Soundproofing an Office Wall: A How-To Guide

[Moonbear]

MIH, I have on thing to say: 1000 cubic feet of packing peanuts (in his office, not yours).

MIH, just let me know when I should start saving packing peanuts for you! That'll definitely muffle all the sounds in his office.

 

[Danger]

No argument with the diagnosis, Russ, but I'd better correct a misconception here. As I mentioned a few days back on another thread (some people might have thought that it was a joke, but it wasn't), I never finished high school. Certainly not on to Engineer School.

 

[russ_watters]

No argument with the diagnosis, Russ, but I'd better correct a misconception here. As I mentioned a few days back on another thread (some people might have thought that it was a joke, but it wasn't), I never finished high school. Certainly not on to Engineer School.

Sorry - I misread your earlier post. You definitely have the most important quality for an engineer though: crazy nerdyness.

 

[Dayle Record]

Spend $20 for insulating foam, in a pressurized can with a tip. Take a drill to work, with a bit, the size of the dispenser tip on the foam can. Make little holes in the wall and inject foam into the space between the joists. See if that will ease some of the sound, problems. Do it on the weekend, if necessary. Take a small ladder, I don't know how far the foam will spread before a new hole has to be made. Take a tube of spackle with you, to cover the holes. Paint if you have to. And, buy one of those little innocuous fountains, that make a constant, pleasant sound to create a background noise that you feel is your own.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Crickets? Amplifiers? Packing peanuts? You people are evil, devious and twisted. I so proud to know you I am a little choked up right now.

I think Dayle has come up with a very good and practical idea there with the wall-injections. I would just have to be careful not to drill all the way through to his office since I don't know the thickness of the wall.

 

[russ_watters]

I would just have to be careful not to drill all the way through to his office since I don't know the thickness of the wall.

Four inches for the interstitial space. Interior partition walls are rarely anything else. The drywall itself is around 1 inch. Just wrap some tape around the drill bit an inch up and it'll make sure you don't surge through and punch a hole in the far wall.

That's a lot of spray-in insulation, but it should do the job.

 

[Moonbear]

Four inches. Interior partition walls are rarely anything else. That's a lot of spray-in insulation, but it should do the job.

Well, since I can see through the windows in my office to know the depth of the wall, here it seems closer to 6 inches. (As an aside, having windows between offices seems to save on electricity for lighting...I don't realize until my neighbor leaves and turns off her lights that it has gotten dark enough to need to turn on my lights. ) But, either way, it's probably no more than 1/2" sheet rock on either side of the wall. Unless you hit a stud in the wall, you should feel the the sudden loss of any resistance while drilling to know you've gone deep enough.

But, yeah, it would be quite a lot of foam, and I still would suspect the windows are the culprit for lack of soundproofing, not the walls based on my experience of having one solid wall and one wall with windows separating me from the offices on either side and knowing I can hear everything in the one office with great clarity while the other one is fairly well insulated from me in terms of sound.

Edit: It sucks when Russ edits his posts AFTER I quote them.

 

[russ_watters]

Edit: It sucks when Russ edits his posts AFTER I quote them.

I'm never happy with my posts the first time I post them.

 

[Moonbear]

I'm never happy with my posts the first time I post them.

LOL! I might have been more eloquent about that too, had I not gotten a phone call right in the middle of typing that retort.

 

[Bladibla]

I think certain levels of violence is a good measure for stoppage of noise

 

[Artman]

Use this stuff.

Acoustical wall treatment

 

[Math Is Hard]

MIH, just let me know when I should start saving packing peanuts for you! That'll definitely muffle all the sounds in his office.

Moonbear, I was just thinking.. if you mail me those packing peanuts, what will you pack them in?

 

[Math Is Hard]

Use this stuff.

Acoustical wall treatment

Thanks, Artman! I just emailed them about pricing on those tiles.

 

[Artman]

Thanks, Artman! I just emailed them about pricing on those tiles.

They can probably give you application ideas too. Good luck.

 

[Danger]

Moonbear, I was just thinking.. if you mail me those packing peanuts, what will you pack them in?

Silly girl--crushed china, of course.

 

[Danger]

Sorry - I misread your earlier post. You definitely have the most important quality for an engineer though: crazy nerdyness.

