Soundproof Gameroom

[zudmsc]

I am looking for ideas or suggestions on soundproofing a game room.  My F-14 pinball is so loud you can hear it on the second floor and the pin is in my basement.  I haven't build the gameroom yet, but am about to start this summer.  Is there a good drywall product and drop ceiling out there to use?  Does insulation in between the floor joists work too?  I want to hear from anyone that has done this.

Michael

[shardian]

You can double up on fiberglass insulation for an increase in sound proofing, but at the expense of R value. Probably the best way to do it is to use the spray on foam stuff. One of those renovation shows on PBS did it to a house and it was super neat. You put up dyrwall on one side of the studs along with all of the plumbing/wiring, then spray the stuff on the other side. Once it expands, you use a rasp thingy to cut it down to being level with the studs.

When it comes to between floor joists, there is supposed to be an airgap between floors. A drop ceiling would definitely take car of this. You could then put some sort of sound insulation directly onto the gyp board attached to the floor joists.

There are quite a few guides to soundproofing on the net. It really comes down to how much you want to spend, and the exact conditions of your setup.

[zudmsc]

Well I am doing a drop ceiling, not a drywall ceiling.  I need to keep it open in case I need to fix any plumbing or heating, etc for the house.  The room is only 10' x 13' with 8' of height.  I dont mind paying maybe a 50% mark-up to keep the noise down.  I am not looking for a recording studio soundproof job, just enough to knock most of the pinball sounds to a whisper.

Michael

[shardian]

Well fiberglass insulation is the quickest/cheapest way. Interior walls are never insulated. If you insulate them, you get instant sound proofing. I fully insulated my bathroom when I renovated it with a jacuzzi tub to limit the sound in the kitchen and bedroom.

[ChadTower]

I fully insulated my bathroom when I renovated it with a jacuzzi tub to limit the sound in the kitchen and bedroom.

Does it get really hot in there as a result?

[shardian]

I fully insulated my bathroom when I renovated it with a jacuzzi tub to limit the sound in the kitchen and bedroom.

Does it get really hot in there as a result?

I wish. The bathroom is over the garage, so cold air can come up from under the tub thru the joist space.
I also put in an octagonal window. We keep an oil radiator heater in there for bath times to keep it a toasty 80 or so.

[Mr Wilson]

i'm a plasterer and we also do drylining I'd recommend using this board for your ceilings this should keep the noise down 
http://www.knaufusa.com/products/commercial__industrial/oem_insulation/knauf_acoustical_board_smooth.aspx

[Darth Nuno]

I used this for my game room (sorry, I dunno the english word for it  ) :



...and this :





It works fine 

more pictures and details right here

[Sir Auros]

Interior walls are never insulated.

When we moved into our current house, we tore out a lot of cheap paneling to put up drywall, and almost all our interior walls were insulated. The only one that I can think of that wasn't was a wall that had been torn down between two bedrooms and then put back up before the sellers put the house on the market to recreate the additional bedroom. The contractor that was putting in the drywall (a step we definitely couldn't do in the time provided) specifically asked if we wanted insulation back in that wall.

Now I wish we had for soundproofing purposes. 

[cybergold]

Some of the best and most varied soundproofing advice you can find will be on avsforum.  That site is for home theater stuff.  They have a section for construction for HT's and Gamerooms.