The Best Soundproof Floor Design
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When most people think of soundproofing they think of foam, a room within a room and a floating floor. Now there are a lot of myths out there about floating floors and today I want to clear it up by telling you that floating a floor in almost all situations is a bad soundproofing option.
1) What Is The Best Floor Design For Soundproofing?
The best option is to build on a concrete slab. This option offers you the best soundproofing for your home recording studio.
The reason a concrete slab is the best option is because it sits on the earth which offers great insulation around the slab and that the slab itself has so much mass that it can stop sound from entering your studio.
2) Where Should You Build Your Soundproof Floor?
If you are building a soundproof studio in your home then you should build your studio in your basement if it has an existing concrete slab or in your garage.
If you are planning to do what I did and build a studio in your backyard then you can pour a concrete slab and build your studio on top of it.
3) Dealing With Multiple Rooms
If you want to have more than one soundproof room in your home recording studio then the best option is to pour isolated concrete slabs. You can see in this diagram below that isolated concrete slabs allow you to have adjacent rooms that are not connected by the same floor. This means sound will not travel from one concrete slab to the other.
An expansion joint and some caulk fills the space between the two slabs. I would recommend you find a concrete specialist who has experience pouring isolated slabs before you choose this option.
4) But What If I Don't Have The Option To Build On A Concrete Slab
Well, this is a common problem. My first gut reaction is find a different location where you can. The amount of money and expertise needed to properly float a floor is beyond the scope of a home studio. If you absolutely must float your floor then you will have to live with the fact that your floor will be a weak link in your soundproof room.
A weak link means you will not know until you are finished if your studio will be soundproof enough for your goals. This means gambling tens of thousands of dollars on a soundproofing job that might not work.
Conclusion
If you are building a soundproof home recording studio stick to using a concrete slab as your floor. It will start you off with the best soundproof floor possible. I don't recommend building a home recording studio on a floating floor and would recommend you move or change the location of your studio before going down that path.
