one , minimal damage if any to the old wall. Remember that to soundproof you need mass and differences in density -Wall, Airgap-rockwool.
Is the sound low frequency that you are dealing with ? Low frequencies are hard to stop , essentially the low end behaves like water - it goes through every crack.

Again , tell me more .....

aaah ok. it will def help you, as I do it, an it works. the frequency he is dealing with is a grow room? hes not breaking up gull stones

 

[phattybudz]

Central doesn't work, I figured this would be more efficient but I'm not sure now... electricity is going to be a bitch since I don't think we qualify for CARE but it is what it is..

 

[Mist]

Probably would have saved you money, time and sound proofing if you just had the central air fixed. If your in a townhouse, I assume a rental, doesn't the management have to fix that anyway?

 

[phattybudz]

Well, that's the last thing I'd need is them coming by. We've been going since day 1 so I couldn't have them do it before setup... pulled up with a rental truck and a whole lot of large boxes lol...

 

[smalltymer]

what kind of ac is it? window or portable? a picture of the back side of the ac would be nice too.