Careful man... if you over insulate a room, by making sure there is no 'gaps' or 'light', you are also reducing the flow of air through. If you take a look at the darwin awards, this would be on it. If you are going to seal up all the 'gaps' you better make sure you have an air exchange system like a professional studio does, otherwise you are suffocating someone slowly. And no, you aren't fitting enough plants into a single room to recycle the air that a human expends. Other than that, pretty solid video. I'd put a warning somewhere though so someone doesn't sue you for not having the common sense Fun fact though, there is a scientist on here that proved that a $2 towel is more effective than a acoustic panel by several orders of magnitude.
If you remove the drywall and add 2x4s to the wall so one side is not physically attached to the other, just a 1/8th inch is enough, then the sound on one side can not physically travel to the other when you replace the drywall. That tiny air gap makes a huge difference and costs almost nothing to do.
@@thisisashan He kinda mentioned it in the video, but yeah, he should've explained it better, it's important. But I think it's pretty hard to reduce enough of the air flow for it to be a problem, isn't it? I mean, unless you soundproof your bedroom, them it might be a problem.
@@igorporfiirio4915 Healthy flow is 15cfm per person. Or a 2.5 foot box of air moved in and out of a room each minute, per person inside. Quite a bit of airflow, actually. It is actually harder to have proper airflow, in a climate controlled house, than unhealthy amounts. Few people have air exchangers which enable such a thing. This takes a bad problem and makes it worse, tbh.
when i was in high school i bought a truck load of carpet foam padding to sound proof an old shop i used to practice in with an old band and we layered the whole room at least 3 times with carpet foam and hung moving blankets over all of that as well and you wouldnt believe how well it worked. we paid like a 100 bucks between 5 kids for all that and we jammed like clams while bothering anyone around us
That's awesome! Ever taken any pictures of that? It would be cool to see and have all the details for a possible Sorts video. info@soundproofguide.com if you wanted to share.
Sometimes carpet stores get rid of the carpet samples when the manufacturers change colors etc. Never hurts to ask for free rectangles of carpet that already have nice edges
it blows my mind how every time i have a problem i need solved there is a youtube channel with 100k+ subs already dedicated to being the best in slot resource for solving said problem. What a time to be alive. Great video.
It's amazing. I can do things to a very high level thanks to dudes that dedicate their entire lives to very niche things. I have too many interests to dedicate that much time to it but I can research it and learn from true masters and experts and be good enough for my purposes in a very short time. or decide it's not worth my effort lol
True. When my friends call me with some doubt I always tell them do look for the solution on RUclips. And usually I send a video to them with the answer for their problem, as an incetive. RUclips is faaaantastic !
This is the first video I've seen on this subject acknowledge that $50 isn't exactly cheap for some foam and I subscribed right away. The space needs more budget conscious creators and it's a breath of fresh air to finally see recommendations people can afford. Thank you.
Temu changed my life in the way it made very affordable most things that were out of my budget on Amazon, the exact same things. Just a side note, just because it's 50$ on Amazon doesn't mean it's not going to be 20$ on another seller site. But yes I agree with your comment!
Im always shocked when I see videos talking about things that cost $50 or $100 as if its pennies, when I look at the statistics for Am3ric4 in 2024 at least 40% of the population would have to THINK about a $100 expense
I really like how practical and honest you are about the “soundproofing”. I’m a carpenter and I’ve had many clients expect pure silence on a busy street. I will be sharing this as they can hear from an expert there is no perfect sound proofing (in most scenarios)!
Other factors to consider for soundproofing include using sound-absorbing materials such as acoustic panels or curtains, installing double or triple glazed windows, and sealing any gaps or cracks in walls and floors. Proper planning and execution are crucial to achieving the best results in soundproofing any space.
Having worked with a very well-respected professional in this area, this guy’s recommendations are dead on! The only major thing we did differently was to add drop closers and thresholds to the doors. Note that as you sound deaden a room, you generally also insulate that room. We had to also add dedicated hvac for those rooms.
That's impressive! It sounds like you and your bandmates were really resourceful in creating a soundproof jam space for yourselves. It must have been amazing to be able to play without worrying about bothering anyone nearby. It's great that you were able to achieve such good results with a relatively low budget.
That sounds like a really creative and cost-effective way to soundproof your practice space! It's great that you were able to find a solution that worked well for your band and allowed you to practice without disturbing others. It's amazing what you can accomplish with a little ingenuity and teamwork. Keep rocking out!
Just make sure you have working CO detectors in any room you are sound insulating. Air gaps can be a good thing for maintaining breathability. That being said i understand in collage I used to live in ND where it was common for the outside temp to be Windchill -45F(actual -20F). I bought some dirt cheap foam seals for around the windows and exterior doors, used a wool blanket (acquired from the parent's house), and plastic film wrapped the windows (not balcony door incase of emergency ie fire or CO levels too high). These things costed me combined less than 30$ and saved me at least 100$/month on my electricity bill (ND heat is electric baseboard for most people). Th e wool blanket can be found at the thrift store or get a cheap fleece on from the thrift. I have even used pillows to help add more barriers too.
@@annonone93 Just make sure you're constantly paranoid that solving any problem at all will result in something bad happening, thereby ensuring no one ever does anything and everything stays shitty. Wouldn't want people to be happy.
@@MeepChangeling dude you want a cookie for your troll tax? It’s a legit thing to have regardless of sound proofing. Go win the Darwin Award with your mentality towards improvements
@@eric55406 nah, all electric and it’s common to have electric where I used to live. It wasn’t mandated where I was living to have a CO unless you lived above an attached garage (unit). Now, when I purchased it was required in my state all rooms needed to have a CO and smoke detector (except for bathroom). It’s not common for place to have them until recently so older homes don’t think to update their detectors until it’s too late
The difference between deadening the sounds coming from inside a room, (echoes and such) and preventing sounds from outside coming into the room (traffic, TV, etc.) is an important distinction, that I had not considered before. Thanks for that!
I'm glad to hear that you were able to make it work within your budget. Being able to practice without noise restrictions is crucial for musicians. Wishing you success in your future jam sessions!
Adding drop closers and thresholds to the doors is a great idea to further soundproof a room, along with insulation. It's also important to consider adding dedicated HVAC for better climate control in soundproofed rooms. Working with a professional in this area can really make a difference in the final outcome. These additions can greatly improve the overall soundproofing effectiveness of a room and create a more comfortable and controlled environment.
Thank you! We're really happy with how our DIY soundproofing turned out. It just goes to show that with some creativity and collaboration, you can overcome any obstacle. We'll definitely keep rocking out and pushing the limits of what we can achieve as a band.
LMAO I need both, my house has less paint under the layers of paint that help deaden it. But the wood is super old in the house so it resonates anyway. Also my door is so old and breaking down I might as well have a sliding paper door for real
I am so glad this video actually uses “soundproofing” correctly. So many videos refer to acoustic treatment as soundproofing, and they’re totally different things, as you said. Thank you!
Acoustician here. There's a major distinction that should be made that I'm didn't hear in this video: Sound proofing and sound treatment are two totally different things. Sound treatment isn't about keeping sound in or out of a room, but rather about altering the sound within a room so that it has the desired reflections and doesn't have the undesired reflections. Soundproofing is about keeping sound in or out of a room. For sound proofing, you want mass and physical separation. For sound treatment, you need a variety of materials. Sound, like all other waves, can be reflected from the outside, which reduces the sound transmission into the room. Having a more reflective surface outside can have a major effect inside. Outside of that, you want mass to absorb the rest if you cannot separate the room physically.
@@sarothhong5173 I think maybe he's saying to have flat bare walls outside? That's usually what people are referring to when they say reflective surface in terms of sound.
I did it, by attending auctions at offices...I bought 12 panels of cubicle walls for around 10 bucks....does beautifully! That's my recommendation., along with black out curtains and doors, it does a lovely job. yes, caulk everything, but blackout curtains. surprisingly they do an amazing job!
Have a new neighbor in my apartment building that loves to slam their front door, and the sound travels up the stairwell and into my apartment. After watching this video I put a flashlight in the hall pointed at my door and turned off all the lights in my apartment and saw light bleeding through from the bottom. Previously I thought there was 0 gap in my front door. Thanks for the tip!
I would like to apologize on behalf of ur neighbor, as a neighbor who also slams their own door shut. It is because my doorframe has somehow changed and now i cant close it properly without a lot of force(the lock just wont click) Thanl you for coming to my ted talk(how can i fix my doorframe)
@@sarasoryu appreciate it, haha. though it seems you HAVE to forcefully close your door so that it shuts. my neighbors (it's a couple and they both do it) don't have to, and the previous tenant was quiet as a mouse. this couple also stomps around constantly throughout the day, and yesterday they were drilling into the walls past quiet hours. I tried to plug the holes in my doorframe to eliminate any sound coming through but it seems it is not enough. so now, I have air purifiers running on max speed to create white noise to drown out the slams and stomping.
If you want to hang curtains to reduce outside noise (typically traffic), use the heaviest fabric you can find and have the curtain hang at one-quater of the the noise wavelength from the window. Assuming the centerband traffic frequency is 500 Hz, the 1/4-wavelength is just under 7 inches. Ideally, you want some extra material so the curtain is not tretched taut, but is a bit ruffled. This effectively varies the distance to the window and mitigates a wider frequency band of noise.
working nightshift and having a home built across the street makes me wish I thought of that, I put foam insulation sheets in windows and got custom molded ear plugs.
Caution on the moving blankets for window covering: the top fabrics are not UV stable and over time the sunlight will convert the tops to dust. They work and I use them but you will want to put some other stable fabric, like your light blocking curtain, between the moving blanket and the outside light. If you don't want the stylish moving blanket wall covering look, get some other fabric print and attach that to the moving blanket to convert it to a tapestry like in merry old medieval times.
Good point, nothing worse than wondering why the air quality is starting to go down in the room. Then have a neighbor start complaining because you have a blanket covering the window that looks like something from a haunted house (I'm thinking beauty and the beast style) 😅
I used moving blankets once for a quilt I made, it’s cheaper than the expensive wadding, but you can buy a UV wash additive by Rit Dye’s, use a spray bottle and spray the blankets with the solution that should help to extend the life of the blankets. I use it so that I can wash and hang my quilts out to dry in the sun this helps to stop the colours from fading when on the line and on the bed when the sun shines through the window.
Good idea! Was wondering if a couple of layers of cardboard next to the window first, then a moving blanket up against that would work. Could put some cool contact paper on the side facing out. Ppl wld be walking by going...dang, they had to use cardboard!😂
There were lots of good suggestions here. I have a basement studio and I have spent way too much money on soundproofing materials (only $100 when I told my wife how much😂). I know I’m gonna be irritated when theses small and inexpensive tricks do more than all the big, dumb, expensive things. Oh well… live and learn. Thanks for the great video.
As a voiceover performer, I won't work with them anymore, due to one job long ago where the amount of dust in the ones the producer had, literally hurt my voice.
One thing to keep in mind when doing something like this, especially in houses with older A/C systems (or none) is that many houses leak the A/C return air, on purpose, via the gaps below the doors. Windows will also sometimes have small filter vents to allow for outside air to come in. If you block all this off you are effectively creating a sealed space in which to suffocate in, since no fresh oxygen can enter and displace the carbon dioxide you are expelling. Now for houses with A/Cs that have built-in outside air re-circulation this is not a concern in that the vent will provide fresh air, but the air still needs to find its way back to the A/C intake vent or you end up with overpressure in the room and no real airflow through your vent.
Finally a video that is realistic and honest about soundproofing. I used weather stripping along with those bottom door draft stoppers and it works very well. I have to pull the door a little harder to make sure it closes properly which also tells me the seal is tight. The biggest problem which you mentioned and no one else has is the air flow... The room can get a bit stuffy and humid since the air flow has been reduced so much.
@@Tony-. I am going to tell you the real secret and solution to this problem. Massive green house plants. That is how I did it to keep my CO2 low but not having to ventilate outside air in so much. Green plants also cleans the air for us and have other health benefits. I also run a air cleaner on low in most rooms for particle and some extra carbon filtration. For even better quality air. And believe me in the low run, breathing clean air and breathing low CO2 levels gives massive benefits to our health. Think about it, if you are concerned about optimizing your ventilation. That is how you do it.
@@cajampa Yea, but, there are two problems here. The first is the control of heat inflow, I solve it with a film on the window, which also blocks useful sun radiation. I take vitamin D and walk every day, but the plants will die, or would need a special lamp. The second is free space. Not everyone has the opportunity to live in a large house, and if the room is small, the volume of air are also small, so plants simply do not have time to process it even for one person. The most effective method is an electric air inlet with a filter outside the room and noise-isolated ventilation, which is expensive and difficult. The next option is a combination of passive ventilation and green plants. Additionally a traditional type humidifier and quiet AC split system for heat days. Which again is complicated and expensive The worst option is ventilation by hours. No one will follow it and you will start to have problems with headaches, allergies, etc.
The best and cheapest sound deadened room is one you may already have... a walk in closet with both sides full of clothes... We used to roll the baby carriage in ours and you could have a party in the room adjoining the closet and it was a nothing more than a slight background murmur. I know a couple of people using theirs as recording rooms for podcasts -
I cleaned my closet out and turned it into a vocal booth, acoustic foam all the way around even on back of the door, monitor, mic, guitar cable, even a webcam so you can live stream from there and see the performer from the control room
Many years ago in my previous townhouse I had a wall that was shared with people who lived in the townhouse next door & I could hear their talking at night. Drove me nuts. I did a ton of research & ordered the products: A roll of lead paneling, some special foam, the hardware and glues needed to install the lead and foam. Hired a handyman to do all the work. Also had new dry wall installed, 2 or 3" in front of original wall, after the lead, foam, and special brackets were completed. Air is the best insulator and sound proofing. Then had the new dry wall plastered to match the texture of the other walls in the room. It certainly helped deaden the sound coming though, though it wasn't 100%.
