I have a sound proofed room. It's constructed like this:
Specifically, the layers of the wall are:
- studs
- 3/4" MDF
- 1/2" air gap (RC-8 channel)
- 3/4" drywall
- 3/4" drywall
The exterior of the wall is 2" from the MDF and 2.75" from the studs.
-
Can I attach things to the studs even though it's 2.75" away? Is the load bearing capacity any different? Can I hang things like heavy cabinets?
-
Since I have MDF everywhere, can I attach heavy things to the MDF and ignore the studs?
Best Answer
The room is sound proofed by using certain sound resistant materials in a certain manner. One of the key concepts is to isolate the interior wall finish from the exterior (or other side of the wall) wall surface. In this wall, RC-8 resilient channels are used to isolate the interior wallboard from the studs. This keeps the sound waves (or most of the sound waves) from passing through the wall.
If you install hangers, fasteners or blocking through the interior wall surface and attach it to the other surface, you may slightly reduce the quality of the isolation, but not significantly enough to be detected. I would keep the fasteners to a minimum. If you think about it, you're making a "conduit" for the sound to travel through the fastener and into the stud, then through the stud and through the wall material on the other side...exactly the opposite of what the RC-8 channels are doing...isolating the 2 sides of the wall.
You may want to use cabinets that can support themselves so they don't need to "hang" on the wall. Then, just use a sufficient amount of fasteners to keep them from tipping over.