Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueDoor
The phrase I've retained the most was: "The system is housed in a basement room that I designed with soundproofing help from a local acoustician."
I'm a bit envious 
Very nice, good job! It shows a lot of planning. And discipline.
Well done. |
Thanks so much! It did take a lot of planning and work. When I couldn't get acoustical consultants to answer my calls, I hired a designer-draftsman. He was nice, said he'd done this before, and drew up the plans quickly.
Then the acoustician called back. Major revisions needed. The d-d met with him and me, listened carefully, but incorporated only a few of the changes; he just didn't have the patience for the job. Then I got lucky. Our neighbor, an architect, met with the acoustician and me and incorporated the changes into the plans. I owe her big!
Though I used a general contractor (I have no construction experience), I needed to supervise the most extensive part of it -- the sheetrock work -- myself, as neither the GC nor the subcontractor was familiar with the nitpicking details needed to install QuietRock effectively.
A funny part was that the architect didn't know about silent ventilation, so she specified the HVAC as "design and build." The HVAC contractor said sure and bid, but then didn't have a clue what to do. The GC and I designed the dead-vent system one evening, based on thoughts from the acoustician and ideas from the internet. It was built a few days later, and it works pretty well.
I learned a few things in doing this. The main one was to have your door open OUT
, so you can carpet the floor even though your doors have acoustic drop-seals. I also learned how to write city variance requests, which I needed to avoid installing a special exit window, which would have meant a large break in the left wall and a large excavation expense to match.
It was quite an experience, one I wouldn't have been able to do without having lots of time off to supervise. I learned a lot and got a good result. I never want to do it again! Though it
would be easier the second time around.