These days the most effective way to go about sound proofing is just buying some active noise cancelling earbuds. I wear mine even without music playing all the time when I'm home, including while I sleep. Sucks but at the same time it's life changing considering I can't just move to the countryside
I discovered using flat moving boxes cut to fit snug inside the window frame, fold the moving blanket around it then stuff it into your window frame.. super soundproof and will cost about 15 dollars for a standard window. Harbor Freight has cheap moving blankets and Home depot has cheap moving boxes👍
I just asked about cardboard! 😂.., seriously though, does it help, bcz that wld be a more affordable solution for me. In addition to the blanket of course.
@@micahthomas9521 I wish I had pictures but yes! It totally worked, good luck! What's cool is you can make more layers, but if you have the same snug fit I got, you'll see how good it is.
@@user-need.advicee so when I did my bedroom window, I put the blanket up like a curtain and I got lucky my 2 flat boxes where the right size to shove into the blanket snug along the whole outer edges of the window frame. Got to make a good tight fit. And I hung another moving blanket on the back side from the top of the frame to look like a curtain as much as I could. Low frequency sounds are the hardest to block out, however, the position of our window didn't point directly at the street even though I was the front unit. Anyways, mine worked great. Best way to block low frequency like cars and subwoofers unfortunately is to add mass (like how theaters use concrete, velvet, and carpeting.) Hope this helps, it's a cheap fix in this case after all and doesn't address walls and anything else sounds can go through.
We converted a very large bedroom into two rooms.... one for a TV room and the other for a bedroom. We were able to completely eliminate all noise from being transferred through the common wall by making the wall 8" thick and then alternating the 2x4 studs so that the drywall on each side of the wall was never secured to the same stud as the other rooms drywall. The void formed by this approach was then filled with rubber 1" squares from cut up left over flooring material. If you scream in one room, you might here it from sound waves travelling out the door and down the hall (assuming the doors were open)... but you hear NOTHING through the walls. Now the TV room can be used at 2AM without waking the person sleeping in the bedroom.
This method unfortunately would definitely NOT "completely eliminate all nose from being transferred". It might reduce HF sound transmission somewhat, but this treatment would barely affect low frequency sound transmission since you would not have enough mass or air space in any 8" wall. Alternating studs is certainly better than a conventional studded wall, but there are many more effective ways to do this.
@@daviddaw4018 Hmmm.. we don't hear any bass from the 5 speaker surround sound in the room. I'm sure there are more effective ways.... but I had all free materials to get this accomplished... so it worked for us. My wife used to work for a company that produced very expensive wall sound-proofing panels that were used in VERY EXPENSIVE installations.... but again... I did as good as I think you can for FREE.
Thank you SO much!!! This has been super helpful. I'm soundproofing my daughters bedroom. She is among the neuro-sensory-sensitive folk and the hollow cavity between her and her sisters rooms combined with their doors opening perpendicular to each other actually added to her having a sensory overload induced breakdown! Shes been stuck in bed for 3 years. now!! I'm only just working out (after moving her out of her room temporarily away from the noise there) that all the noise and activity around her drains her sensitive little battery not allowing her to recover. Anyway, your video has been AWESOME its so hard to decipher what is genuinely going to work/help and what are just popular products being sold to us. So far I have taken the existing drywall lining off and filled with insulation and refitted, and I have added 20mm timber battens I ripped from framing timber over the existing framing and have noise rated drywall to add there but it sounds like the single best thing I could do now is get some MLV!! or to save some money, do you think I could use the MLV in a more focused way? I am also building her a bed cave/box type thing that I was also planning on insulating. What do you think about using the MLV to wrap that bed box with? I could do, 5 sides of the box with MLV and maybe also use the MLV as a curtain on the open side in a pelmet thing ?? maybe it would be better to sandwich the MLV between two more texturally appealing fabrics, do a roll up blind, a roman blind, draw back curtains, or overlapping panels, or maybe I could create a vertical honeycomb curtain....
When our house was being built, I had the builder add insulation to the interior walls. I had this done for noise reduction. Noise originating in one room would then be less noticeable in adjacent rooms.
I regret not insulating our interior walls. I don't want to open them back up. I am considering loose fill (it's just paper,) but I think it may not be worth the effort.
That should be standardvall homes the fact it isn't infuriates me I don't pay rent or buy a home to hear others sounds its basically defeating the object of having your own space
At build/framing time, best results come from doubling up the stud count, with half offset by half your usual on centre measurement, staggering the odds & evens so that plaster board from the adjacent rooms aren’t attached to the same studs - no vector of vibration transmission. Acoustic rock wool insulation helps too.
What I remember is what an American architect used in his glasfiber igloo’s. They were hollow and reflected all the sound. He used “paper-mache” for everything above 6 feet in the room. And it worked like magic. Wallpaper glue mixed with small pieces of paper. In my country we call it papier-maché.
THANK YOU - I bought the removalist blankets, put them over my windows, game changer!!! deadened outside noise and sounds great inside too, yes, peaceful. Yay and only $11 Aust each. So so grateful, yay!!!!!
Thank You for caring, and honesty that you use to produce these informational videos. Living in spaces without privacy can cause stress between neighbors and pour quality of living. Soundproofing can help. Quality advisory is greatly appreciated.
A lot of common sense and useful stuff for low cost soundproofing for everyday folks. And also the clearing up of what those acoustic foams pads actually do, which is they should only be used when YOU are the one making the noise and don't want it to escape. Thanks brother, keep it up!
tbh the foam isn't even so much about keeping your noise from escaping as much as it is about keeping your noise from bouncing around the room for ages giving you nasty reverb tails on your recordings. It'll do something for keeping your noise from leaving, but I doubt it'd do much, especially if you only have a few panels hung on your wall
Lots of great suggestions here. I've used all sorts of products in my home in replacement of more expensive, commercial products. I have found that adding a block-out rollerblind to my french doors (that lead from the bedroom to the courtyard) has been a huge help in keeping the heat in and the cold out in winter. I've used old carpet underlay (back when it was made of wool and not the modern version made from synthetic, plastic based material) to line my garden plots. I dug down a couple of metres (a few feet) before laying the carpet underlay. This has really helped to retain moisture and encourage deep roots in my plants and trees. On the courtyard pavers, after struggling to stop the weeds for over 20 years, I gave in and bought garage workshop rubber flooring. It would be more attractive if it were in one piece, but this is all I could afford. It gives a nice feel under the feet and has done a fabulous job at deterring weeds thanks to its complete blockout properties. I actually use it in my kitchen also. It cleans up as easily as tiles and, if really in need of a treatment, I can simply lift it out and take it outside. I'm sure it helps to dampen the noise too. I've not tried this on walls or doors but would be interested to hear your opinions on it. When I was in high school (in the 70s and 80s) our music room ceilings were lined with cardboard egg cartons (just the wavy bits that support the eggs- not the lids). I think this was a common feature at the time as a cheap sound dampening measure. When I toured historical places in England many years ago, most of the regal houses contained huge woollen tapestries on the walls. These not only looked impressive but they helped to dampen the sound and keep the heat in these rooms. Be aware if you're thinking of using this method though- most of the items called 'tapestries' online are not actual tapestries. They tend to be a print on some cheap polyester fabric to use to brighten up a wall. I wouldn't use too much of this in your home as it is a fire hazard. Oh- and instead of throwing a blanket on the floor to block out weather/sound from the bottom of doors, add a door sausage instead. You can get some more attractive ones and they are easily moved out of the way to open and close the door. Make sure it's a heavy-weighted one though- usually filled with sand. Sandbags are great for stopping flooding too (used on many a riverbank in Australia in flooding-prone zones).
hummm... interesting. I think you might have left off the part about you sitting down very occasionally after picking some soundproofed garden greens, and making some silent scones, jam and cream to match with a good hot cup of tea (?). 😂
Actually got triple layered window installed few years ago. The difference between double and triple layered is so big you can easily sleep during busiest days right in city centre.
Thanks for this! I live in an 80 year old house next to a 4 lane road with typical air brakes, emergency vehicles, atypical exhaust, horns & extreme car audio systems noise interfering with my workday and movie nights - I've been considering replacing windows and doors as well as drywall to reduce the noise, but these tips will be much less expensive!
Definitely agreed. I tried most of this in my house and are quite effective and all you need for non professional needs. But the one thing I haven't managed to achieve is acoustic treatment in a living room that doesn't disrupts the ambience of the house
Years ago I binge watched a bunch of seasons of 30 Rock. I happened to have my laptop connected to an old 8 channel PA system with a pair of very large house speakers and several stage monitors. The house speakers had massive 36" woofers and a folded horn passive port, and extremely large horn tweeters. It reproduced a very large range of frequencies. Somewhere along the line, one of the seasons, there must have been construction outside of the building where they filmed the series, because for the rest of that season and for at least the next one or two seasons, almost every scene involving dialog had the sound of dump trucks pulling away and shifting gears. At first it was barely noticeable, but once I noticed it, it became hard to ignore. I was able to drop a few bands on the parametric eq to help silence it, but it was always audible to some extent. I studied sound reinforcement at a community college years ago. We covered the issue of external noise and sound deadening materials, soundproifing, etc, as part of a "constructing a studio" course module. I'm surprised NBC hired sound guys who didn't account for that nose interference.
I'm sure the sound guys brought it up, and then proposed spending X number of dollars to fix a problem a couple hundred people might detect. The suits at NBC then squashed that proposal.
I kind of followed you about the speakers, generally, but think it’s wild as hell you were able to hear that much background. I’m sure stuff like that gets picked up, and then maybe in post they try to hide it, but I suffered some hearing loss on active duty and it’s cause a lot of things to disappear. So, I just find it wild when people can hear through like that.
You're welcome! I believe in you and your talent. Keep pushing yourself and let's create some amazing music together. The world is ready for what you have to offer. Let's make some magic happen!
A few points -- Deadening that other room can be a faster way to improve the room you care about. -- "draft stoppers" that people use for doors can work as well as a blanket to stop the noise under a door. A chunk of rug also works -- Hanging a tapestry an inch off a wall deadens sound quite a bit. The gap makes it free to move. -- For windows consider drapes rather than curtains. Drapes are made of more substantial material and the rod positions them out from the window. The drapery rod can be arranged so that the edges of the curtains wrap towards the wall to block that path. You can have the top of the drapes well above the window near the ceiling. This makes the path for sound harder in that direction. You can add curtains within the outline of the window opening as well.
Allowing your soundproofing materials to float is a great point! That way the sound get converted to mechanical energy as well as heat(like foam stops sound.)
@@mryan4452 Think about throwing a tennis ball at the wall it will bounce back, now if you throw it at the wall with a blanket directly on the wall it will still bounce slightly off it. If you throw it at a blanket that's mounted a inch off the wall not touching anything, the tennis ball will not bounce back and drop to the ground
To improve sound and cut high frequency bounces, hang a heavy textile (rug, quilt) a couple of inches from a wall. Prettier than a moving blanket. Bookcases decrease "too bright" sound because the sound bounces behind the books and gets lost. They can help minimize sound transmission from another room because the mass of a filled bookcase is high.
The biggest problem I find is people mistaking sound treatment with sound proofing. The layman does not distinguish between the two. With new clients, it's the first thing I have to explain. Sound treatment can be easy and cost effective. Sound proofing is generally more difficult and more expensive.
How did you manage to use "layman" in this sentence? I assure you this isn't as big of a problem as you think and us laymen out there know that acoustic foam doesnt soundproof rooms
@@jaredroscoe800 YOU may know that, but in my line of work I run into people all the time who have no idea how any of this works and need to be educated about the terminology and have their expectations set to realistic levels.
Can confirm. I had no clue of the difference. I’ve been talking about soundproofing left and right for my new bedroom. Little did I know there’s so much more than I thought. I never even thought about treatment Vs. proofing
The problem isn’t people it’s the word itself. Soundproof as a verb means to make a room or building resistant to the passage of sound. Sound Deadening is the quality of sound in the room which does involve quieting down the room. Since it does contribute to limiting the sound that comes out of the room it is also technically a form of sound proofing, just not an effective one because it does nothing to address the sound coming into the room. What some people don’t understand is that soundproofing is more than just sound deadening
My favorite for deadening a room is to make big picture frame style boxes that are about 2” deep and lay rock wool insulation inside and cover with cloth. Hang them on the wall and ceiling
This is excellent, genuine advice. I studied stage technics and was taught that in order to soundproof - that is to block or isolate noise - you need to: - Seal everything you can - Use HEAVY materials The last bit is important. Lots of people think that egg cartons or ridged foams etc. are the best for blocking sound, but they aren't. They ARE good for breaking up echoes - that is, deadening sound. But for blocking sound, you need MASS. So in practice you can think: - If I want to block outside noise from reaching my space or noise from my space from reaching outside, I need the heaviest stuff I can get. - If I want to stop the sound I make from bouncing around and reflecting inside my room, I need irregular, porous surfaces. - If I want to both isolate AND deaden, I want both. And yes, sealing the entrances is important, too. You can combine heavy materials with irregular materials, or get something that's a combination - like the moving blankets in this video. And an easy way to break up echoes is to just have lots of furniture and STUFF. People love a clean aesthetic, but a little creative chaos might in fact help your recordings. Get some wall hangings, plants in the windows, curtains, a big fluffy carpet, some recliners to hang around in, an ugly statue, stacks of books on the shelves etc. And for home artists, don't record right at your computer screen, or at least move the mic further away. Your table and your screen are giant flat surfaces that reflect sound a lot. You can also try covering them up with blankets while you record.
