Treating Floor in New Construction - Reducing Footfall and Vibration


Looking for some good ideas/solutions to treating my new dedicated music room's floor.  The room will be fairly large at 22w x 29L, built on the main floor of the new house with a basement below.  My current room is in my basement with concrete floors so footfall is never an issue.

I have asked the engineering firm to give me some recommendations on making the floor stronger structure wise; not sure what they will suggest, maybe floor joist on more narrow centers, say 12 inch vs 16.  

Have you tackled this issue?  What about mass loaded vinyl (MLV); would a layer of heavy vinyl between the OSB floor boards and carpet pad help?  Use two layers of OSB flooring and glue them together?  Ideas?

stickman451

Showing 3 responses by stickman451

Actually I am considering putting hardwood on the front (speaker end) ten feet of the room and carpet on the remaining 19 ft.

I have considered taking a hard look at cork; what brand/type did you use?  I have read that cork has good sound characteristics but that it is very soft and hence easy to damage.

I am thinking floor joists on 12" centers are a idefinite requirement.   I am not sure what the building code requires but since the room is fairly large at 22' x 29', 12" centers would seem reasonable.

I don't care for the OSB subflooring myself, so I will discuss with my builder the possibillity of using good quality 3/4 plywood.  Gluing the subfloor sounds reasonable also.  
All the walls will be double layers 5/8" sheetrock with green glue between the sheets.

Ceiling is 11' high and will be subdivided into six partitions; the partitions or soffit that forms them will hold the HVAC and lighting.