It's a good feeling.

May and June have been the busiest months in a long time for our family.  Here I was in April thinking that I was going to be able to cruise through the summer working in the basement during the weekends and relaxing in the evenings with my family.  Nope; not a chance.  Changing jobs, softball, tee-ball, vacations, relatives visiting, trips for work and a whole host of other events have consumed nearly every weekend between my last post and this one. 

That said, there's been progress in the theater room and pictures are coming.  I happened to reread the thread at Home Theater Spot concerning a resilient channel and its interesting to read it now that I've gone through the installation process.  Couple of comments on my setup that uses a RC channel with RSIC-1 clips and 20 gauge furring strips with a layer of 5/8ths inch drywall + Green Glue + 1/2 inch drywall on the ceiling.  The walls are 5/8ths drywall + Green Glue + 1/2 inch drywall.

  • Purchasing clips: You need to take into account all of the places you will need to add wood to your floor joists to adjust for can light placement.  I luckily had two demo clips which were sent to me that I used to complete my installation.  The right number of clips was pure luck for me though.  I purchased 100 clips and of them 2 of the clips delivered were unusable. 
  • The hardest part about putting the channel up is getting the channel in place.  I'm sure my task would have been easier with 25 gauge steel but the specs called for 22 gauge or thicker.  Many drywall folks told me that 25 would do the job but I went with 20 gauge.  If you're going to use 20 gauge get yourself a good pair of pliers to squeeze it into place.
  • For the ceiling, I rented a drywall lift from our local Home Depot for $35 per 24 hour day.  On one Friday night and a full day Saturday, I was able to put both layers of drywall up with the help of one other person.  Both layers were caulked, the first layers was mudded and taped and the second layer was glued in this same time frame.  All I can say is that the drywall lift made things so simple and without it we were looking at a multiple weekend project.
  • I have 2 29 ounce tubes of Green Glue left over if anyone is interested in buying them from me. $4/tube + shipping and handling.
  • Pay a local drywall company to bring the drywall into your basement.  Louisville Drywall charged me $50 to bring down 28 pieces of drywall.  Had I tried it that way the first time, I could have saved lots of time consider we used approx ~100 4'x8' sheets of drywall in our basement.
  • Quietrock (QR525) has to be easier to install so the whole thing becomes a question of time versus money.  Not sure how much better it performs versus double layer drywall with Green Glue in the middle but installing one layer of something has to be easier than making all the cuts in your room twice.

In the end we're pleased with the sound isolation.  We turned on a radio that was clearly audible before we finished the basement and now the only place that we can hear the audio come from a single line of duct work in the ceiling of the bedroom and even that its muted by a good degree.  The doors are not hung yet so I don't expect the sound to get into the theater room.  When standing in the theater room there is a noticeable difference.  The room feels solid and there is very little echo even without the carpet down.  I can only expect this to improve as the rest of the room is completed. 

Pictures coming soon.  We're aiming to paint this month some time. Fun...

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