Also, try moving whatever you're recording away from the big flat surfaces if you can't help them being there. And try to position your mic so that it won't take the reflections as directly. Learn your mics' pick up patterns so you can use them effectively.
I wish i had seen this years ago!!! I had a son with anxiety that would game and be loud. My daughter next door to him would have to work in the morning and the whole thing was contentious. I even recommended the moving blanket!! I was so excited when you said that. But, I completely missed the cracks. That would have helped them so much!! Anyway, thank you!
The effort put into making this video answer sound proofing/deadening with earnestness and from obvious humbleness and truth is kindly appreciated. If I ever have a question and I see you with the video on that topic I will watch it and feel so much better knowing that is coming from you and not somebody just trying to make money but so you know I really do appreciate you actually putting your heart into it and making sure the truth so efficiently right to the point as well thank you
Best advice I seen on RUclips. I had a shared wall in my downtown condo between my living room and a neighbor's bedroom. Eight grand later, no noise from my sound system was heard in my neighbor's bedroom. Everything he suggests has to be done and done correctly, but the end result is blissful silence.
@@garychandler4296 The bose noise cancelling ear buds are actually quite good. They actually keep out bass frequencies much better than the bose noise cancelling headphones.
It is also important to consider the overall layout and design of the room, as well as the type of noise that needs to be blocked out. Consulting with a professional soundproofing expert can help determine the most effective solutions for your specific needs. Additionally, regular maintenance and upkeep of soundproofing materials is essential to ensure continued effectiveness over time.
Many people who want to soundproof a room are doing it because they make music and need an acoustically neutral environment to listen to their studio monitor speakers. So no, earbuds are not the answer. What a weird comment on a video about soundproofing.
Those are good points. As you mentioned, sound is the movement of air. Another thing to consider is utilizing area rugs. They can be hung on the wall as well as laid out on the floor and they are much more attractive than moving blankets. Better still, hang a rug in front of a moving blanket. The main thing is to break up parallel surfaces. Putting sound deadening objects (cylinders, etc.) in the corners helps as well. Since we're talking about the movement of air, what about your vents or registers? There are things that can be done there as well. It all depends on how much the sound pressure level needs to be reduced. And then there's landscaping. :))
You make great points! I did make a video recently about soundproof the air vents by adding something called a “sound maze”! They are pretty cool! Here’s the video - ruclips.net/video/k66tray91RU/видео.html
"Soft" surfaces - rugs, cushy sofas, fabric-covered screens - all work within a room to make it sound better. Even paintings help. It might keep sound in the room, too.
Thanks so much! I'm in an SRO (single room occupancy) gov't bldg. It's noisy with idiots who yell in the hallways, repair their bikes, drop their drug pipes, etc. My door has wide gaps all around it so your video is the perfect solution to my problem! I just found you, so thank you.
Some really good advice. The terms for the distinction between reducing sound from outside, vs echoes is Noise Reduction vs Acoustic Treatment. As an audiobook narrator, I’ve had to do all of this, but especially acoustic treatment to cut reflection. You’re so right about the price differential with the added “acoustic” in the name. Such a scam… usually. I DID pay extra for “Acoustic Blankets” vs heavy duty moving blankets and, for my purposes, they were well worth the extra cost. They are thicker, denser, and easier to use. But regular moving blankets do a pretty decent job. You may need to double them, depending on the amount of reflection from surrounding walls.
Thank you! We have a neighbour with a very screamy (it rhat a word) child who wakes us up at 12, 2, 3 and 4am each night. Most audio is cominc through the window and one wall. Your video has given me a place to start addressing thw challenge.
Another thing that you can add to outlets is the insulation pads designed for blocking drafts (especially useful on exterior walls). They fit in behind the cover and fit fairly snug. A pack of 6 costs a couple of dollars.
Thank you for making a no-nonsense video on this topic. My wife and I just moved into out new home, and I am trying to soundproof my studio room on the cheap. This video has been a MASSIVE help
I live in a apartment with sheetrock between myself and the airbnb on the other side. I can't put up loaded vinyl and more sheet rock so I went the moving blanket route. It works to some extent. It doesn't fix the problem but you will get less noise from the other side. Also blackout curtains work very well for the noise and privacy. I also got some dense foam from packaging and put some of it up on the wall. It adds to the sounddeading, but not as much as furniture in the room(Or in my case empty boxes around the room).
5:00 (apx) - For the lower door you need to have something you can put in place when needing to soundproof. Keep in mind, your lower door gap is needed for HVAC systems to function properly in circulating air. So if not needing soundproofing all the time, get something you can put in place when needed. IE: towel as mentioned.
we have "snakes", basically 4-6cm diameter tubes of material filled with something inert, like dry clean sand (probably has something synthetic in it now) - heavy enough to stay there and block draughts/sound, but light enough that you can still open the door easily.
@@FreedomTalkMedia If you have a separate setup like that then great, but that is not the majority of homes. The gap is an issue to be reviewed. Also your returns create a channel for sound to carry through to other rooms. Just like AC Supplies that allow sound to carry from room to room. While it may not be at a level that is concerning or unacceptable in your specific case it still needs to be addressed.
Thanks for putting together a video with genuine tips. I'm setting up a home VO studiio and was pulling my hair out at the projected cost. You've just restored my faith!
Great video - couple things maybe (or maybe not) useful. Door snake - its a little rolled up towel thingy that you put at the bottom of the door if you don't want to use a skirt - you could just use a rolled up towel. Moving blankets! - I never knew that. Makes total sense. Three ways to reduce noise (=any unwanted signal). 1). The mass/hard blocking the video speaks of. That dense foam really does work. So does concrete. 2). Chambering and attenuation - that is what the foam tiles try to do. I suspect the moving blanket do a bit of both 1&2. 3) Canceling - not really practical for a room. The textured foam does work if used properly. We used to use the "egg" or "nipple" foam (the tiles - except we bought in rolls/sheets) - but the texture needs to point toward the noise source to work best - it used to be cheap. There is a warning touched on in the video. Nothing is more uncomfortable than a sound dead room. They can be hot, stuffy, strangely uncomfortable and a friend of mine used to complain of itching while in the booth (I think in is head but still real to him). You are better off trying to reduce (not eliminate) noise while increasing sound (=pleasant signal). Unless it's a sound booth of course. This was really interesting as a video.
In my college apartment for the past 2 year, when I first moved in I noticed how much echoing there was in my room. I hung up my old comforter and that made one hell of a difference. I put it right behind my monitors, the direction I faced 95% of the time, and It stayed up there (as long as the clips holding them up didn't let go, which they did A LOT [velcro would have probably fixed the problem]) for the entirety of those 2 years. When I moved out this past spring and took it down, I forgot just how much and how loudly it echoed
My own few tips. 1. Take the window panels, buy 2, clip them together, one on top of the other and then hang. It's double the protection. 2. I have a tall headboard. I bought acoustic tiles and stuck them to the back of the headboard or you could add them to the wall behind, and they will be hidden. 3. Foam board, wrapped with batting, cover with your favorite fabrics. They are not heavy to hang with something like Command Strips. Place behind your bed or make "art work" out of them around your home. You can get as creative as you want. 4. Hang a heavy duty curtain rod (Look at yard sales, FB marketplace, etc) people are always getting rid of them for cheap, clip the moving blanket, a quilt, even those curtains to it. Adds some decor and doubles to help reduce noise. 5. In my bedroom, I did heavy curtains all the way behind the bed and down and across the other wall, even though there were only 2 small windows in the corner. It really helped with the heating/cooling and sound. It's a little bit of money for the hardware but so worth it. 6. Take a pool noodle, cut it to length, wrap it with batting and material, use as a draft dodger and it fills in those doors cracks.
Something I have noticed is that the sound proofing effect of uPVC double glazing degrades with time. I tracked it down to the collapse of the rubber seals between the moving panes and the uPVC surrounds. The rubber becomes harder and less springy with time which results in air gaps, and as you have already identified that causes the noise to leak through. If you have this it's time to replace the rubber seals.
I noticed that on the main entrance door of the house I recently bought. I had new windows installed but not the door as I am still working on the house and was afraid of damaging the new door.
As far as walls nothing beats adding drywall for noise reduction! Just add 2 additional 1/2 inch layers with a 3/4 space of air ( Door stoppers as spacers ) and stagger the drywall ( meaning don't installed them the exactly the same way but putting some vertically and some horizontally ). Its the cheapest way and it will give you the biggest bang for the buck! Of course we must add extensions to the electrical outlets and the drywall itself but after you get a HUGE sound reduction. PLUS your suggestion for the outlets and cracks make perfect sense as well 👍
If you're putting up new drywall, have the hollows filled with mineral wool or some other insulation like it. If you're using sheets, it's important that they're a bit bigger in _all_ dimensions (including thickness) so you don't have any gaps.
@@rolfs2165 This video is about cheapest right! so that being the cheapest and proven best noise reduction is drywall! so unless heat is an issue putting mineral is not as cost or sound effective as putting another layer of drywall! NOTE: The word for " Bigger in ALL dimensions " = staggered which I already mentioned above. staggering means you put the first layer vertically and the second horizontally which is more than enough without complicating things too much. Also one can use 1/4 spacer between the two layers as air dissipates sounds as well. ALSO NOTE: To pay attention to the electrical boxes as they need to be deep boxes OR special insert type boxs made for this type of installation. This concept is based on the ROOM INSIDE A ROOM that is made for Music Studios and is the much much cheaper more economical version of this concept.
@@veger2001 No, I do not mean staggered. I mean that you want to cut the sheets of mineral wool 1-2 cm wider than the space between the joists, and you also want it about 0.5-1 cm thicker than the joists, so it gets squished when you put the second side of the drywall on. I'd also argue that with global warming, heat is something that should be kept in mind for any new construction.
I'm so grateful I came across this video and your channel in general. I'm revamping my room into a studio space and was going to start with putting a lot of panels up and was discouraged at how expensive it was going to be. I'm glad I get to do some handy work and start off on the right foot. Appreciate you!
This is why I purchase 2nd hand blankets when I find them at an op-shop (thrift-store). Takes the edge off the echo, and improves the heat retention of my bed/storage room. Cheaper than a heater.
Thanks, this helps a lot! Another thing that I think might be worth mentioning and I feel is relevant, is that sound proofing can help to control heat or isolate heat in/from the room that gets isolated. That increased R-value can pay off in lower heating cost. Not to mention that lower heating cost and less noise disturbance can both help reduce stress, which again can lower healthcare cost in the long run. Not that this comment of mine is meant to diagnose or treat anything. Good luck in all your endeavours. Kind regards from Iceland.
@@mclovinfuddpucker Normal and necessary air ventilation is possible in all sorts of ways in a sealed room, but it's not the topic of discussion. The general or relative amount of intellect in any country isn't the topic either. I will leave any further attempt at an insult alone, as if you tried to hand me some poo and then I just let you stand there, your arms outstreched, your palms wet and stinky. At any point in your life, you are free to start being a good man, a kind man. I hope that time comes asap for you. Good luck in all your endeavors. Kind regards from Iceland.
The trick on turning off the lights and seeing where the lights comes in from is a great tip 👍🏻. I just did that to seal off my windows. 😁 worked so easy and quick. Great vid.
We just moved our ten year old to the room on the other side of our wall. Fortunately, we have paneling in both our rooms so I am planning to grab some moving blankets, remove the paneling and attach them to the studs then reattach the paneling. Great idea! We'll see if any "noises" disturb him.
I don't know if that's a good idea for some latent fire safety issues. If you do this anyways, definitely be careful to make sure the blankets don't make contact with wires or anything that can get too hot! You might see similar results without increased fire risk by properly insulating the wall between the two rooms (if that hasn't been done already), though that's probably more expensive than a moving blanket. If you can afford it, that dense vinyl material mentioned in the video is probably your best bet since it's designed to be put inside walls. I just worry that with a moving blanket you'll make that part of your house more dangerous in a fire, since the drywall acts as a slight fire barrier between studs and flammable materials inside the room
@@crazygrape Great response, thank you. We don't have any drywall on interior walls as this house was built in the 60s as a lake house. Less interior bulk aids I winterization with less moisture to freeze/thaw. We, however, Iive here year round. I would never mess with wiring as ours is quite questionable as it is. Someday, it'll all need updating! I have thought about bluebird, which could be applied over the studs and then paneling reapplied (there are no plugs on that wall in our room ... weird, I know). Thanks for your advise. I appreciate your thoughts and you sharing them.
I'm sure there are many types of insulation that are rated for home installation and would reduce sound and be much safer in a fire. Also air sealing as mentioned in the video will do a lot.
The one part of the room I was looking for getting advice is the ceiling. The room I'm working on is a basement family room. And so my most noise is from the floor above.
It's easiest if you are in the planning stages. ✏ But even my ancient cat sounds like a draft horse running down the hall. Softer surfaces up top - carpet, "luxury vinyl", area rugs. Seal air gaps around upper floors (can you pop the baseboards and really seal gaps with caulk and backer rod?) Underneath, if you can remove ceiling tiles and install insulation and some sort of a sound gap - so vibration up top can't transmit as well.
I walked through a house a couple of weeks ago that was about to be torn down. It took me a second to notice that they had carpeted the walls along with the floors. It was the really compact stuff you see in a lot of commercial applications, but it amazed me how quiet it was from just that. Not the best look, but there’s a million different carpet designs out there, so I’m sure you could find something that would work
Most interior doors are hollow core with cardboard honeycomb. Mass is your friend for soundproofing, so a solid core door would work way better with the gap sealing. As far as the windows, making sound panels with rockwool is going to really help, and if you want to go all out put mass loaded vinyl on the window first.
