# Decoupling and duct work



## MLGamer (Feb 10, 2013)

Hello all,

I was just looking over the space in my basement which will be transformed into a myriad of rooms, one of which is a home theater. I am planning on using isolation clips on the ceiling and was wondering what to do when you come across returns and general duct work. Do you just build soffit ladders around it and ignore decoupling for that area? Is there a special means of insulating the area as opposed to using isolation clips? For example, I have two MONSTER returns running parallel to one another. What is the best way to deal with that from an acoustic and soundproofing perspective?

Thanks!

Matthew


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## Andre (Feb 15, 2010)

Hello Matthew,

Please add a few pics, need perspective


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## MLGamer (Feb 10, 2013)

Andre said:


> Hello Matthew,
> 
> Please add a few pics, need perspective


Andre,

Thanks as always for responding. I am waiting for the pictures to process from my cell phone to my email inbox. Oh the joy of a 3g phone!!!

Matthew


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## MLGamer (Feb 10, 2013)

Andre said:


> Hello Matthew,
> 
> Please add a few pics, need perspective


Best I could do with my iPhone 4. I hope it sheds a little light on the question.

Matthew


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## MrAngles (May 1, 2012)

The easiest thing to do is to frame soffits around the ducts and put clips and channel on the soffit framing to decouple the drywall from the framing. To save space though, I put clips and channel up first, and mounted the soffit to the channel, decoupling the entire soffit framing. Another step to save space was to build "frameless soffits," where instead of framing the entire soffit out of 2x2 ladders, I used horizontal 2x2s to secure sections of OSB to each other to build the frame.


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## MLGamer (Feb 10, 2013)

Problem solved, solution found. Thanks MrAngles!

Matthew


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