Hey all,

Nice to be back on Prorec.  I hope the last year was healthy and prosperous for you all.  

I have one last thing to take care of in my new garage studio and that is the metal roll-up garage door.  I thought that it might be fun to ask you guys if you had any clever ideas for how to cover this up.  The reason I don't just pull it out and put up a wall is that my city will reassess my home and charge me more property tax which is something that would be financially painful here in sunny California.  Here are some ideas that I've come up with:

1.  Two layers of mass loaded vinyl curtains (quick and easy and relatively cheap since I have a local source and don't have to ship).  Not sure how effective this would be.

2.  Replace thin metal door panels with insulated door panels.  Expensive and probably only about a 50% reduction in noise according to my contractor. 

3.  Combine 1&2.  Expensive, but probably pretty effective.

4.  Construct a wall from the inside leaving garage door in place.  Probably the best, but also the most expensive and time consuming.

Any other ideas?  Has anyone else hear addressed this problem in the past?  Thanks for the ideas.

Best Regards,

Mike. 

Rip out the existing garage door...wall it up...then PAINT a fake garage door on the ouside to keep it in compliance.

If you do not ever plan on using it as a garage...I would just build a wall inside and leave the door there.
As far as soundproofing the new wall...well, no more or less than what you have to do for the other 3 walls and ceiling.

Oh...you might have placed the AC unit higher up at the top of the wall instead of so low. It will probably get blcoked by equipment...and hgihger up, it would draw out the hot air much better, while letting the cool air drop down on you instead of having it blast you directly.
Also...there are great new slim-line wall units that only require a small hole, and their comporessor is actually outside on the ground...NOT in the wall. They are better at colling and less nosier than those wall units. 
In a small space like that...it will get hot and stuffy quick...regadless of the temperate climate outside.