It's a little nice being in the'do it yourself sort of business' like soundproofing. In today's world taking the family out on a Fri. night for dinner and a film might cost more than your monthly home loan payment. That's why many families are opting for their own home Theater. If you have a spare room or an empty space in your basement or attic, you have a potential Home Theater.



A better recommendation is to work with your existing window exhaust fan walls by using a new layer of Windows Exhaust Fan drywall to the existing walls and ceiling but using a layer of a product called Green Glue on the new drywall and sandwich it between the present wall and the new drywall. Now if your home theater is on a second floor, the ceiling now becomes less of a concern and now the floors become more of a problem. If you are planning on having carpet and pad for the finished floor in your theater, then a soundproof floor underlay would be in order. Something similar to American Impactless soundproof floor underlay or Yank Impact Standard underlay.
The Impactless is a less dense rubber underlay and would be perfect for under carpet and Attic Ventilation Fans pad. The american Impact Standard would also be effective under the carpet and pad, but is more suited for hardwood and ceramic tile floors due to its sheer mass.

Other fears that you could have with your house theater would be doors and windows. Let's talk about doors for a minute ; if you are trying to keep the flick in the home theater, then a hollow core door could be your worst enemy. Most modern bedroom doors are hollow core and do small in the way of soundproofing. Your best bet would be to go to Home Depot or Lowe's and get a solid core MDF or solid wood door. You might ad an automated drop down transom seal to the base of the door and also a door perimeter seal kit to seals around the door where it closes into the jam. A real soundproof door could cost thousands, with some time and well thought out planning ; you can get similar results at 1/4 the cost.
If neighbors are a concern, then I would suggest building window plugs with the 2' America Mat closed cell vinyl nitrile foam mat. Wall Exhaust Fan were 3' X 3', you would cut the froth to 3'1' X 3' 1' so giving the window plug and additional 1/2' around it's entire perimeter. This additional 1/2' will help to hold the window plug firmly into the window frame very similar to a cork in a bottle. If the window is 4' or more on either dimension, it is recommended that the window plug be glued to a backer board, something like wood paneling or Luaan. These wood panels can be found at home Depot or Lowe's.

Well, I think we have covered every side of building your very own home theater ; next time we are going to discuss acoustical treatments for your theater, till then, Dr. Bob.... Out!!!

Build your home theater
Ways to build your own home theater
Ways to build your own home theater
Build your home theater