Your Kid Wants to Start a Garage Band? Don’t Panic. It Could Always Be Worse.

o, Little Ozzy and the rest of New Black Sabbath want to invade your garage, because they need to practice. Wouldn’t it be great if you could say, “I knew them when…”?

Here’s the thing: Don’t panic, and don’t say no. With the right garage, you don’t have to worry about having the neighbors on your doorstep complaining about the noise.

Here’s the other thing: think about how many really cool bands actually started out in someone’s garage. Do you honestly want to say that you’re the person who stopped a band like Nirvana? Or, to go back a bit further, said “John, Paul, George and Ringo, I can’t stand this noise, and besides, why aren’t you in school”? Or “Mick and Keith, I’ve had enough of this already, now can’t you just go get jobs like sensible kids”?

Of course you don’t. Besides, you want to encourage your kid’s creativity. So, what are you going to do?

Insulate

This is the first thing you need to do, especially if your garage is joined to your house as opposed to being detached. A detached garage is going to bother your neighbors more than it will you. Either way, it’s probably a good idea to at least make an effort at muffling the sound.

With adjoining garages, the original builder probably would have complied with the standards for insulation if your garage is fewer than 20 years old. There really shouldn’t be a whole lot of noise emanating from the garage. Most likely, the builder will have used mineral wool, which is a very good insulation material. Older garages might have been insulated with polystyrene, which is not going to work as well to reduce noise.

In older garages, too, the insulation might not always be the best if you have a bedroom above the garage. What that means is that “band practice” is going to be hell on anyone who lives above the garage.

Reduce the Sound

There are things that you can do to reduce the noise. First of all, keep in mind that any instrument that’s placed on the floor is going to deliver a lot of sound. You can put rubber pads under it or lay down carpet, but realistically, it’s not going to do all that much to reduce the sound.

One way that you can reduce the sound, though, is to insulate your garage door. If you properly insulate your garage door, you can actually reduce the transmission of noise by about half. Weather stripping also helps.

The Final Word

Give us a call at 705-322-0136. We are the garage door experts, and we can tell you how to reduce noise in your garage. We can also provide you with all the information you need to design your own garage door. Check out our Design Centre for ideas, and if you’d like an online quotation, we can provide that as well.