We noticed when we met in the 3D printing and electronics space last night that the echoes off the hard surfaces made it get loud pretty quick with the handful of people we had. I thought I’d mention it in case any other spaces had similar problems and someone had already started planning on a way to mitigate it (DIY sound absorbing panels, etc.).
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I also noticed how loud the hum gets after about an hour in the fabric room; it’s off-putting and slightly headache inducing but I’m generally more auditorally sensitive than average… is there any way to dampen it further?
I’m afraid it will diminish people’s willingness to stay overly long, thus diminishing utility overall.
I’ve never done any proper room treatment, but my friend has had some success hanging thick cloth from the walls. I wonder if we could find some donated carpet or something to use for sound dampening? That might be easier to cut holes around wall-hangings and shelves and stuff?
I just spoke to someone at Floor Coverings of Winona and he said they just donated a bunch of carpet scraps to the ReStore right next to us! That might be a good source. I can stop there this weekend to follow up (unless they’re closed for the holiday)
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Yeah I experienced this as well, but I think as the spaces fill out with more equipment, shelving, etc. it will help quite a bit.
Maybe we can start with a large rug or some carpeting on the floor? I think that will be the easiest to install and best bang for the buck right now.
But I like your idea Erik for the carpeting material on the wall.
I agree on carpet being a viable sound dampener, especially in the fabric room. we’re located next to the… what is it? HVAC, boiler? furnace? regardless, we’re wall to wall with the “loud” maintenance room and the two spots in the studio around the duct work, I think carpet would be the perfect solution.
I walked by the fabric room, and the buzzing was definitely pretty loud. I believe the adjacent room houses the electrical panels and wiring, so it’s possible the noise is coming from something simple like a loose panel cover, mounting bolt, or conduit vibrating. Someone qualified to inspect it might be able to find an easy way to reduce the buzzing.
Kathy and I spoke about Fabrics yesterday. It has some unique challenges being next to the electrical room with the 480v transformer, but there’s more we can do specifically in there (some more gaps to fill between the two rooms with insulation and caulk, getting that window in, etc).
As for rooms like 3d, love the idea of trying some acoustic panels or something on the ceiling. I don’t have the $$$ for that at the moment, but let’s all watch for good deals. And a roll of good commercial carpet never used by Mayo is $150 at MedCentral Outlet. I have one that’s going in the shop area, if that works well it could be good for 3d printing/electronics. Fabric might benefit from something like an assortment of carpet tiles, so we can pull them out as needed if we spill fabric dye on them. Still need to get the window panes swapped with glass so they won’t leave puddles in those rooms before carpet…
Moving blankets from Harbor Freight are a great option. People use them to make sound booths at home. Another thing you can do is fin thick comforters from thrift shops and hang those on walls to dampen sound.
Ck create floors or hard surface floors will bound sound, so carpet will take that sound down, yet requires a lot of cleaning.