Those darn cardboard doors! When I tell homeowners that they are just cardboard, it's as if they don't believe me. But, after I have hung the door, and it starts falling apart, they don't call the manufacturer to complain, they call me.
Before you seal around the door, and instead of buying moving blankets, invest in an acoustic solid core door, designed to cut down on vibration. If you're using a regular door not much will happen. The bottom line that I was taught in my acoustics class is that mass-air-mass is the best acoustic insulator. You need a thick solid outer wall lined with acoustic insulation, then an air space, then another thick wall, using resiliant channel and acoustic decoupled mounts to attach your 3/4" plywood, then 5'8' drywall, using acoustic caulking to seal ALL gaps. This is what I have done in my present and last studio (as well as 3 layer varying thickness windows) and it works very well.
Thank you! Yes, we were definitely resourceful in making our jam space soundproof. It was truly a game-changer to be able to play without any noise restrictions. And it was satisfying to know that we were able to accomplish it on a tight budget.
It's important to consider all aspects of soundproofing when creating a quiet and comfortable space. By adding drop closers, thresholds, insulation, and dedicated HVAC, you can significantly improve the effectiveness of soundproofing and create a more controlled environment. Working with a professional can help ensure a successful outcome.
Thank you so much for the encouragement and support! I will definitely keep pushing myself to create new and innovative music. I am excited to see where this musical journey will take me next!
Also, especially if you're in the US, look for a door that has a lip all the way around (well, aside from the bottom) instead of just straight sides. The only side light should be able to get through even before you've started should be the bottom. Even if you're not planning to sound-proof the door, it already reduces noise coming through along with light and draft. I'm not sure if the door he showed as example would even be legal (well, up to code) in Germany, unless it's specifically a swinging door.
I converted a garage into a studio and used professional dry wall and it is INCREDIBLE. Very loud inside and hardly anything outside. Well worth the extra money.
Did some soundproofing to my sons room a few years ago. Bought sheets of sound deadening high density plasterboard. Got 35mm x 50mm wooden battens and a load of 50mm x 50mm L brackets. The battens were set at 60cm gaps to be half a plasterboard wide. The brackets were screwed to the hall in alternating directions with 4 per vertical batten. Then a 10mm block was put in as a temporary spacer. So that the verticals stood 10cm off the wall. In-between the verticals sound deadening Rocwool fibre 60mm thick was put in. Then the plasterboard to cover it. I saw a YT video were they said that direct contact between hard surfaces will transmit sound. And if this contact area is lessened along with something to absorb sound waves you can get a considerable drop in noise transfer. This took about 85mm out of one side his room. His room is now also considerably warmer. I should have done a 4 walls and the ceiling 😅
People don't realize that there are different things that they are fighting, which need different tools. Sound sources, like creeks, cracks, squeeks need to be dealt with at the source. Add some foam, or caulking, or better securing a loose board... whatever it is, you just need to make it stop. Sound reflections. When people complain about a room, it isn't generally outside noise is affecting quality, but reflections off of hard surfaces. Carpet, especially with padding, is your best cheapest option. Second is adding panels or baffling in corners, or on at least half (and not opposite halves) of the walls. If you can do all of the walls, great, but just doing 2 adjacent walls in a 4 wall room is typically going to eat the majority of the problem. Personally, I like to use fire insulation like rock wool, framed in cheap wood, and covered in fabric. It can look super boring if you want, or you can use patterned material, or anything fabric with something you like on it. I like fantasy maps, and there are no end of fabric maps you can find online to slap on top of a DIY sound panel. Next is sound leakage. The first actual step towards sound proofing. If there is an air gap, no matter how small, then sound will get through annoyingly easy. Recording studios are notoriously hot, because in a perfectly sealed room, the heat from a human and a single light bulb builds up very quickly if you don't have free flowing air. Spray foams, caulking, winterizing products... anything that seals gaps is your best friend. And if it if rubberised, then all the better! Lastly is sound isolation. You want layers of boxes with air gaps between them. Sound travels well through air, but it does a terrible job at transitioning between mediums, so forcing sound to go through a mass, then air, then another mass, and then air again is key to sound isolation. And you want as few bridges between layers, and staggered weirdly as possible without becoming a building code violation. A cheap (but labor intensive) way to do this is to buy drywall, and use something like a thick layer of poorly spread liquid nails or some other adhesive to slap it over existing walls. Force the sound to go into the first layer of drywall, then an air gap with as little material as possible, and then another layer of drywall. If you can fully frame out a room within a room, and have the framing resting on some sort of ruberized material, then that is even better. Walls are transducers, so having walls that make direct contact to the frame of the house, which is then well secured to the basement walls, which transfer lots of ground energy from trucks and other large vehicles will cause some level of issues. Anything to break that contact to have a free floating structure will be the hardest and lest rewarding part of sound proofing... but if you need sound proofing and already have panels and everything else but still have a problem... this is kinda your last and only option.
Another tip I heard for sound deadening in a room is books. If you already have lots of books and bookshelves consider using that room recording purposes as the bookshelves will help.
Finally some facts about sound deading. I did the suggestions for the door when our baby was born to dampen a little bit all of the noise coming from the living room and wow did it make a difference, was it cero noise coming thru no! but it wasn't as loud nor clear as it used to be, it got dampened quite a lot and just that made a huge difference in getting our baby fall sleep faster.
Instead of moving blankets I use old bed comforters that I purchase cheap at thrift stores. I also hung two layered duvet covers over the two doors between me and the basement apartment as draperies. That works very well. Around the frames of my old aluminum windows I stuffed strips of a foam mattress topper. I also used this on the back wall of my bathroom cabinet to absorb sounds and keep my adjoining bedroom quiet. Lets just say, I never throw out foam. It's so valuable in sound proofing.
You briefly mentioned this, but the gaps under the door and leaky windows are usually the only way of a room to get fresh air. A thing to keep in mind before going apeshit with sealing stuff.
Cold air return gets rid of cold air for circulation and to get fresh air in the morning you open window for five minutes even in winter. Canadian tradition.
@@babyseals4872 No, not necessarily. A lot of older houses use natural ventilation, where the hotter air gets pulled out through upflow vents and the pressure pulls colder air in through vents and, if the ventilation isn't balanced properly, through cracks in the building (creating draft). Almost every room _should_ have vents for fresh air, though.
The one thing nobody talks about is how to block sub woofer noise. I have neighbors that have a sound system outside by their pool with sub woofers thumping away until all hours of the night. And bass notes seem to penetrate everything. Note to mention people who drive by in cars with over amplified sub woofers. You can hear them coming from miles away. You can't hear the music they're listening to, just the pounding bass. It's like having a giant beating heart outside you house.
@@j10001Actually you want something that moves to convert that bass into other forms of energy. Think air gaps and viscoelastic material like a constrained dampening system.
Good tips. I just finished building my studio. I used rock wool soundproofing/deadening insulation in all of the walls and had extra left over intentionally. I bought $30 worth of 3" x 8' pine slats. a roll of weed mat, and built my own sound deadening panels with the left over rock wool. Saved a small fortune.
Great video. Out focus is not on preventing noise from coming in - we need to ensure office privacy to ensure people in adjacent rooms can't hear confidential conversations. Appreciate the product recommendations.
Those door sweeps are really great. Mostly they stop a cold draft from outside, but also a lot of road noise. Now if only someone could suggest a magical device for an open window near talky neighbors!
A beehive would certainly encourage a "buffer space"! I like the way you think. Yes, background noise helps a lot; I use a small fan and wind chimes already. The water fountain helped for a little while, but started making horrible noises because I neglected to use distilled water and ruined the motor bearings. The next one will do better. Thanks for the suggestions! I just might try the bees also.
If you don't want to add as much thickness to the wall, 1/4" thick cement board adds slightly more mass than 5/8" drywall, but will cost more. Alternatively, adding it between two sheets of dry wall is significantly cheaper than mass loaded vinyl also. You just need to use some caulk between them if you want sound deadening as well.
All true, I work on HVC, and people try to insulate their home in many different ways. Like me, now that I'm trying to do my basement, I know about the outlet gasps and putting rugs in the walls, but most importantly, it is the basement ceiling for me. Thanks for the video.
One way to soundproof a door is just to replace the door with an EXTERIOR door. It will be heavier, usually steel sometimes with a faux wood finish and come with weatherstripping all around. For best results you may want to replace the door jamb too, which usually comes with the door and gives you a chance to use caulk behind the trip in any gaps. Also seal around any switch or outlet boxes as sound can travel thru them easily.
check to see if all exterior doors are EXTERIOR DOORS, I swore a Realtor installed an interior door, flipping the house, and quickly cheaply pushing a sale.
If you wanna get a better sound with a microphone one of the things to notice is usually people are sitting at their desk which is against the wall when they’re speaking which means your voice bounces right off the wall and comes right back to your microphone if you place a pillow between the wall in the microphone that pillow will capture a lot of that sound wave. And if you’re using a camera you won’t see it because it’s back against the wall. I also got an attractive oriental rug and hung out across the wall behind my computer desk, they do this a lot Eastern Europe and I think it looks pretty cool too.
I made a rehearsal room for my band a few years back. I found a company that was selling expanded cork panels of various thickness. I put 1.5 inches thick panels on all walls and ceiling, and some shock-absorbing slabs on the floor. The room was decently soundproofed and the deadening was awesome. At the time the expanded cork was around $12 per square meter.
Great tips. Prevent the noise (and light) when you have a chance. If you ever build, these little things can make such a difference in quality of life. Even if you have a leak/repair, if the wall is open, add what you can then.
When I replaced my mattress, I leaned the old one up against the wall to "get it out of the way for now". It cut the noise of my neighbours watching tv, coughing, and snoring, in the next unit (purpose built multi story apt) enough, that it became a permanent padded side-headboard for my bed. I put an aesthetically pleasing fitted sheet on it, and it's now been there for 2 years. I hadn't considered the fact that having blocked the outlet in that wall (which is inconvenient) might be part of the reason it worked. There's definitely nothing between the walls within our unit, but I had kind of assumed fire code would require them not to build back to back electrical between units... Then again, opening up holes in the walls to redo plumbing, in ways that allowed mice to move unit to unit very conveniently is apparently a thing they consider fine and dandy (solved it myself). It's not a fantastic solution, and it wastes 5" of floor space - but it cost nothing, and means I don't have to wrestle a queen mattress out of a 3rd floor walk up until I move. Now if only I could block the sound of lawn mowing, and the kid that "plays" by screaming like there's an emergency (despite being politely requested not to, for multiple years, by multiple neighbours - all the other kids manage to sound like kids playing loudly) without closing my windows, ensuring no air movement and blocking all natural light. Apparently I just need to live with earplugs in at all times. 🤷♀️
Ah, the dilemma of wanting it to be quiet *and* wanting the window to be open... I feel ya XD One day, someone will come up with something that will let us do that, but I haven't seen anything like it yet :) It looks like this channel has a video about building "sound mazes" inside ones A/C vents, to allow airflow while reducing sound. I wonder if someone who's good with materials could make something similar that could be placed in front of an open window to deaden sound but still let in fresh air. Perhaps made with plexiglass? Hmm...
I used an old canvas drop cloth folded over like 10 times instead of a moving blanket, but it worked way better than the $85 "industrial soundproof curtain for warehouses and machine shops" that I bought. I hadn't considered the outlets though, so thank you!
After watching the whole video and reading comments..im big on redos and decorating (NOT the type of decorating as in knick knacky stuff and extra stuff to display and such..im into practicality and common sense with a splash of personal enjoyment). I have an idea for me and those who wish their moving blanket wasnt so ugly is to lay over it is fabric to your liking. Ive always loved fabric wall paper and draping fabric to cover walls. My husband doesn't know it yet but this plan has been swirling around in my head awhile and its going to come to fruitation. There's a non stop screaming child 2 houses away and would love to also stuff the ungodly noise there too..especially the parent who allows it.
As someone that really wanted to sound treat my room so I could have clear audio but also didn't wanna spend any extra money I just started collected cardboard and egg cartons as a replacement for those foam squares. They work great for deadening sound in a room.
I apologize in advance if this has already been asked a million times. I am looking to reduce the noise in one room of my home, created from my neighbors obsession with fireworks on the 4th of July (and a couple of weeks leading up to and following it). I am hoping it to do all of the things you have recommended in this video, including adding mass loaded vinyl and an additional layer of drywall to one specific exterior wall. Is this likely to help reduce, specifically, the volume of the fireworks?
It might help a little but the noise of fireworks are so loud and erratic that it makes it very difficult to soundproof against. Adding drywall and MLV will definitely help but also, make sure to look at the windows as well because a lot of the noise would be coming from there. Best of luck!
The moving blankets are an inspired move. I've done a lot of work on studios and as you said Sound proofing is hard to do. But sound deadening in the room is much easier. I'm putting up blankets in my studio this weekend.
These videos are informative. However, I would like to see more tests. Baseline a rooms ambient sound with none of the soundproofing done, and then add one change at a time. That way we can see progression.
I used Rockwool panels on a school band room that had a 3 second echo with a light clap of the hands. It was amazing how effective it was when I placed the panels in a checkerboard pattern at the tops of the 15ft walls. Dropped the echo down to less than 1 second and the overall volume down as well. The students were going deaf, and the teacher was suffering migraines. I can't recommend Rockwool enough! So effective and affordable.
I'm surprised you didn't suggest increasing the mass of the door, either by attaching sheetrock to an existing (hollow) door, or by replacing the hollow door with a solid wood fire-rated door.
