I am currenlty in the process of buying a shed that I will convert to a workshop. I was wonderring if I could sound deaden it a bit in order to not annoy the neighbours if I am working late in there?

Clearly 50 dynamat bulk packs is not financially viable. but what about a few stips of flashtac on the walls? Would that help at all?



The workshop will have insulated gyprock walls. I thought that might be enough to block the sound, but figure if there is a better solution, I'd go for that.



Any ideas?

egg cartons haha.

whats the shed made of?

Acoustic Tiles, cheapest option.

Dynamat will only stop vibrations. It doesn't actual absorb noise as such.

Or if you want to go hardcore- render your walls, cover them wiht acoustic tiles or even better Dynamat Dynaliner

im assuming sheeting iron.

get some extra top hat sections for the walls and roof mostly the walls though and tek screw it all down prehaps with some foam rubber between the top hat sections and the sheeting. but the gyprock sheeting should block most of the noise out.

I wouldn't use Gyprock / Plasterboard in a workshop. too easy to put holes in it.
My B.I.L. is a carpenter / cabinet maker who works from home in a colorbond shed. He received complaints about noise so he put fibreglass batts behind 10mm MDF sheets screw fixed to top hat / furring channel. Works a treat. Anything excessively noisy (Compressor & Dust Extraction system ) got boxed out in a corner of the shed.

So far the neighbour has been silenced

Rolls of fibreglass insulation

Lay it over the frame before you sheet it, and silver side to the inside.


Works extremely well.

colourbond steel



Thanks for the replies so far. So from what I can tell, use the fibreglass insulation in the walls and roof.



I was planning on using gyprock because it's cheap and easy to put up and work with and gives it a more proffessional look rather than a metal shed.



I can see the point about gyprock being weak. I'll just have to price it up. I guess MDF is more solid as well if I need to hang stuff on it.



The main noise will be the compressor, and any powertools, (Drill press, bench grinder, angle grinder, Jigsaw etc.) as well as maybe some music down the track.

regardless, your going to be making lots of noise. when you start thinking of ventilation (ie, if you do ANY sanding, welding, etc) you have to have a path to atmosphere, and unless you go whole hog and put in a powered extraction system, your still going to have noise escaping. a lot of it.

Any noise below that (ie, anything NOT involving sanding, welding, spray painting etc) will probably be absorbed by the gyprock (ie, hand tools, hammering etc).

something to think about. By the way, you can get air-cell batts dirt cheap, they use it to insulate motor homes.

Yeah, I know it's going to get noisy at time. I am hoping to 'soften the blow' as it were. I guess anything is better than nothing. Yeah I am thinking about ventilation as well. Not quite sure what to get?

Where do you get the Air-cell batts from? A hardware store like bunnings, or a more specialised place?

phone books

or batts, and look at the sound insulation section of the boral plasterboard site.

you have to have an absorptive section and an isolation section.

the door will be hardest to insulate/treat acoustically

Fibreglass bats shaped into symmetrical wedges, 1 metre in length and with a 50cm x 50cm base. Attach to walls with wedges sticking out, alternating in direction. Walls, floors (obviously you need a floating floor here!) and doors....

Or at least thats what my uni's anechoic chamber was made of....

too bad your in adelaide cos i deal with home insulation and could get you a super deal on acoustic deadening products hehe

If you go the fibreglass insulation path make sure it goes between the frame and the iron.

As for doors: roller doors glue 1in foam to the inside. (use contact cement)

For barn type doors use the fibreglass batts

What sort of work will you be doing in the shed?

...knitting...

Nothing out of the ordinary. I just want somewhere indoors rather than the car port, and have the ability to have it all in one location as well as a 3 phase outlet near where I'll be working.
Grinding, sanding, cutting, drilling, welding etc.

I went to order it yesterday, but I have to check a few things with the council first. Anyone know any council regs?
I think it needs to be built away from the boundry, but I am not sure how far, anyone know?
Also is there a particualr radius and depth of the holes the frame is mounted into?
The problem I have is, if it's too wide, I'll have to get a smaller shed

Thanks for the ides so far. So Fibreglass matting for the walls. I'll have to look into a soolution for the door if possible. I like Cruisers idea, just have to make sure it wont cause any problems when rolling it up and down.

Standard setbacks for sheds should apply. Minimum 1.0m from boundary unless you build up to parapet wall.
Have you considered getting hold of some coolroom walling. The stuff thats aluminium skin with a foam inner about 75mm thick. Would make an ideal all round insulator. You could build the shed out of it !!!!

Hmm, the 1 metre thing could cause a problem?
Pardon my ignorance, but what is a parapet wall?

Hopefully with a pic, you guys may be able to help:


Ok, So I will be replacing the existing shed with a single garage. The back wall (With the high fence) has a stone retaining wall about 1.2m high and the fence sits ontop of that.

The shed I want is 4.8m wide so add a metre from the wall and it's no go. However if I can build it right up against the retaining wall I'll be OK.

Worst case is I'll have to get the shed down from that which is 4.1m wide.

The existing shed will be relocated in my back yard and become my spray booth

Parapet wall is a fire rated wall that generally extends above the roof line by aprox 500mm.
In this case you may be ok to go up to the rear boundary as you will be building up to a retaining wall with a fence that extends far above your proposed shed. The side boundary will more than likely require a 1.0m setback. Go to your local shires web site and look up the Planning & Building section for relevant documentation. You may find if the shed is under a certain area ( m²) it may not need shire approval therefore you could technically put it up to the side b'dary as well provided your neighbour doesn't mind.