Soundproofing Your Home

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Life is noisy, especially if you have a teenage son who has taken up drumming or a hard-of-hearing mother-in-law who runs the TV at maximum volume or an upstairs tenant who seems to practice bowling in the living room. If soundproofing is a priority in new construction, absorbing material should be placed in walls, ceilings and floors. Photo courtesy of Quiet Solution. Having a quiet home isn’t easy. Sound is sneaky. It finds its way through even the smallest gaps in your defenses—a crack under the door or spaces around lighting. Plus, sound waves are powerful. It takes a lot of absorbing material to make much difference, especially when it’s low frequency sound like your kid’s bass guitar. Steve Shepard, a University of Alabama associate professor of mechanical engineering, is building a sound sensor to locate people who have been trapped in disasters. He is currently testing a device in a room in which all the acoustic reflections have been eliminated. The walls and the ceiling are covered with a foam-like material and are insulated with recycled denim. The outside walls are 18-inches thick, and the inside walls and flooring float on springs to prevent vibration. “It’s quiet enough to hear your heart beat,” Shepard says. Obviously, most of us can’t achieve that level of silence, but there are things Shepard has learned from building the room that are useful lessons for someone whose demand for quiet is less exacting. Bob Hodas, an acoustical consultant based in Berkeley, Calif., who specializes in in-home sound studios, also contributes some soundproofing advice. Even his celebrity clients, including George Lucas and Rick James, have to keep the noise down. Simple Fixes Make a Difference Here are some practical soundproofing tips from Shepard and Hodas. Start by moving the speakers off the floor and away from the walls. If your kid is leaning against the wall while he plays drums, get him a comfy chair for the middle of the room. If his drum kit is sitting on the floor, put it and him on a carpeted riser. Seal the air gaps. “It doesn’t take a very big air gap to let a lot of sound through,” Shepard says. “It goes under doors, through gaps in the windows and under walls that don’t fit tightly against the foundation.” Do a thorough job weatherstripping and caulking. Put a compressible rubber gasket across the bottom of the doors. Insulate and caulk around the light switches and the electrical outlets.

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