@@wandamoore1731 That's an interesting idea but I'm doubtful of it's effectiveness for two reasons. The expanding foam contains many air pockets so, while filling the void, doesn't add much mass to the structure. Second, the 'hollow' doors that I've seen are often filled with a cardboard honeycomb which would prevent the foam from spreading. 🤓
Links to ALL products I recommend in the description of this video!
Careful man... if you over insulate a room, by making sure there is no 'gaps' or 'light', you are also reducing the flow of air through.
If you take a look at the darwin awards, this would be on it.
If you are going to seal up all the 'gaps' you better make sure you have an air exchange system like a professional studio does, otherwise you are suffocating someone slowly. And no, you aren't fitting enough plants into a single room to recycle the air that a human expends.
Other than that, pretty solid video. I'd put a warning somewhere though so someone doesn't sue you for not having the common sense
Fun fact though, there is a scientist on here that proved that a $2 towel is more effective than a acoustic panel by several orders of magnitude.
If you remove the drywall and add 2x4s to the wall so one side is not physically attached to the other, just a 1/8th inch is enough, then the sound on one side can not physically travel to the other when you replace the drywall. That tiny air gap makes a huge difference and costs almost nothing to do.
@@davidbeppler3032 Sound travels through air. If you want ACTUAL sound proofing, you are using vacuums or materials that have vacuums trapped in them.
@@thisisashan He kinda mentioned it in the video, but yeah, he should've explained it better, it's important. But I think it's pretty hard to reduce enough of the air flow for it to be a problem, isn't it? I mean, unless you soundproof your bedroom, them it might be a problem.
@@igorporfiirio4915 Healthy flow is 15cfm per person. Or a 2.5 foot box of air moved in and out of a room each minute, per person inside. Quite a bit of airflow, actually.
It is actually harder to have proper airflow, in a climate controlled house, than unhealthy amounts.
Few people have air exchangers which enable such a thing.
This takes a bad problem and makes it worse, tbh.
when i was in high school i bought a truck load of carpet foam padding to sound proof an old shop i used to practice in with an old band and we layered the whole room at least 3 times with carpet foam and hung moving blankets over all of that as well and you wouldnt believe how well it worked. we paid like a 100 bucks between 5 kids for all that and we jammed like clams while bothering anyone around us
That's awesome! Ever taken any pictures of that? It would be cool to see and have all the details for a possible Sorts video. info@soundproofguide.com if you wanted to share.
"While bothering anyone around us" so you sound proofed so you could could physically bother people? Right on.
@@SavantApostle Unnecessary criticism. Maybe he used voice recognition which can make all sorts of crazy errors. I'm just glad he shared the story.
Jammed like clams😂
Sometimes carpet stores get rid of the carpet samples when the manufacturers change colors etc. Never hurts to ask for free rectangles of carpet that already have nice edges
it blows my mind how every time i have a problem i need solved there is a youtube channel with 100k+ subs already dedicated to being the best in slot resource for solving said problem. What a time to be alive. Great video.
It's amazing. I can do things to a very high level thanks to dudes that dedicate their entire lives to very niche things. I have too many interests to dedicate that much time to it but I can research it and learn from true masters and experts and be good enough for my purposes in a very short time. or decide it's not worth my effort lol
The internet is a super highway of information, and there's usually someone out there who likes to help others.
True.
When my friends call me with some doubt I always tell them do look for the solution on RUclips. And usually I send a video to them with the answer for their problem, as an incetive. RUclips is faaaantastic !
Right? Gods i love the internet sometimes
RUclips has genuinely taught me more than public school and my parents combined.
This is the first video I've seen on this subject acknowledge that $50 isn't exactly cheap for some foam and I subscribed right away. The space needs more budget conscious creators and it's a breath of fresh air to finally see recommendations people can afford. Thank you.
Temu changed my life in the way it made very affordable most things that were out of my budget on Amazon, the exact same things. Just a side note, just because it's 50$ on Amazon doesn't mean it's not going to be 20$ on another seller site. But yes I agree with your comment!
Foam is for the echo, as he mentioned. But you can use plenty of stuff for that, like wood covers, blankets, carpets, even a lot of paintings lol
it is cheap when you consider the price for the alternatives
Im always shocked when I see videos talking about things that cost $50 or $100 as if its pennies, when I look at the statistics for Am3ric4 in 2024 at least 40% of the population would have to THINK about a $100 expense
@@piccalillipit9211 i guess you are right in that regard
I really like how practical and honest you are about the “soundproofing”. I’m a carpenter and I’ve had many clients expect pure silence on a busy street. I will be sharing this as they can hear from an expert there is no perfect sound proofing (in most scenarios)!
Other factors to consider for soundproofing include using sound-absorbing materials such as acoustic panels or curtains, installing double or triple glazed windows, and sealing any gaps or cracks in walls and floors. Proper planning and execution are crucial to achieving the best results in soundproofing any space.
You're welcome! Keep up the great work and continue pushing the boundaries of your creativity. We're excited to see where your music takes you next!
Right. In my (painful) experience, it's just not worth the effort. The best solution is to move to a quiet place from the get-go. Full stop.
Apts have 1 sheet of drywall. Condos have 2 sheets, 5/8 not 1/2 inch.
Storm windows were the biggest difference for my street facing house.
Having worked with a very well-respected professional in this area, this guy’s recommendations are dead on! The only major thing we did differently was to add drop closers and thresholds to the doors. Note that as you sound deaden a room, you generally also insulate that room. We had to also add dedicated hvac for those rooms.
Appreciate it! And great points!!
Your a lier
That's impressive! It sounds like you and your bandmates were really resourceful in creating a soundproof jam space for yourselves. It must have been amazing to be able to play without worrying about bothering anyone nearby. It's great that you were able to achieve such good results with a relatively low budget.
That sounds like a really creative and cost-effective way to soundproof your practice space! It's great that you were able to find a solution that worked well for your band and allowed you to practice without disturbing others. It's amazing what you can accomplish with a little ingenuity and teamwork. Keep rocking out!
@@NataliaNovak-me5ph Think you commented on the wrong one homie
He’s really out here helping people reduce their heating and cooling bills
Just make sure you have working CO detectors in any room you are sound insulating. Air gaps can be a good thing for maintaining breathability.
That being said i understand in collage I used to live in ND where it was common for the outside temp to be Windchill -45F(actual -20F). I bought some dirt cheap foam seals for around the windows and exterior doors, used a wool blanket (acquired from the parent's house), and plastic film wrapped the windows (not balcony door incase of emergency ie fire or CO levels too high). These things costed me combined less than 30$ and saved me at least 100$/month on my electricity bill (ND heat is electric baseboard for most people). Th e wool blanket can be found at the thrift store or get a cheap fleece on from the thrift. I have even used pillows to help add more barriers too.
@@annonone93 Just make sure you're constantly paranoid that solving any problem at all will result in something bad happening, thereby ensuring no one ever does anything and everything stays shitty. Wouldn't want people to be happy.
@@MeepChangeling dude you want a cookie for your troll tax? It’s a legit thing to have regardless of sound proofing. Go win the Darwin Award with your mentality towards improvements
@@annonone93 If you have appliances burning fuel, you need CO detectors anyway.
@@eric55406 nah, all electric and it’s common to have electric where I used to live. It wasn’t mandated where I was living to have a CO unless you lived above an attached garage (unit). Now, when I purchased it was required in my state all rooms needed to have a CO and smoke detector (except for bathroom). It’s not common for place to have them until recently so older homes don’t think to update their detectors until it’s too late
The difference between deadening the sounds coming from inside a room, (echoes and such) and preventing sounds from outside coming into the room (traffic, TV, etc.) is an important distinction, that I had not considered before. Thanks for that!
I'm glad to hear that you were able to make it work within your budget. Being able to practice without noise restrictions is crucial for musicians. Wishing you success in your future jam sessions!
Adding drop closers and thresholds to the doors is a great idea to further soundproof a room, along with insulation. It's also important to consider adding dedicated HVAC for better climate control in soundproofed rooms. Working with a professional in this area can really make a difference in the final outcome. These additions can greatly improve the overall soundproofing effectiveness of a room and create a more comfortable and controlled environment.
Thank you! We're really happy with how our DIY soundproofing turned out. It just goes to show that with some creativity and collaboration, you can overcome any obstacle. We'll definitely keep rocking out and pushing the limits of what we can achieve as a band.
I agree! This is a helpful distinction!
LMAO I need both, my house has less paint under the layers of paint that help deaden it. But the wood is super old in the house so it resonates anyway. Also my door is so old and breaking down I might as well have a sliding paper door for real
I am so glad this video actually uses “soundproofing” correctly. So many videos refer to acoustic treatment as soundproofing, and they’re totally different things, as you said. Thank you!
Acoustician here. There's a major distinction that should be made that I'm didn't hear in this video: Sound proofing and sound treatment are two totally different things. Sound treatment isn't about keeping sound in or out of a room, but rather about altering the sound within a room so that it has the desired reflections and doesn't have the undesired reflections. Soundproofing is about keeping sound in or out of a room. For sound proofing, you want mass and physical separation. For sound treatment, you need a variety of materials. Sound, like all other waves, can be reflected from the outside, which reduces the sound transmission into the room. Having a more reflective surface outside can have a major effect inside. Outside of that, you want mass to absorb the rest if you cannot separate the room physically.
I’m trying to protect myself from upstairs neighbors stomping, what should I buy ?
@@jackinthebox1301 A broom with a long handle.
What do you mean by "reflective surface outside"? Like a mirror? Or a rough surface that will scatter the sound waves?
@@sarothhong5173 I think maybe he's saying to have flat bare walls outside? That's usually what people are referring to when they say reflective surface in terms of sound.
Would metal sheets deflect sound outside?
I did it, by attending auctions at offices...I bought 12 panels of cubicle walls for around 10 bucks....does beautifully! That's my recommendation., along with black out curtains and doors, it does a lovely job. yes, caulk everything, but blackout curtains. surprisingly they do an amazing job!
Have a new neighbor in my apartment building that loves to slam their front door, and the sound travels up the stairwell and into my apartment. After watching this video I put a flashlight in the hall pointed at my door and turned off all the lights in my apartment and saw light bleeding through from the bottom. Previously I thought there was 0 gap in my front door. Thanks for the tip!
I would like to apologize on behalf of ur neighbor, as a neighbor who also slams their own door shut. It is because my doorframe has somehow changed and now i cant close it properly without a lot of force(the lock just wont click)
Thanl you for coming to my ted talk(how can i fix my doorframe)
@sarasoryu Understandable. You are the exception lol
@@sarasoryu appreciate it, haha. though it seems you HAVE to forcefully close your door so that it shuts. my neighbors (it's a couple and they both do it) don't have to, and the previous tenant was quiet as a mouse. this couple also stomps around constantly throughout the day, and yesterday they were drilling into the walls past quiet hours. I tried to plug the holes in my doorframe to eliminate any sound coming through but it seems it is not enough. so now, I have air purifiers running on max speed to create white noise to drown out the slams and stomping.
@@viperspd2 I'd have murder on my mind almost constantly in your place, ur a saint
@@viperspd2just secretly change their door hinges to a spring loaded one 😂
This guy is singlehandedly keeping them red devil calking in business and helping indie musicians in the process truly a blessing
🤣😎
If you want to hang curtains to reduce outside noise (typically traffic), use the heaviest fabric you can find and have the curtain hang at one-quater of the the noise wavelength from the window. Assuming the centerband traffic frequency is 500 Hz, the 1/4-wavelength is just under 7 inches. Ideally, you want some extra material so the curtain is not tretched taut, but is a bit ruffled. This effectively varies the distance to the window and mitigates a wider frequency band of noise.
working nightshift and having a home built across the street makes me wish I thought of that, I put foam insulation sheets in windows and got custom molded ear plugs.
Just use a producers choice blanket for curtains works great
Legend
7 inches? That’s enough room to put in some plants on the window sill, or for your cats to bird watch.
Thanks for the measurement. I was gonna start with zero air gap and probably forget what I was doing. Lmao
Caution on the moving blankets for window covering: the top fabrics are not UV stable and over time the sunlight will convert the tops to dust. They work and I use them but you will want to put some other stable fabric, like your light blocking curtain, between the moving blanket and the outside light. If you don't want the stylish moving blanket wall covering look, get some other fabric print and attach that to the moving blanket to convert it to a tapestry like in merry old medieval times.
Good point, nothing worse than wondering why the air quality is starting to go down in the room. Then have a neighbor start complaining because you have a blanket covering the window that looks like something from a haunted house (I'm thinking beauty and the beast style) 😅
I used moving blankets once for a quilt I made, it’s cheaper than the expensive wadding, but you can buy a UV wash additive by Rit Dye’s, use a spray bottle and spray the blankets with the solution that should help to extend the life of the blankets. I use it so that I can wash and hang my quilts out to dry in the sun this helps to stop the colours from fading when on the line and on the bed when the sun shines through the window.
Good idea! Was wondering if a couple of layers of cardboard next to the window first, then a moving blanket up against that would work. Could put some cool contact paper on the side facing out. Ppl wld be walking by going...dang, they had to use cardboard!😂
There were lots of good suggestions here. I have a basement studio and I have spent way too much money on soundproofing materials (only $100 when I told my wife how much😂). I know I’m gonna be irritated when theses small and inexpensive tricks do more than all the big, dumb, expensive things. Oh well… live and learn. Thanks for the great video.
As a voiceover performer, I won't work with them anymore, due to one job long ago where the amount of dust in the ones the producer had, literally hurt my voice.
