Sand Bags hung on the ceiling

[bladerunn3r]

Hello!

I've been searching the net lately to find the best and most affordable way to soundproof my basement for rehearsals with my band, and found some advice regarding the use of sandbags as a means of soundproofing.

I am considering this option since sand is free nowadays and bags..well can't get cheaper Cool, and i am thinking of hanging sandbags on my ceiling and also covering the windows with lots of them. For the ceiling, I will build a wooden framework to hold them together, and attach gypsum board to the bottom of it.I am still working on a way to make the entire construction suspend and not touch the original ceiling or walls on the side.

However ,I am not sure whether sand has soundproofing properties, the only reason I am considering this is because it would make a heavy false ceiling that would absord the vibrations.

Do you think sand would be a good choice or should i stick to mupliple gypsum boards to add weight to the false ceiling? Undecided

[Rodeodave]

Well, sand is heavy, this means it takes a lot of energy to move it. Should damp pretty good. I´d just be afraid of the ceiling being too heavy; u know, things usually break after some time...

But if you can get cheap bag, why not give it a try...have fun, David

[saabie22]

I once built a relatively sound proof room for some industrial equipment. We were treating walls rather than ceilings. It was called STC50 construction. As I recall that means Sound Transmission Coefficient and the wall was supposed to drop SPL by 50 dBA. I don't recall the actual drop measured but I do remember that inside the room we were at around 115 dBA and on the outside of the room you had to get your ear very close to the wall to hear anything.

The principle was to build two parallel walls with fiberglass insulation between them. The outer face of each side of the wall had two layers of 5/8" gypsum (~16 mm) to provide mass. The core was packed with 8" bats of fiberglass. In this way the two surfaces were mechanically decoupled except for the air space between them. The only common structural members between the two sides of the wall were the bottom and top plates. The framing for each side was 2"x4" metal studs. The vertical studs were spaced 16" on centers and one side was offset from the other by 8".

I built a box for my brother to practice his drums in using the same construction and it worked very well. Remeber that ventilation ducts are a great way for that energy to escape so we put some bends in the duct work to minimize sound leakage.

In my opinion something like this would put less of a dead load on your ceiling (if I understand what you propose to do). It might hurt less too if it falls on your head!

good luck!

Mike

[bladerunn3r]

Thanks, i am almost convinced it'll work.
And let's not forget that writing music in agony might produce some interesting results!