Soundproofing for Boutique Hotel

3 years ago

Hi all, I'm in need of soundproofing expertise for a boutique hotel project I'm working on.

My building is downtown in a small-sized town on a very busy highway. The highway is 4 lanes plus a turning lane and the facades are only about 8' off the curb, so it's really loud from early in the morning until late at night. My building is mid-block, so it has 'shared' walls on either side of it. It's made of brick and is 28' wide.

One of my concepts puts two hotel units on the street side, on the street level. The windows for these units would, of course, then be on the street side. The windows would be eye-level and above so you wouldn't really be seeing the cars whiz past, but certainly lots of lights at night, so quality blackout curtains for sure. My question is, would I be able to soundproof these units to be super quiet? It's a total renovation, so I can do whatever is needed for size/type of windows and interior treatment if it is possible and cost-effective. It's imperative to my business that it is very, very quiet.

I have other layout options, but this busy street and lack of real 'front door' feel is a pain no matter what and if really good soundproofing is possible, it would allow us to focus on our public space on our very cool back patio where the majority of people will enter anyway.

I am working with a local architect, but they are not very experienced with soundproofing, so before I push this concept, I'd like to better understand the fesability as well as where I might direct them to for resources.

For those who want more background, this is a classic case of a small town main street dismantled by bigger, wider, faster roads. This used to be a quaint main street with parking in front and front doors that were actually used by customers, but the DOT took all of that away a while back. So, no, it's not perfect, but I'm making an effort to take a step in the right direction by investing in our downtown and restoring some activity here.

Thanks in advance for your experience and advice!

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Comments (5)

Colleen Bozarth
3 years ago
I have looked into sound issues recently and there’s only so much you can really do it seems. Street noise outside has to be blocked by something solid, not plants. Inside you can diffuse- things like brick, wood, rugs keep the sound from bouncing around and echoing. I’m going to have a music room in my new house, so I saw a few articles on internet about it. I saw some felt wall tile that looked good here on houzz. Otherwise you’d probably need an expert to add something technical like insulation.
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Emily Naparalla
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks Colleen! I'll post this here to expand on our situation as well- because it's a full renovation, we can do whatever it takes (if the numbers make sense) to insulate/add layers/build out this exterior wall, as well as select the right windows and minimize window sizes if needed as well.
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Ripped Jeans Construction
3 years ago
It's going to be worth finding a consultant for this; strangers on the internet are only going to be so helpful for your specific use case. Some "experts" work sales for companies to peddle specific products - avoid those people. You want an independent acoustics consultant.

Basic concepts for soundproofing are: you need a lot of mass to resist sound vibration transfer. Then dead airspace and another interior wall decoupled from the exterior wall to resist any remaining low-frequency vibration. This is basically how recording studios are built (also with decoupled floors/ceilings etc etc).

There's a pretty common misconception that absorption = soundproofing; those are different things. Soft surfaces will make rooms less reverberant in the high frequencies, but doesn't block the sound itself.
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Emily Naparalla
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks so much, I'm going look into acoustics consultants in the area and go from there.
Kate
3 years ago
I live in a city condo and have researched, but could only go so far. Use triple pane windows, layers of window treatments including semi transparent honey comb shades for sound and privacy but allow light, Roman shades hung outside the window with blackout and inner lining. Ad soft fabric to help bounce sound around. They also make drywall for sound control or use two layers of drywall and insulation. There are also sound panels that can be added to finished walls on interior or ceiling but haven’t tried that and also tracks available for shades to keep sound from “leaking”.