One thing to keep in mind when doing something like this, especially in houses with older A/C systems (or none) is that many houses leak the A/C return air, on purpose, via the gaps below the doors. Windows will also sometimes have small filter vents to allow for outside air to come in. If you block all this off you are effectively creating a sealed space in which to suffocate in, since no fresh oxygen can enter and displace the carbon dioxide you are expelling. Now for houses with A/Cs that have built-in outside air re-circulation this is not a concern in that the vent will provide fresh air, but the air still needs to find its way back to the A/C intake vent or you end up with overpressure in the room and no real airflow through your vent.
If you soundproof a room you will have less airflow, so you will have I sometimes open the door or window to let fresh air in.
Finally a video that is realistic and honest about soundproofing.
I used weather stripping along with those bottom door draft stoppers and it works very well.
I have to pull the door a little harder to make sure it closes properly which also tells me the seal is tight.
The biggest problem which you mentioned and no one else has is the air flow...
The room can get a bit stuffy and humid since the air flow has been reduced so much.
Open doors and windows for a while everyday
Get an genuine NDIR CO2 meter and check your ventilation.
You need more than you think for optimal health.
@@cajampa yes, the main problem is how soundproof vent system. Especially if you use breezer that makes a lot of noise on its own
@@Tony-. I am going to tell you the real secret and solution to this problem. Massive green house plants. That is how I did it to keep my CO2 low but not having to ventilate outside air in so much.
Green plants also cleans the air for us and have other health benefits.
I also run a air cleaner on low in most rooms for particle and some extra carbon filtration.
For even better quality air.
And believe me in the low run, breathing clean air and breathing low CO2 levels gives massive benefits to our health. Think about it, if you are concerned about optimizing your ventilation.
That is how you do it.
@@cajampa Yea, but, there are two problems here. The first is the control of heat inflow, I solve it with a film on the window, which also blocks useful sun radiation. I take vitamin D and walk every day, but the plants will die, or would need a special lamp.
The second is free space. Not everyone has the opportunity to live in a large house, and if the room is small, the volume of air are also small, so plants simply do not have time to process it even for one person.
The most effective method is an electric air inlet with a filter outside the room and noise-isolated ventilation, which is expensive and difficult.
The next option is a combination of passive ventilation and green plants. Additionally a traditional type humidifier and quiet AC split system for heat days. Which again is complicated and expensive
The worst option is ventilation by hours. No one will follow it and you will start to have problems with headaches, allergies, etc.
The best and cheapest sound deadened room is one you may already have... a walk in closet with both sides full of clothes... We used to roll the baby carriage in ours and you could have a party in the room adjoining the closet and it was a nothing more than a slight background murmur. I know a couple of people using theirs as recording rooms for podcasts -
Now that's a great suggestion
Dude. Dude. You may have just changed my life.
I cleaned my closet out and turned it into a vocal booth, acoustic foam all the way around even on back of the door, monitor, mic, guitar cable, even a webcam so you can live stream from there and see the performer from the control room
That’s a great idea when you just need a break from the screaming baby 🤣
True
Many years ago in my previous townhouse I had a wall that was shared with people who lived in the townhouse next door & I could hear their talking at night. Drove me nuts. I did a ton of research & ordered the products: A roll of lead paneling, some special foam, the hardware and glues needed to install the lead and foam. Hired a handyman to do all the work. Also had new dry wall installed, 2 or 3" in front of original wall, after the lead, foam, and special brackets were completed. Air is the best insulator and sound proofing. Then had the new dry wall plastered to match the texture of the other walls in the room. It certainly helped deaden the sound coming though, though it wasn't 100%.
These days the most effective way to go about sound proofing is just buying some active noise cancelling earbuds. I wear mine even without music playing all the time when I'm home, including while I sleep. Sucks but at the same time it's life changing considering I can't just move to the countryside
I discovered using flat moving boxes cut to fit snug inside the window frame, fold the moving blanket around it then stuff it into your window frame.. super soundproof and will cost about 15 dollars for a standard window. Harbor Freight has cheap moving blankets and Home depot has cheap moving boxes👍
I just asked about cardboard! 😂.., seriously though, does it help, bcz that wld be a more affordable solution for me. In addition to the blanket of course.
@@micahthomas9521 I wish I had pictures but yes! It totally worked, good luck! What's cool is you can make more layers, but if you have the same snug fit I got, you'll see how good it is.
Wait what, does that work??? Currently I'm using cardboard but it doesn't mitigate any low vibration sounds like engines rumbling
@@user-need.advicee so when I did my bedroom window, I put the blanket up like a curtain and I got lucky my 2 flat boxes where the right size to shove into the blanket snug along the whole outer edges of the window frame. Got to make a good tight fit. And I hung another moving blanket on the back side from the top of the frame to look like a curtain as much as I could. Low frequency sounds are the hardest to block out, however, the position of our window didn't point directly at the street even though I was the front unit. Anyways, mine worked great. Best way to block low frequency like cars and subwoofers unfortunately is to add mass (like how theaters use concrete, velvet, and carpeting.) Hope this helps, it's a cheap fix in this case after all and doesn't address walls and anything else sounds can go through.
@@jrtama5 where can I buy mass vinyl?
We converted a very large bedroom into two rooms.... one for a TV room and the other for a bedroom. We were able to completely eliminate all noise from being transferred through the common wall by making the wall 8" thick and then alternating the 2x4 studs so that the drywall on each side of the wall was never secured to the same stud as the other rooms drywall. The void formed by this approach was then filled with rubber 1" squares from cut up left over flooring material. If you scream in one room, you might here it from sound waves travelling out the door and down the hall (assuming the doors were open)... but you hear NOTHING through the walls. Now the TV room can be used at 2AM without waking the person sleeping in the bedroom.
Isolation and decoupling is key.
Great post.
This method unfortunately would definitely NOT "completely eliminate all nose from being transferred". It might reduce HF sound transmission somewhat, but this treatment would barely affect low frequency sound transmission since you would not have enough mass or air space in any 8" wall. Alternating studs is certainly better than a conventional studded wall, but there are many more effective ways to do this.
@@daviddaw4018 Hmmm.. we don't hear any bass from the 5 speaker surround sound in the room. I'm sure there are more effective ways.... but I had all free materials to get this accomplished... so it worked for us.
My wife used to work for a company that produced very expensive wall sound-proofing panels that were used in VERY EXPENSIVE installations.... but again... I did as good as I think you can for FREE.
The intensity of this msg lol
Thank you SO much!!! This has been super helpful. I'm soundproofing my daughters bedroom. She is among the neuro-sensory-sensitive folk and the hollow cavity between her and her sisters rooms combined with their doors opening perpendicular to each other actually added to her having a sensory overload induced breakdown! Shes been stuck in bed for 3 years. now!! I'm only just working out (after moving her out of her room temporarily away from the noise there) that all the noise and activity around her drains her sensitive little battery not allowing her to recover.
Anyway, your video has been AWESOME its so hard to decipher what is genuinely going to work/help and what are just popular products being sold to us. So far I have taken the existing drywall lining off and filled with insulation and refitted, and I have added 20mm timber battens I ripped from framing timber over the existing framing and have noise rated drywall to add there but it sounds like the single best thing I could do now is get some MLV!!
or to save some money, do you think I could use the MLV in a more focused way?
I am also building her a bed cave/box type thing that I was also planning on insulating. What do you think about using the MLV to wrap that bed box with? I could do, 5 sides of the box with MLV and maybe also use the MLV as a curtain on the open side in a pelmet thing ?? maybe it would be better to sandwich the MLV between two more texturally appealing fabrics, do a roll up blind, a roman blind, draw back curtains, or overlapping panels, or maybe I could create a vertical honeycomb curtain....
When our house was being built, I had the builder add insulation to the interior walls. I had this done for noise reduction. Noise originating in one room would then be less noticeable in adjacent rooms.
Opting for 5/8 drywall instead of the usual half inch is also helpful
I regret not insulating our interior walls. I don't want to open them back up. I am considering loose fill (it's just paper,) but I think it may not be worth the effort.
That should be standardvall homes the fact it isn't infuriates me I don't pay rent or buy a home to hear others sounds its basically defeating the object of having your own space
At build/framing time, best results come from doubling up the stud count, with half offset by half your usual on centre measurement, staggering the odds & evens so that plaster board from the adjacent rooms aren’t attached to the same studs - no vector of vibration transmission.
Acoustic rock wool insulation helps too.
Pretty sure it’s standard in the uk and all new homes to insulate interior walls
What I remember is what an American architect used in his glasfiber igloo’s. They were hollow and reflected all the sound. He used “paper-mache” for everything above 6 feet in the room. And it worked like magic. Wallpaper glue mixed with small pieces of paper. In my country we call it papier-maché.
THANK YOU - I bought the removalist blankets, put them over my windows, game changer!!! deadened outside noise and sounds great inside too, yes, peaceful. Yay and only $11 Aust each. So so grateful, yay!!!!!
Thank You for caring, and honesty that you use to produce these informational videos. Living in spaces without privacy can cause stress between neighbors and pour quality of living. Soundproofing can help. Quality advisory is greatly appreciated.
A lot of common sense and useful stuff for low cost soundproofing for everyday folks. And also the clearing up of what those acoustic foams pads actually do, which is they should only be used when YOU are the one making the noise and don't want it to escape. Thanks brother, keep it up!
tbh the foam isn't even so much about keeping your noise from escaping as much as it is about keeping your noise from bouncing around the room for ages giving you nasty reverb tails on your recordings. It'll do something for keeping your noise from leaving, but I doubt it'd do much, especially if you only have a few panels hung on your wall
Lots of great suggestions here. I've used all sorts of products in my home in replacement of more expensive, commercial products.
I have found that adding a block-out rollerblind to my french doors (that lead from the bedroom to the courtyard) has been a huge help in keeping the heat in and the cold out in winter.
I've used old carpet underlay (back when it was made of wool and not the modern version made from synthetic, plastic based material) to line my garden plots. I dug down a couple of metres (a few feet) before laying the carpet underlay. This has really helped to retain moisture and encourage deep roots in my plants and trees.
On the courtyard pavers, after struggling to stop the weeds for over 20 years, I gave in and bought garage workshop rubber flooring. It would be more attractive if it were in one piece, but this is all I could afford. It gives a nice feel under the feet and has done a fabulous job at deterring weeds thanks to its complete blockout properties. I actually use it in my kitchen also. It cleans up as easily as tiles and, if really in need of a treatment, I can simply lift it out and take it outside. I'm sure it helps to dampen the noise too. I've not tried this on walls or doors but would be interested to hear your opinions on it.
When I was in high school (in the 70s and 80s) our music room ceilings were lined with cardboard egg cartons (just the wavy bits that support the eggs- not the lids). I think this was a common feature at the time as a cheap sound dampening measure.
When I toured historical places in England many years ago, most of the regal houses contained huge woollen tapestries on the walls. These not only looked impressive but they helped to dampen the sound and keep the heat in these rooms. Be aware if you're thinking of using this method though- most of the items called 'tapestries' online are not actual tapestries. They tend to be a print on some cheap polyester fabric to use to brighten up a wall. I wouldn't use too much of this in your home as it is a fire hazard.
Oh- and instead of throwing a blanket on the floor to block out weather/sound from the bottom of doors, add a door sausage instead. You can get some more attractive ones and they are easily moved out of the way to open and close the door. Make sure it's a heavy-weighted one though- usually filled with sand. Sandbags are great for stopping flooding too (used on many a riverbank in Australia in flooding-prone zones).
hummm... interesting. I think you might have left off the part about you sitting down very occasionally after picking some soundproofed garden greens, and making some silent scones, jam and cream to match with a good hot cup of tea (?). 😂
Actually got triple layered window installed few years ago. The difference between double and triple layered is so big you can easily sleep during busiest days right in city centre.
Thanks for this! I live in an 80 year old house next to a 4 lane road with typical air brakes, emergency vehicles, atypical exhaust, horns & extreme car audio systems noise interfering with my workday and movie nights - I've been considering replacing windows and doors as well as drywall to reduce the noise, but these tips will be much less expensive!
Best of luck! Let us know how it all works out!!
Did It work?
@@mukeshsharma1151they never come back with feedback 😒
@@renaldsunset they suck
Definitely agreed.
I tried most of this in my house and are quite effective and all you need for non professional needs.
But the one thing I haven't managed to achieve is acoustic treatment in a living room that doesn't disrupts the ambience of the house
Years ago I binge watched a bunch of seasons of 30 Rock. I happened to have my laptop connected to an old 8 channel PA system with a pair of very large house speakers and several stage monitors. The house speakers had massive 36" woofers and a folded horn passive port, and extremely large horn tweeters. It reproduced a very large range of frequencies.
Somewhere along the line, one of the seasons, there must have been construction outside of the building where they filmed the series, because for the rest of that season and for at least the next one or two seasons, almost every scene involving dialog had the sound of dump trucks pulling away and shifting gears. At first it was barely noticeable, but once I noticed it, it became hard to ignore. I was able to drop a few bands on the parametric eq to help silence it, but it was always audible to some extent.
I studied sound reinforcement at a community college years ago. We covered the issue of external noise and sound deadening materials, soundproifing, etc, as part of a "constructing a studio" course module. I'm surprised NBC hired sound guys who didn't account for that nose interference.
I'm sure the sound guys brought it up, and then proposed spending X number of dollars to fix a problem a couple hundred people might detect. The suits at NBC then squashed that proposal.
I kind of followed you about the speakers, generally, but think it’s wild as hell you were able to hear that much background. I’m sure stuff like that gets picked up, and then maybe in post they try to hide it, but I suffered some hearing loss on active duty and it’s cause a lot of things to disappear. So, I just find it wild when people can hear through like that.
