Any recommendations for getting soundproofing installed?

[WolfWings]

Already know the product I'll be going with (RAAMmat) since I can get it affordably, but at this point I'm looking at the installation and wondering if anyone out there has some experience doing so? I'm good with mechanical stuff, but I'm actually worried about yanking the interior apart to do a proper floor-pan install myself, since I can't afford to have the car down for more than a weekend due to my work schedule.

Only thing I was able to find by hunting around was a price-quote in the $300-500 range from Best Buy for labor starting at the floor-pan getting layered up and working up to fully sealing the doors inside and out and doing everything but the roof of the vehicle.

So, my two-part question is: Is that a rip-off price ($300 for the floorpan is what I'm oogling mostly) for the amount of labor involved in such an install? And would Best Buy be likely to do a passable job in the first place? I have the stripped no-power-anything, no-extra-ABS, no-side-airbags model, so AFAIK it's as easy an install as can be done on the Yaris.

[Desperauto]

You have the right stuff.. And I worked with my son on a scion TC and RAAMatted it, it took 3 of us two 10 hour days to strip the interior and door panels and cover everything. Its quite labor intensive. we did the floor and the trunk and inside the doors. It was a real challange. 300 doesnt sound to bad for the floors. It does pay off though.

[tk-421]

Only thing I was able to find by hunting around was a price-quote in the $300-500 range from Best Buy for labor starting at the floor-pan getting layered up and working up to fully sealing the doors inside and out and doing everything but the roof of the vehicle.

Just curious: Why would you leave the roof out of the equation? IMO that's the noisiest part of the car (at least it feels like it on heavy rain and hail and stuff)

[earljail]

Just curious: Why would you leave the roof out of the equation? IMO that's the noisiest part of the car (at least it feels like it on heavy rain and hail and stuff)

I've never soundproofed, but I've read that you need to get a kind of soundproofing meant for the roof, because if you get cheaper stuff, the glue won't hold it up, due to gravity and the high temperature.

However, if you're doing your whole car, you might as well finish the job.

[eijikikimaru]

I sound proofed the rear and the sides of my car(LB).
It's quite simple but it does take a lot of time. I spent 4x5hr days and worked on it by myself. I just removed the rear seats for that month and soundproofed each Saturday.
As for popping the parts off they're not difficult, just need to be careful to pull them off correctly. If pulled at an angle, you can chip,break,snap off those plastic pieces. The carpet is real simple, if i remember correctly if all plastic panels and seats are off the carpet just rolls off. Correct me if I'm wrong...it's been a while.
I felt better that I did the work myself but $300 doesn't sound so bad if they're going to do the whole car for you.
If you are going to do it yourself, invest in some rollers, they help a lot! I bought some cheap ones at home depot.

[derrick452]

I cant believe its that labor intensive....the stuff doesnt just stick to the floor?? Is it hard to cut?? someone enlighten me.

[punch]

the labour is removing the plastic trim ( 90% of it) around doors, floor boards, seats, kick panels..

then removing the front seats,
then the back seat
then the center console
then the carpet
then cutting the sound deadener to fit
then applying it, rolling it out
then re-installing the carpet, seats, plastic trim..

yeah peice of cake!

[punch]

now for the roof, removing the trim around the a, b, c pillars (watch for those air bags), removing the dome light, removing the head liner..

again pretty simple should take maybe 1/2 hr (joke)

[cali yaris]

How does RAAMmat compare with Dynomat in terms of (1) weight (Dynomat is sooo heavy) and (2) sound deadening performance and (3) price?

[WolfWings]

First off, again, the $300-500 price was for just the floor, the most labor-intensive part if you can't afford to have the car down for any length of time. Done in a single day, in around 6 hours between two guys.

As for why not the roof? I can come back and do that later if I need to. It's in the same category as the doors, you can do it in steps without disabling the vehicle while it's in progress.

And RAAMmat is basically two-thirds as good as Dynamat Extreme with one layer, noticably better with two layers, each layer is thinner, and it only costs about $100 for a 62.5 square-foot roll of the stuff. So less than a fifth of the price of Dynamat Extreme by the square foot, barely a third the price if you double up everywhere. RAAMmat takes the "two layers where you need it, one layer where you don't" approach. And heavy is good actually.

And doing the roof is more an issue of that being where the most heat builds up, so if your soundproofing will fail and sag, that'll be where. Another reason I'm waiting to see if I need to bother. :-)