Soundproofing a Basement

Acoustic Challenge

Basements often serve as the family recreation center.   Converting a basement into a great room setting requires the need to isolate the room's noise from the rest of the house, and produce great acoustics inside the room.   Soundproofing a basement is essential in basement design for home theaters, music rooms and great rooms.

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Soundproofing Treatment
 

Your goal in sound proofing a basement is to disconnect common surface structure and line the surfaces with density.    This will help force the collapse of sound bleeding out of your room and affecting the rest of your home.    We recommend you visit the Walls and Ceilings sections of this website to discover these treatments and the use of dB-Bloc for soundproof basements..    

Once the room has been treated with basement sound insulation, then choose from the wall or ceiling mounted sound panels, ceiling tiles and related absorption products to control reverberations within your room and eliminate unwanted basement noise.   All product options for your basement treatment are featured in the Product Bin.

Acoustic Results

By isolating the basement from the rest of your home and insulating with dB-Bloc, you could trigger as average 10-12 dB drop in the amount of noise bleeding out through your walls and ceiling.    This difference is simulated in our Sound Chamber.   Then through the installation of NetWell absorption products within your finished basement, the sound quality will turn luxury grade as we clean out unwanted background noise and deliver the acoustics you expect when soundproofing a basement.

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Start Smart:     Good Decision Making Will Save You Money

Making good decisions will save you time and money.   Nothing is more costly or pocketbook-draining than to discover that the wrong product, the wrong treatment, or the mis-installation of your order forces you to start over,  accept inferior results, or suffer from buyer's remorse.

To help avoid missteps and protect your investment, NetWell Noise Control
offers its famous, safe, and secure email course called StartSmart.   It is filled with valuable insider tips on saving money with your soundproofing treatment.   This popular teaching tool is your guide to a successful
soundproofing outcome.   The eCourse is free, and enjoyed by more than
90% of all new customers.

Sign up today and check your email for StartSmart!

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Your basement consists of three sets of surfaces.    The ceiling, the inner walls to the basement, and the exterior foundation walls.    Understand that any of these surfaces that you leave untreated for sound transmission loss will grab hold of the sound energy in your basement and deliver it structurally throughout your home.     You need to treat your ceiling, your inner walls and the exterior walls with the combination of "disconnection and density" that we outline in the Walls and Ceilings sections of this Applications Guide.   Do not ignore the exterior walls.

Drop grid ceilings are popular in a basement, so opt either for your own finished ceiling tiles and rest our Ceiling Caps atop your tiles, or install our Granite Tiles which combine to both block the bleed of noise out and absorb the sound reflections in your basement.    For a finished surface ceiling, apply dB-Bloc, firring strips or channels, and drywall.    Note that stuffing insulation between your joists will do little to combat the bleed of noise out of your room, but might be a good idea if you have thermal zone temperature control in your home.    Also, doubling up on your drywall is often a popular technique, but be sure to vary the thickness of your second layer.   By repeating the same thickness, you attack the same frequency pitch of sound.   By varying the thickness, you vary the density of the material and are attacking two separate frequency pitches of sound.    This will serve you better.

Sound absorption within your room can be triggered using a variety of the sound absorption products you see listed in our Product Bin.   For questions, call our help desk at 1-800-638-9355.