Thank you too much, kind sir. I was actually shooting for evil deviousness, but close enough.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Silly girl--crushed china, of course.

*smacks forehead*
Of course!

My neighbor is singing today. I am working on him telepathically - imagining golf balls being lodged in his throat. Am having partial success.

 

[Danger]

Four inches for the interstitial space. Interior partition walls are rarely anything else. The drywall itself is around 1 inch. Just wrap some tape around the drill bit an inch up and it'll make sure you don't surge through and punch a hole in the far wall.

That's a lot of spray-in insulation, but it should do the job.

Why not forget the depth-marking tape and use a really looooonnngg bit? Keep going until you're through his vocal chords and chalk it up as an industrial accident.

 

[brewnog]

Here's my suggestion:

1. Put the kettle on. Remember to use fresh water.
2. Find out his fax number.
3. Write a simple, but poignant message in large letters (I favour Comic Sans 76pt) over several sheets of A4, and tape them together to make a long strip.
4. Put a teabag in a mug, and get the milk out of the fridge.
5. Start to fax him your message, but as the first page comes out of your fax machine, tape it to the last page so that your message is in a big loop.
6. Pour boiling water into the mug
7. Stir well, leave to mash, remove teabag, add milk to taste.
8. Enjoy your nice cup of tea, perhaps with a biscuit or two. Relax!
9. When you feel rejuvinated and relaxed, cut your fax loop and allow the transmission to end, safe in the knowledge that when someone annoys you, annoying them in return is a far better solution than diplomacy or violence.

 

[SOS2008]

Moonbear, I was just thinking.. if you mail me those packing peanuts, what will you pack them in?

Heh.

Use this stuff.Acoustical wall treatment

Make sure you get the silencer--not the amplifier acoustical surface (unless it's on HIS side of the wall).

 

[Moonbear]

Silly girl--crushed china, of course.

I love it! See, someone here always has the right solution to problems.

 

[hitssquad]

is there anything that can be done accoustically to remedy this situation?

http://www.soundproofing.org/

 

[hitssquad]

Sennheiser HD-280 headphones for office noise reduction

I might have to try ear plugs

Earplugs can start you on a lifelong career of serious chronic ear infections. You should consult an ear-nose-throat specialist before trying earplugs.

I wonder if those noise cancelling headphones would do me any good?

Noise-cancelling headphones are designed to cancel jet noise and to allow human noise to pass through. They also have a reputation of not working very well. In-ear headphones such as etymotic would be excellent for sound isolation, except that - being earplugs - they come with an ear-infection risk. headphones are what I use to isolate. They are professional club-DJ headphones and are designed to fit snugly to keep out sound. They provide about 32dB of noise reduction, which is about the same as the best foam earplugs. When you put some music into them, they work even better at keeping out outside sounds (and a side benefit of their great sound insulation is that someone can be sitting next to you in a quiet room and not hear your music). Being professional headphones, they are also comfortable to wear for hours and are extremely rugged (I have put thousands of hours on mine and they look and perform like brand-new. Usually headphones break after awhile, especially the audio cords, but these headphones so no signs of wearing out.)

Since noise is a common problem in office cubicle nests, white noise generators are often employed to provide a low-level noise mask. To generate white noise, I use a cheap ($16) 20" box fan. (If you don't want a breeze in your office, you can put it against a wall).

A box fan (or other white-noise generator) combined with a pair of Sennheiser HD-280s, should provide a huge amount of noise relief. (BTW, I got mine for $75, but I think they are still worth it for the $100 Amazon is selling them for - link above.)

 

[Danger]

Alright, who invited the practical guy?
Just combine all of the foregoing ideas and let a subsonically farting cricket drill through the guy's neck.

 

[Moonbear]

Of course you could stick with the earplugs idea, get the multiple and/or chronic ear infections, and over time, you'll become deaf enough not to be bothered by any noises coming from his office.

 

[Math Is Hard]

More excellent suggestions, you guys .. er.. well, maybe I'll pass on the deafness solution, Moonbear, but thanks just the same.
Hitsquad, I appreciate the link, and the info you posted. Thanks a bunch. Though I'm a little scared of the white noise generators - I saw that EVP movie, y'know. Whistling is annoying, but demons are just downright disruptive!