The Many Advantages of Soundproofing Your Home

When you live in a house with other people, there are times when it is going to get a little too noisy. This is especially true when you have children or if you are simply sharing a house with a particularly noisy person. The noise can start to become a problem; especially if you work from home. However there is something that you can do to stop it.

Soundproofing your home is an option you may not have already thought of. For many people they think that soundproofing would be a really expensive and large job. However, it really doesn’t have to be overly difficult and it also isn’t always that expensive either.

Why Soundproof the Home and How to do it properly

There are many reasons why you might choose to soundproof your home. Working from home can bring lots of distractions – especially if the rest of the family is home with you.

Perhaps you have a teenager in the house and they are constantly listening to loud music? Whatever the reasons, soundproofing is often an ideal solution.

Usually to soundproof a room you will need a material to stop the vibrations of sound absorbing into the space outside of a room. Sound can travel through walls and whilst most of the noise is blocked by the wall, it still doesn’t stop it completely. By adding a layer of material, such as foam into the walls it acts as an added barrier for the noise.

There are many ways in which you can soundproof your home and you can easily do it yourself too with just a little know-how.

Purchasing “Homosote Panels” may be a good idea as they can be found in practically all home improvement stores. They are quite thick and they really do make a difference. If you do apply these panels to the walls then you should ideally also use drywall over them just for added soundproof benefits.

Homosote Panels are generally inexpensive to purchase too so they would be a good option for those people on a budget.

If you have a little more money to spend then a better option might be foam panels. These will last a lot longer and they do actually provide more soundproof benefits than the Homosote panels, as well as offering other benefits such as insulation.

Usually soundproofing a room using the absorb method requires you to have a gap between the absorber and the wall. An air gap works really well as it acts as an extra barrier to the noise.

Basically the noise will go through the absorber and automatically it will be filtered out so that the noise that does make it through the barrier won’t be as loud. Then the sound waves will hit the wall and some will bounce back through the air gap and into the absorber once again. It is a really effective method of soundproofing and it is also fairly inexpensive to do too.

A common problem which people find with their homes is that the flooring can make a lot of noise into the rooms below. This is especially true wherever there is laminate flooring.

Underlay is possibly one of the best methods of soundproofing the flooring and it is really inexpensive to do too. Or you could try specialized laminate underlay which helps to reduce both the noise produced to the rooms below and the noise of actually walking into the room.

Alternatively if you have carpet installed within the home then “Quietfloor” may be the option for you.

Another way to soundproof a room, such as a bedroom for example, would be to have a really solid, thick, wooden door installed. The denser the wood, the less noise you will hear outside of the room. You should also add water stripping around the door too as that will stop the sound from travelling out under and around the door.

Overall soundproofing the home can be a really good idea. It allows you to cut out the noise and it adds a little more privacy too. This is ideal in bathrooms and bedrooms in particular and it really can make your life a lot more bearable.

Here's a video on sound proofing, check it out: