DIY: Ceiling Sound Baffles

Step up on a stepladder to gain access to the ceiling of the room where you want to install the baffles. Start on either the left or right wall at the far side of the room, furthest from the doorway that provides entrance to the room. Using a stud finder, work sideways across the ceiling of the room, marking the locations of the studs with a carpenter’s pencil until you reach the opposite wall and move the ladder as you go.

Mark the line of studs across the ceiling, reposition the ladder ahead of the line of studs and repeat Step 1 to mark another line that’s about a foot away from the first line. Repeat again until you’ve marked a complete line of studs across the entire ceiling area.

Go back to the original line of studs you marked. Stand on the ladder next to the wall and press the corner of the first sound-dampening sheet, essentially thin foam blocks that feature a lipped ridge. Line the ridge of the first sheet up with the first stud line on the ceiling with the corner of the sheet flush to the wall. Screw in the corner, going upward through the lip.

Repeat to screw the first sheet to the ceiling. Move the ladder over and screw the second sheet into the wall studs until the first line of sheets run perpendicular to the sidewalls of the room. Repeat until all the sheets are hung across all the ceiling. Check out the how the sheets hang by looking up from the floor: because wall studs typically don’t run in exact straight lines, some gaps may have been created. If that’s the case, fill the gaps by screwing in additional sheets as needed.