If you want to soundproof your home... you're gonna have to dance for it.
What 36in folded/tapped horns were you using?
You're welcome! I believe in you and your talent. Keep pushing yourself and let's create some amazing music together. The world is ready for what you have to offer. Let's make some magic happen!
A few points
-- Deadening that other room can be a faster way to improve the room you care about.
-- "draft stoppers" that people use for doors can work as well as a blanket to stop the noise under a door. A chunk of rug also works
-- Hanging a tapestry an inch off a wall deadens sound quite a bit. The gap makes it free to move.
-- For windows consider drapes rather than curtains. Drapes are made of more substantial material and the rod positions them out from the window. The drapery rod can be arranged so that the edges of the curtains wrap towards the wall to block that path. You can have the top of the drapes well above the window near the ceiling. This makes the path for sound harder in that direction. You can add curtains within the outline of the window opening as well.
Allowing your soundproofing materials to float is a great point! That way the sound get converted to mechanical energy as well as heat(like foam stops sound.)
@@jbarker2160I don't understand, does the air insulate the sound?!
@@mryan4452 Think about throwing a tennis ball at the wall it will bounce back, now if you throw it at the wall with a blanket directly on the wall it will still bounce slightly off it. If you throw it at a blanket that's mounted a inch off the wall not touching anything, the tennis ball will not bounce back and drop to the ground
@@313chickenThat's a really good analogy, thanks! :)
To improve sound and cut high frequency bounces, hang a heavy textile (rug, quilt) a couple of inches from a wall. Prettier than a moving blanket.
Bookcases decrease "too bright" sound because the sound bounces behind the books and gets lost. They can help minimize sound transmission from another room because the mass of a filled bookcase is high.
The biggest problem I find is people mistaking sound treatment with sound proofing. The layman does not distinguish between the two. With new clients, it's the first thing I have to explain. Sound treatment can be easy and cost effective. Sound proofing is generally more difficult and more expensive.
How did you manage to use "layman" in this sentence? I assure you this isn't as big of a problem as you think and us laymen out there know that acoustic foam doesnt soundproof rooms
@@jaredroscoe800 YOU may know that, but in my line of work I run into people all the time who have no idea how any of this works and need to be educated about the terminology and have their expectations set to realistic levels.
Can confirm. I had no clue of the difference. I’ve been talking about soundproofing left and right for my new bedroom. Little did I know there’s so much more than I thought. I never even thought about treatment Vs. proofing
The problem isn’t people it’s the word itself. Soundproof as a verb means to make a room or building resistant to the passage of sound. Sound Deadening is the quality of sound in the room which does involve quieting down the room. Since it does contribute to limiting the sound that comes out of the room it is also technically a form of sound proofing, just not an effective one because it does nothing to address the sound coming into the room. What some people don’t understand is that soundproofing is more than just sound deadening
My favorite for deadening a room is to make big picture frame style boxes that are about 2” deep and lay rock wool insulation inside and cover with cloth. Hang them on the wall and ceiling
This is excellent, genuine advice. I studied stage technics and was taught that in order to soundproof - that is to block or isolate noise - you need to:
- Seal everything you can
- Use HEAVY materials
The last bit is important. Lots of people think that egg cartons or ridged foams etc. are the best for blocking sound, but they aren't. They ARE good for breaking up echoes - that is, deadening sound. But for blocking sound, you need MASS.
So in practice you can think:
- If I want to block outside noise from reaching my space or noise from my space from reaching outside, I need the heaviest stuff I can get.
- If I want to stop the sound I make from bouncing around and reflecting inside my room, I need irregular, porous surfaces.
- If I want to both isolate AND deaden, I want both.
And yes, sealing the entrances is important, too.
You can combine heavy materials with irregular materials, or get something that's a combination - like the moving blankets in this video.
And an easy way to break up echoes is to just have lots of furniture and STUFF. People love a clean aesthetic, but a little creative chaos might in fact help your recordings. Get some wall hangings, plants in the windows, curtains, a big fluffy carpet, some recliners to hang around in, an ugly statue, stacks of books on the shelves etc.
And for home artists, don't record right at your computer screen, or at least move the mic further away. Your table and your screen are giant flat surfaces that reflect sound a lot. You can also try covering them up with blankets while you record.
Also, try moving whatever you're recording away from the big flat surfaces if you can't help them being there. And try to position your mic so that it won't take the reflections as directly. Learn your mics' pick up patterns so you can use them effectively.
I wish i had seen this years ago!!! I had a son with anxiety that would game and be loud. My daughter next door to him would have to work in the morning and the whole thing was contentious. I even recommended the moving blanket!! I was so excited when you said that. But, I completely missed the cracks. That would have helped them so much!! Anyway, thank you!
telling your kid to stfu would've been the cheapest option
@@_DeadBeat_ your name says it all.
The effort put into making this video answer sound proofing/deadening with earnestness and from obvious humbleness and truth is kindly appreciated. If I ever have a question and I see you with the video on that topic I will watch it and feel so much better knowing that is coming from you and not somebody just trying to make money but so you know I really do appreciate you actually putting your heart into it and making sure the truth so efficiently right to the point as well thank you
Best advice I seen on RUclips. I had a shared wall in my downtown condo between my living room and a neighbor's bedroom. Eight grand later, no noise from my sound system was heard in my neighbor's bedroom. Everything he suggests has to be done and done correctly, but the end result is blissful silence.
Earbuds.
@@garychandler4296 The bose noise cancelling ear buds are actually quite good. They actually keep out bass frequencies much better than the bose noise cancelling headphones.
It is also important to consider the overall layout and design of the room, as well as the type of noise that needs to be blocked out. Consulting with a professional soundproofing expert can help determine the most effective solutions for your specific needs. Additionally, regular maintenance and upkeep of soundproofing materials is essential to ensure continued effectiveness over time.
Many people who want to soundproof a room are doing it because they make music and need an acoustically neutral environment to listen to their studio monitor speakers. So no, earbuds are not the answer. What a weird comment on a video about soundproofing.
@@garychandler4296earbuds are not the best way to listen to music
Those are good points. As you mentioned, sound is the movement of air. Another thing to consider is utilizing area rugs. They can be hung on the wall as well as laid out on the floor and they are much more attractive than moving blankets. Better still, hang a rug in front of a moving blanket. The main thing is to break up parallel surfaces. Putting sound deadening objects (cylinders, etc.) in the corners helps as well. Since we're talking about the movement of air, what about your vents or registers? There are things that can be done there as well. It all depends on how much the sound pressure level needs to be reduced. And then there's landscaping. :))
You make great points! I did make a video recently about soundproof the air vents by adding something called a “sound maze”! They are pretty cool! Here’s the video - ruclips.net/video/k66tray91RU/видео.html
"Soft" surfaces - rugs, cushy sofas, fabric-covered screens - all work within a room to make it sound better. Even paintings help. It might keep sound in the room, too.
Thank you for mentioning landscaping. Nobody thinks of that when they chop down all the trees on their property.
Thanks so much! I'm in an SRO (single room occupancy) gov't bldg. It's noisy with idiots who yell in the hallways, repair their bikes, drop their drug pipes, etc. My door has wide gaps all around it so your video is the perfect solution to my problem! I just found you, so thank you.
Some really good advice. The terms for the distinction between reducing sound from outside, vs echoes is Noise Reduction vs Acoustic Treatment. As an audiobook narrator, I’ve had to do all of this, but especially acoustic treatment to cut reflection. You’re so right about the price differential with the added “acoustic” in the name. Such a scam… usually. I DID pay extra for “Acoustic Blankets” vs heavy duty moving blankets and, for my purposes, they were well worth the extra cost. They are thicker, denser, and easier to use. But regular moving blankets do a pretty decent job. You may need to double them, depending on the amount of reflection from surrounding walls.
On the eletrical outlet, you can also use plumber's putty. Super, super cheap
Thank you! We have a neighbour with a very screamy (it rhat a word) child who wakes us up at 12, 2, 3 and 4am each night. Most audio is cominc through the window and one wall. Your video has given me a place to start addressing thw challenge.
Another thing that you can add to outlets is the insulation pads designed for blocking drafts (especially useful on exterior walls). They fit in behind the cover and fit fairly snug. A pack of 6 costs a couple of dollars.
Thank you!!
Great idea, thanks.
@@Nonybusinessxxxxxx That's a problem with the person who wired your outlets and let the hot wire poke outside of the screw
For windows you can use a piece of plexiglass cut to fit, and edged with weatherstripping so that you have a friction fit around the frame.
Aka an interior storm window.
Ooh, interesting! :)
I assume that placing it a few inches back from the window would be better than having it touch the window?
@@glowcube do you think it’d be effective on metal shutters ? To suppress crickets sounds and dog barking inn the distance
Thanks for the video. Always appreciate when people create content that says "you don't have to buy that 'stuff' " whatever the 'stuff' is.
We need this kind of helpfulness and honesty everywhere else in the world. Thank you for your insight.
You’re awesome! Thank you 😊
Thank you for making a no-nonsense video on this topic. My wife and I just moved into out new home, and I am trying to soundproof my studio room on the cheap. This video has been a MASSIVE help
Glad I could help! Best of luck on your project and on the new house!! 😊
I live in a apartment with sheetrock between myself and the airbnb on the other side. I can't put up loaded vinyl and more sheet rock so I went the moving blanket route. It works to some extent. It doesn't fix the problem but you will get less noise from the other side. Also blackout curtains work very well for the noise and privacy. I also got some dense foam from packaging and put some of it up on the wall. It adds to the sounddeading, but not as much as furniture in the room(Or in my case empty boxes around the room).
5:00 (apx) - For the lower door you need to have something you can put in place when needing to soundproof. Keep in mind, your lower door gap is needed for HVAC systems to function properly in circulating air. So if not needing soundproofing all the time, get something you can put in place when needed. IE: towel as mentioned.
Depends on the house. I have an HVAC return in each room, so the door gap is not part of the recirculating plan.
we have "snakes", basically 4-6cm diameter tubes of material filled with something inert, like dry clean sand (probably has something synthetic in it now) - heavy enough to stay there and block draughts/sound, but light enough that you can still open the door easily.
@@shawnbrennan7526And noise travels through your return ducts, too!
All of my rooms have cold air returns. Not everyone needs the gap.
@@FreedomTalkMedia If you have a separate setup like that then great, but that is not the majority of homes. The gap is an issue to be reviewed.
Also your returns create a channel for sound to carry through to other rooms. Just like AC Supplies that allow sound to carry from room to room.
While it may not be at a level that is concerning or unacceptable in your specific case it still needs to be addressed.
Thanks for putting together a video with genuine tips. I'm setting up a home VO studiio and was pulling my hair out at the projected cost. You've just restored my faith!
Great video - couple things maybe (or maybe not) useful. Door snake - its a little rolled up towel thingy that you put at the bottom of the door if you don't want to use a skirt - you could just use a rolled up towel. Moving blankets! - I never knew that. Makes total sense. Three ways to reduce noise (=any unwanted signal). 1). The mass/hard blocking the video speaks of. That dense foam really does work. So does concrete. 2). Chambering and attenuation - that is what the foam tiles try to do. I suspect the moving blanket do a bit of both 1&2. 3) Canceling - not really practical for a room. The textured foam does work if used properly. We used to use the "egg" or "nipple" foam (the tiles - except we bought in rolls/sheets) - but the texture needs to point toward the noise source to work best - it used to be cheap. There is a warning touched on in the video. Nothing is more uncomfortable than a sound dead room. They can be hot, stuffy, strangely uncomfortable and a friend of mine used to complain of itching while in the booth (I think in is head but still real to him). You are better off trying to reduce (not eliminate) noise while increasing sound (=pleasant signal). Unless it's a sound booth of course. This was really interesting as a video.
In my college apartment for the past 2 year, when I first moved in I noticed how much echoing there was in my room. I hung up my old comforter and that made one hell of a difference. I put it right behind my monitors, the direction I faced 95% of the time, and It stayed up there (as long as the clips holding them up didn't let go, which they did A LOT [velcro would have probably fixed the problem]) for the entirety of those 2 years. When I moved out this past spring and took it down, I forgot just how much and how loudly it echoed
My own few tips. 1. Take the window panels, buy 2, clip them together, one on top of the other and then hang. It's double the protection. 2. I have a tall headboard. I bought acoustic tiles and stuck them to the back of the headboard or you could add them to the wall behind, and they will be hidden. 3. Foam board, wrapped with batting, cover with your favorite fabrics. They are not heavy to hang with something like Command Strips. Place behind your bed or make "art work" out of them around your home. You can get as creative as you want. 4. Hang a heavy duty curtain rod (Look at yard sales, FB marketplace, etc) people are always getting rid of them for cheap, clip the moving blanket, a quilt, even those curtains to it. Adds some decor and doubles to help reduce noise. 5. In my bedroom, I did heavy curtains all the way behind the bed and down and across the other wall, even though there were only 2 small windows in the corner. It really helped with the heating/cooling and sound. It's a little bit of money for the hardware but so worth it. 6. Take a pool noodle, cut it to length, wrap it with batting and material, use as a draft dodger and it fills in those doors cracks.
Something I have noticed is that the sound proofing effect of uPVC double glazing degrades with time. I tracked it down to the collapse of the rubber seals between the moving panes and the uPVC surrounds. The rubber becomes harder and less springy with time which results in air gaps, and as you have already identified that causes the noise to leak through. If you have this it's time to replace the rubber seals.
I noticed that on the main entrance door of the house I recently bought. I had new windows installed but not the door as I am still working on the house and was afraid of damaging the new door.
