Whether you have noisy neighbors or are the noisy ones yourselves, soundproofing your home is great for peace and quiet- and privacy. Here are 10 ways to reduce sound in a room and improve sound quality in your property.
Anyone who has ever had a loud neighbor can confirm that soundproofing your home is a must. Even if you don’t have outside noise to worry about, living in a family home full of people can get pretty loud.
Poor sound management can impact the quality of life- making it harder to relax, concentrate, and sleep. Excessive noise coming in from the street can also reduce property value when it comes to rental potential or sale.
Overall, soundproofing makes a space more comfortable, appealing, and private- what’s not to love?
Is It Easy to Soundproof a Wall?
There are certain steps you can take without much effort or budget to improve sound levels. That said, to fully soundproof a home is a little more complicated- especially if construction is already complete.
It is worth speaking with a soundproofing specialist about your options. Check out the 10 solutions below for inspiration and where to get started.
How to Soundproof Your Room: Ten Possible Solutions
1: Install Thicker Drywall
If you are looking for a way of how to soundproof your room more effectively, you should think of walls and their thickness. Drywall is an ultra-versatile building material that can be used on walls and ceilings. Choosing a thicker type of drywall can immediately reduce noise between rooms and floors. Ideally, you want a thickness of at least 15mm for effective soundproofing.
Acoustic sheetrock is the best choice for blocking sound waves. It is denser and often insulated with fiberglass, which enhances sound absorption.
2: Hang Acoustic Panels
If you don’t want to redo your walls, you can cover them with acoustic paneling- a soft, heavy material that can easily be covered to work with your interior style. They help absorb the sound in any room and stop it from traveling through the walls.
3: Seal or Close Gaps at Doors and Windows
A lot of noise can escape through gaps around and under doors and windows. An easy way to reduce this is to install sweeps or draft blockers. You can buy doors designed to fit tight to the wall, but it is often easier (and cheaper) to buy something to attach to or rest against the foot of the door to close the space.
4: Place Furniture Against the Wall
Large, heavy furniture items such as bookcases and full-length cabinets or shelves can help reduce sound transmission from one room to another. While it won’t completely soundproof your space, it will audibly lessen how much you can hear through the wall.
5: Use Soft Furnishings
Sound uses vibrations to travel. The more vibrations, the louder the noise. Soft surfaces give off significantly less vibrations than hard surfaces, so it is worth bringing in as many soft finishes as you can.
Rugs, fabric upholstery, wall hangings, cushions, and tablecloths can all make a difference. These small changes go a long way toward soundproofing an existing room where building work is not possible.
6: Insulate Your Ceilings
Sound transfer between floors can be particularly problematic in apartment buildings. It is irritating in a family home as well. Insulating the ceiling with the right products can have a huge impact.
Acoustic insulation is best and is fairly easy to work with. If you don’t want to pull down ceilings to put in insulation, you could consider adding a second layer of framework and placing the material in between.
7: Hang Curtains
This goes back to a couple of points we have already covered:
How sound can escape through doors and windows
How soft furnishings reduce vibrations and, as such, reduce noise
Hanging thick, lined curtains in front of doors helps absorb sound while keeping your room cozy. It is important to ensure the curtains extend along the wall past both edges and sit higher than the top of the door or window frame. This provides optimal noise reduction.
8: Use Decoupling Layers
One of the most effective methods for soundproofing a room is wall decoupling. Decoupling mounts are used to double stud walls, which creates excellent sound blocking. It is a more expensive option and quite a large undertaking, but it is worth it if you want the best results.
You will need to hire professional contractors to do this, and it does mean sacrificing a little space in the room. That said, 50dB of noise reduction is pretty impressive.
9: Apply Wall Paneling
Wall paneling is an increasingly popular design choice in modern homes, but it can also help soundproof a room slightly. It may not block quite as much sound as extra thick drywall, insulation, or decoupled walls, but it is much easier to do.
For it to work, you need to use real panels- not just design battens. Alternatively, you can use special soundproof foam panels and cover them with wooden facades. Adding this texture to your walls disturbs sound waves and softens noise in general.
10: Upgrade Your Doors and Windows
If you have some money to invest in reducing the sound around your home, it may be worth looking into high-quality doors and windows. Noise from busy streets and neighbors can be drastically reduced with good double glazing- triple plane is even better.
Solid doors also go a long way to blocking outside noise- and can also help make individual rooms within your property more private.
Why Seek Professional Assistance for Reducing Sound in Your Home?
While some of these solutions offer quick and easy DIY solutions, the most effective ways to soundproof rooms require the help of a professional contractor. Without it, you can only do so much, and you may still face issues with noise getting in and traveling through floors and walls.
It is best to work with people who have experience soundproofing Los Angeles properties. They can offer valuable advice and provide versatile and effective sound-reducing solutions for every situation.
