Should You Soundproof or Move?
Oct 31, 2022Should you soundproof your existing room or move? This is an important question because in some cases it may be more cost effective to move rather than try to soundproof a less than ideal location. In this article we will go over:
1) The Cost of Soundproofing
2) The Time It Takes to Soundproof
3) Will You Get Your Desired Results
Let's dive in...
The Cost Of Soundproofing
I have a soundproofing budget calculator that you can download here: Soundproofing Calculator.
Once you have downloaded the calculator you can play with some numbers. Input your desired square footage of your inside dimensions (does not include full footprint of walls and exterior) and you will instantly get the full cost based on my experience.
This calculator assumes you are building a structure from scratch. If you are simply building in your basement or a room in your house I would remove the foundation, halve the lumber, halve the paint and remove the roofing and siding from your calculations. This will give you a more accurate overview of your potential costs. Please know that these were our costs. I do think this calculator is accurate, but I would say to do as much research as you can with your own pricing and labor costs. The labor includes mostly two people with the occasional third or fourth person for maybe 10 days of the total project. If you hire out all the labor you will need to ask your contractor for the accurate price.
Once you have fooled around with the calculator you will have a much better idea of the cost of your home studio. Next, we will talk about the time it takes to build a soundproof studio.
How Long Does It Take To Build A Soundproof Studio?
We spent a total of 60 days building my studio.
We averaged 6 hours of work per day. There were some long days and some shorter ones, but 6 hours was the average overall.
The total amount of hours worked was therefore 360 hours.
If you are building a studio in a structure that is already built like a basement or garage then you can have those timeframes.
In this case it would take you 30 days to soundproof your room and a total of 180 hours.
With these estimates you can no weigh your options of moving or spending thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of time. It could totally be worth it, but you want to make an educated decision.
Will You Get Your Desired Results?
The term soundproofing is a bit mis-leading. The reason is that soundproofing reduces the sound levels that come in and leave your room, but it cannot by nature completely eliminate all sounds. It is possible to completely eliminate high frequency sounds like birds, rain, wind, and people talking. Lower frequency sounds and very loud sounds are more difficult to eliminate. For example sub woofer bass in the low 40Hz range will cut through just about any building. An airplane flying 300 feet overhead will be very loud and require tons of mass to block out it's sound.
If you live in a very noisy area it may be easier and more cost effective to move rather than try and block out very loud or very bass heavy sounds.
Lastly, if you don't have a basement or garage with a concrete floor or are not building on a new slab out back then it will be harder to soundproof your floor. The reason is that most floors in homes and apartments are built on a wood deck system that does not have the mass to properly soundproof. You can do it, but it just requires more work and money. This may be another reason it may be easier to move than to soundproof your existing room.
Do You Want To Learn More About Soundproofing?
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