Nothing is as refreshing as the comfort of a serene home, which is free of distractions and external influences. To many people, home is the safe haven to escape to, after each day’s hustling and bustling. However, getting such solace from homes may not always be the case, when noise is causing annoying distractions.
It is common to get distracted by noise from external sources; moving vehicles, crazy music from frustrating neighbors, kids play in the next courtyard. The list may be unending, as many things can be noise when you need your privacy the most.
Therefore, it is common to consider soundproofing your apartment. This option comes with many benefits that are lofty to have a check on:
Prevent external noise
One of the main reasons for soundproofing or insulating apartments is to prevent noise from the environment into the house. Getting a way to do without such a factor is a way of enjoying a beautiful home.
Prevent sound from getting out of the house
Ideally, no one likes to be a problem neighbor; therefore, if you are the type that is not willing to get on the nerves of his neighbors, due to noise from his apartment, getting your apartment soundproofed will be a good option.
Enjoy your privacy
If you are a very private person, then soundproofing your apartment will help to keep you very private, as neighbors will not be able to know what’s happening in your home. Nobody will be able to know the type of music you like to play, even if you are a lover of rooftop sound.
It is not limited to music, you can be assured of having sound sleep, free of noise from crying neighbors’ kids, aircraft hovering in the sky, honking of cars in the street and barking of naughty dogs.
How to soundproof your home
Now that merits of insulating your apartment are well listed, it is not a bad idea to have a look at a few ways to make the house soundproof. Tips here are simple ones that can be done by you, but those ones that are more complicated will need the expertise of professionals to deploy.
Wall insulation
Sound requires material medium to propagate, which means, sound can travel through air and the building structure. To get a noise-free room, you need to soundproof the walls of your room or the apartment to block and absorb the sound, based on finances available.
It is better to get a good design that will achieve both needs, and soundproofing the wall is better with one of the following methods.
- Acoustic walls foam: it is better in absorbing sound than blocking it. By reducing echoes in sounds, it improves quality of music in a particular room. It also minimizes the vibration of the sound waves, thereby, reducing its effect on the other side of the wall.
- Decoupling method: in decoupling method, another wall is made against the existing walls, then fill the gap between the two walls with materials that are sound absorbents, like foam panels. The method may be tricky, as it will definitely reduce space in your room and the budget may be on the high side.
Close Gaps
This is method is very simple, it requires closing all gaps that may allow sound to travel, like the windows and doors. Ensure to check in details likely spaces around them and fill them with necessary materials. This is quite easy; it doesn’t require an expert or huge money to close all gaps. You can use acoustic sealants found easily in hardware stores.
Make do with soundproof doors
Doors are one of the many ways that permit sound to get through into a home; therefore, use soundproof blankets to insulate your doors. You do this by just hanging the quilts on the door and it’s an alternative cheaper way as compared to door replacement method.
In order to soundproof a door, it must not be hollow and it should be thick as well. Such a door must not have gaps too, so that sound will not be able to go through the openings.
To soundproof a door, you are actually trying to eliminate noise getting through due to gaps and lack of enough thickness in the door, instead of outright replacement, suspending quilts on the door will do just fine.
Add some furniture
It sounds quite funny, but it is true, adding furniture to your home will prevent sound from getting in and out of the room. Wardrobes against the walls of your room or furniture in the dining room will reduce the sound effect to minimal. Presence of furniture will improve the quality of sound in the room because it will block noise from echoes.
Soundproof your windows
If your window is not double paneled, which is the case in most homes, it means you must consider soundproofing it to prevent sound from entering or leaving the apartment.
This method is simpler, cheaper and can be deployed with ease than outright replacement of the window and it will complement the soundproof door, to make the room free from noise. Alternatively, you can hang noise reducing curtains to block out noise coming in to the house.
Install soundproof ceiling
It is possible for sound to come in, or go out through the ceiling, which is not abnormal because of the hollow spaces in most ceilings. You can install quiet materials like acoustic insulation or soundproof foams to add on your roof in order to prevent noise from coming in or going out through the rooftop.
The only issue with this method is it may affect the temperature in the room so; you may need to get a heater to regulate the temperature level in the room.
Achieving a soundproof house is possible, but it takes some sacrifice to prevent noise from entering the house. Blocking all gaps on the doors and windows will go a long way, with an insulated ceiling and home filled with furniture, the fact that these methods do not need experts means that the cost may not be too high, which will not drain your limited resources unnecessarily.