April 28, 2017

Converting Your Garage to a Jamming Studio for Teens? It Can Work

What is a wall-mounted garage door opener?

You want to keep your teenager close to home to enjoy watching them grow up, but they want to jam out in their newly formed rock band. What’s a parent to do? The garage would be the perfect place for instruments and speakers, but your first thought is probably what the neighbors will do. Don’t worry; there are some ways to make this work.

Did you know that some of the world’s most well-known rock bands started their careers in garages, like The Who and Nirvana? Whether you are providing the foundation for a new group of stars, or just letting your child know that you support their dreams, there are definitely ways to reduce the noise transmitted to the house and toward the neighbors.

Insulation is key

If your garage is attached to your house, you’ll of course want to start with insulation to protect your own ears. A detached garage may be more of an issue for your neighbors, so insulation is still important there as well.

Luckily, if your detached garage is less than 20 years old, it was probably built with the most modern standards in energy‑efficient insulation for your area. Look for both the walls and the ceiling to be fitted with something like mineral wool panels, or some other effective insulation. Mineral wool is a common choice because it’s a good thermal insulator and an equally good acoustic insulator because its structure prevents air from moving. (This is not the case with plastic-based insulation materials, such as polystyrene.)

If you have a bedroom above the garage that doesn’t belong to your teen, you’ll want to pay special attention to the ceiling. However, there’s no way to prevent some of the sound from leaking upward, so be sure to agree upon a curfew with the band!

More tips for reducing sound

You don’t need an Acoustics 101 course for all the details of how sound works – but there are many specific actions you can take to control the way noise will travel out of your garage. Instruments that are on the floor, including speakers and drums, will make the most noise, so you may want to cover the floor with a noise-absorbent material like rubber or even carpet. Even this won’t be perfect, but it can help to make the sound a bit more muffled to keep the neighbors from calling the police.

Egg cartons and polystyrene foam panels are not great choices. First, they are flammable, and second they don’t deliver the best sound dampening effects anyway. The best solution is really all about creating a room inside a room by covering or insulation all surfaces. It won’t sound much like a recording studio, but it will allow your teen to have some fun without too much inconvenience for others.

The garage door is the fourth wall

You are likely worried about keeping your own sanity and hearing intact when your garage is attached to your home, but even in this case, your neighbors can be an issue. If your garage door is well insulated and has an effective weather sealant system, noise transmission can be reduced by up to 50% – that’s a huge difference! Our recommendation is a 1 ¾ in (45mm) thick garage door that has been injected with polyurethane foam and includes weather-stripping around the entire door. That means weather stripping between sections and around the exterior frame as well. Sound waves can be transmitted with even the slightest opening, so it’s important to consider every nook and cranny.

Get a detailed quote

Contact us at 1-877-828-5279 for a detailed quote on a sound-proof garage door. You can visit us at our showroom as well, where we will be happy to explain the complete range of doors available, including our recommendations for as close to sound-proof as you can get. You can also go on our design center and send us a request for an online quotation.

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