As far as walls nothing beats adding drywall for noise reduction! Just add 2 additional 1/2 inch layers with a 3/4 space of air ( Door stoppers as spacers ) and stagger the drywall ( meaning don't installed them the exactly the same way but putting some vertically and some horizontally ). Its the cheapest way and it will give you the biggest bang for the buck!
Of course we must add extensions to the electrical outlets and the drywall itself but after you get a HUGE sound reduction. PLUS your suggestion for the outlets and cracks make perfect sense as well 👍
If you're putting up new drywall, have the hollows filled with mineral wool or some other insulation like it. If you're using sheets, it's important that they're a bit bigger in _all_ dimensions (including thickness) so you don't have any gaps.
@@rolfs2165 This video is about cheapest right! so that being the cheapest and proven best noise reduction is drywall! so unless heat is an issue putting mineral is not as cost or sound effective as putting another layer of drywall!
NOTE: The word for " Bigger in ALL dimensions " = staggered which I already mentioned above. staggering means you put the first layer vertically and the second horizontally which is more than enough without complicating things too much. Also one can use 1/4 spacer between the two layers as air dissipates sounds as well.
ALSO NOTE: To pay attention to the electrical boxes as they need to be deep boxes OR special insert type boxs made for this type of installation.
This concept is based on the ROOM INSIDE A ROOM that is made for Music Studios and is the much much cheaper more economical version of this concept.
@@veger2001 No, I do not mean staggered. I mean that you want to cut the sheets of mineral wool 1-2 cm wider than the space between the joists, and you also want it about 0.5-1 cm thicker than the joists, so it gets squished when you put the second side of the drywall on.
I'd also argue that with global warming, heat is something that should be kept in mind for any new construction.
I'm so grateful I came across this video and your channel in general. I'm revamping my room into a studio space and was going to start with putting a lot of panels up and was discouraged at how expensive it was going to be. I'm glad I get to do some handy work and start off on the right foot. Appreciate you!
This is why I purchase 2nd hand blankets when I find them at an op-shop (thrift-store). Takes the edge off the echo, and improves the heat retention of my bed/storage room. Cheaper than a heater.
Thanks, this helps a lot!
Another thing that I think might be worth mentioning and I feel is relevant, is that sound proofing can help to control heat or isolate heat in/from the room that gets isolated.
That increased R-value can pay off in lower heating cost.
Not to mention that lower heating cost and less noise disturbance can both help reduce stress, which again can lower healthcare cost in the long run.
Not that this comment of mine is meant to diagnose or treat anything.
Good luck in all your endeavours.
Kind regards from Iceland.
That’s a great point! I definitely will mention that in future videos!
@@mclovinfuddpucker
Normal and necessary air ventilation is possible in all sorts of ways in a sealed room, but it's not the topic of discussion.
The general or relative amount of intellect in any country isn't the topic either.
I will leave any further attempt at an insult alone, as if you tried to hand me some poo and then I just let you stand there, your arms outstreched, your palms wet and stinky.
At any point in your life, you are free to start being a good man, a kind man. I hope that time comes asap for you.
Good luck in all your endeavors.
Kind regards from Iceland.
The trick on turning off the lights and seeing where the lights comes in from is a great tip 👍🏻. I just did that to seal off my windows. 😁 worked so easy and quick.
Great vid.
We just moved our ten year old to the room on the other side of our wall. Fortunately, we have paneling in both our rooms so I am planning to grab some moving blankets, remove the paneling and attach them to the studs then reattach the paneling. Great idea! We'll see if any "noises" disturb him.
I don't know if that's a good idea for some latent fire safety issues. If you do this anyways, definitely be careful to make sure the blankets don't make contact with wires or anything that can get too hot!
You might see similar results without increased fire risk by properly insulating the wall between the two rooms (if that hasn't been done already), though that's probably more expensive than a moving blanket. If you can afford it, that dense vinyl material mentioned in the video is probably your best bet since it's designed to be put inside walls.
I just worry that with a moving blanket you'll make that part of your house more dangerous in a fire, since the drywall acts as a slight fire barrier between studs and flammable materials inside the room
@@crazygrape Great response, thank you. We don't have any drywall on interior walls as this house was built in the 60s as a lake house. Less interior bulk aids I winterization with less moisture to freeze/thaw. We, however, Iive here year round. I would never mess with wiring as ours is quite questionable as it is. Someday, it'll all need updating! I have thought about bluebird, which could be applied over the studs and then paneling reapplied (there are no plugs on that wall in our room ... weird, I know). Thanks for your advise. I appreciate your thoughts and you sharing them.
I'm sure there are many types of insulation that are rated for home installation and would reduce sound and be much safer in a fire. Also air sealing as mentioned in the video will do a lot.
The one part of the room I was looking for getting advice is the ceiling. The room I'm working on is a basement family room. And so my most noise is from the floor above.
CHEAPEST Budget Way For soundproofing Ceilings & Floors!
ruclips.net/video/1e-6Gg7eV4s/видео.html
It's easiest if you are in the planning stages. ✏ But even my ancient cat sounds like a draft horse running down the hall.
Softer surfaces up top - carpet, "luxury vinyl", area rugs.
Seal air gaps around upper floors (can you pop the baseboards and really seal gaps with caulk and backer rod?)
Underneath, if you can remove ceiling tiles and install insulation and some sort of a sound gap - so vibration up top can't transmit as well.
I walked through a house a couple of weeks ago that was about to be torn down. It took me a second to notice that they had carpeted the walls along with the floors. It was the really compact stuff you see in a lot of commercial applications, but it amazed me how quiet it was from just that. Not the best look, but there’s a million different carpet designs out there, so I’m sure you could find something that would work
Most interior doors are hollow core with cardboard honeycomb. Mass is your friend for soundproofing, so a solid core door would work way better with the gap sealing. As far as the windows, making sound panels with rockwool is going to really help, and if you want to go all out put mass loaded vinyl on the window first.
Those darn cardboard doors! When I tell homeowners that they are just cardboard, it's as if they don't believe me. But, after I have hung the door, and it starts falling apart, they don't call the manufacturer to complain, they call me.
Before you seal around the door, and instead of buying moving blankets, invest in an acoustic solid core door, designed to cut down on vibration. If you're using a regular door not much will happen. The bottom line that I was taught in my acoustics class is that mass-air-mass is the best acoustic insulator. You need a thick solid outer wall lined with acoustic insulation, then an air space, then another thick wall, using resiliant channel and acoustic decoupled mounts to attach your 3/4" plywood, then 5'8' drywall, using acoustic caulking to seal ALL gaps. This is what I have done in my present and last studio (as well as 3 layer varying thickness windows) and it works very well.
Thank you! Yes, we were definitely resourceful in making our jam space soundproof. It was truly a game-changer to be able to play without any noise restrictions. And it was satisfying to know that we were able to accomplish it on a tight budget.
It's important to consider all aspects of soundproofing when creating a quiet and comfortable space. By adding drop closers, thresholds, insulation, and dedicated HVAC, you can significantly improve the effectiveness of soundproofing and create a more controlled environment. Working with a professional can help ensure a successful outcome.
Thank you so much for the encouragement and support! I will definitely keep pushing myself to create new and innovative music. I am excited to see where this musical journey will take me next!
Also, especially if you're in the US, look for a door that has a lip all the way around (well, aside from the bottom) instead of just straight sides. The only side light should be able to get through even before you've started should be the bottom. Even if you're not planning to sound-proof the door, it already reduces noise coming through along with light and draft.
I'm not sure if the door he showed as example would even be legal (well, up to code) in Germany, unless it's specifically a swinging door.
This video is for cheap methods
I converted a garage into a studio and used professional dry wall and it is INCREDIBLE. Very loud inside and hardly anything outside. Well worth the extra money.
Did some soundproofing to my sons room a few years ago. Bought sheets of sound deadening high density plasterboard. Got 35mm x 50mm wooden battens and a load of 50mm x 50mm L brackets. The battens were set at 60cm gaps to be half a plasterboard wide. The brackets were screwed to the hall in alternating directions with 4 per vertical batten. Then a 10mm block was put in as a temporary spacer. So that the verticals stood 10cm off the wall. In-between the verticals sound deadening Rocwool fibre 60mm thick was put in. Then the plasterboard to cover it. I saw a YT video were they said that direct contact between hard surfaces will transmit sound. And if this contact area is lessened along with something to absorb sound waves you can get a considerable drop in noise transfer. This took about 85mm out of one side his room. His room is now also considerably warmer. I should have done a 4 walls and the ceiling 😅
People don't realize that there are different things that they are fighting, which need different tools.
Sound sources, like creeks, cracks, squeeks need to be dealt with at the source. Add some foam, or caulking, or better securing a loose board... whatever it is, you just need to make it stop.
Sound reflections. When people complain about a room, it isn't generally outside noise is affecting quality, but reflections off of hard surfaces. Carpet, especially with padding, is your best cheapest option. Second is adding panels or baffling in corners, or on at least half (and not opposite halves) of the walls. If you can do all of the walls, great, but just doing 2 adjacent walls in a 4 wall room is typically going to eat the majority of the problem. Personally, I like to use fire insulation like rock wool, framed in cheap wood, and covered in fabric. It can look super boring if you want, or you can use patterned material, or anything fabric with something you like on it. I like fantasy maps, and there are no end of fabric maps you can find online to slap on top of a DIY sound panel.
Next is sound leakage. The first actual step towards sound proofing. If there is an air gap, no matter how small, then sound will get through annoyingly easy. Recording studios are notoriously hot, because in a perfectly sealed room, the heat from a human and a single light bulb builds up very quickly if you don't have free flowing air. Spray foams, caulking, winterizing products... anything that seals gaps is your best friend. And if it if rubberised, then all the better!
Lastly is sound isolation. You want layers of boxes with air gaps between them. Sound travels well through air, but it does a terrible job at transitioning between mediums, so forcing sound to go through a mass, then air, then another mass, and then air again is key to sound isolation. And you want as few bridges between layers, and staggered weirdly as possible without becoming a building code violation. A cheap (but labor intensive) way to do this is to buy drywall, and use something like a thick layer of poorly spread liquid nails or some other adhesive to slap it over existing walls. Force the sound to go into the first layer of drywall, then an air gap with as little material as possible, and then another layer of drywall. If you can fully frame out a room within a room, and have the framing resting on some sort of ruberized material, then that is even better. Walls are transducers, so having walls that make direct contact to the frame of the house, which is then well secured to the basement walls, which transfer lots of ground energy from trucks and other large vehicles will cause some level of issues. Anything to break that contact to have a free floating structure will be the hardest and lest rewarding part of sound proofing... but if you need sound proofing and already have panels and everything else but still have a problem... this is kinda your last and only option.
Another tip I heard for sound deadening in a room is books. If you already have lots of books and bookshelves consider using that room recording purposes as the bookshelves will help.
Finally some facts about sound deading. I did the suggestions for the door when our baby was born to dampen a little bit all of the noise coming from the living room and wow did it make a difference, was it cero noise coming thru no! but it wasn't as loud nor clear as it used to be, it got dampened quite a lot and just that made a huge difference in getting our baby fall sleep faster.
They have a 4x8 sound board at home depot that goes on the sticks before drywall and works well. Great video!
I really appreciate the fix on the outlets. I have noticed that sound comes through them and didn't know what to do about it. Thank you!!
Instead of moving blankets I use old bed comforters that I purchase cheap at thrift stores.
I also hung two layered duvet covers over the two doors between me and the basement apartment as draperies. That works very well.
Around the frames of my old aluminum windows I stuffed strips of a foam mattress topper. I also used this on the back wall of my bathroom cabinet to absorb sounds and keep my adjoining bedroom quiet. Lets just say, I never throw out foam. It's so valuable in sound proofing.
You briefly mentioned this, but the gaps under the door and leaky windows are usually the only way of a room to get fresh air. A thing to keep in mind before going apeshit with sealing stuff.
Cold air return gets rid of cold air for circulation and to get fresh air in the morning you open window for five minutes even in winter. Canadian tradition.
Every room in our house has air vents the AC and furnace use to circulate air. Is that not widely the case in other regions?
@@babyseals4872 No, not necessarily. A lot of older houses use natural ventilation, where the hotter air gets pulled out through upflow vents and the pressure pulls colder air in through vents and, if the ventilation isn't balanced properly, through cracks in the building (creating draft). Almost every room _should_ have vents for fresh air, though.
The one thing nobody talks about is how to block sub woofer noise. I have neighbors that have a sound system outside by their pool with sub woofers thumping away until all hours of the night. And bass notes seem to penetrate everything. Note to mention people who drive by in cars with over amplified sub woofers. You can hear them coming from miles away. You can't hear the music they're listening to, just the pounding bass. It's like having a giant beating heart outside you house.
A huge amount of mass is required to dim these bass noises. Think concrete walls, etc.
@@j10001Actually you want something that moves to convert that bass into other forms of energy. Think air gaps and viscoelastic material like a constrained dampening system.
Good tips. I just finished building my studio. I used rock wool soundproofing/deadening insulation in all of the walls and had extra left over intentionally. I bought $30 worth of 3" x 8' pine slats. a roll of weed mat, and built my own sound deadening panels with the left over rock wool. Saved a small fortune.
Thanks for taking the time to make this video and explain the concepts behind your suggestions. Great stuff!!
Many great ideas for home owners. Can you do a follow-up for renters?
Great video. Out focus is not on preventing noise from coming in - we need to ensure office privacy to ensure people in adjacent rooms can't hear confidential conversations. Appreciate the product recommendations.
Those door sweeps are really great. Mostly they stop a cold draft from outside, but also a lot of road noise. Now if only someone could suggest a magical device for an open window near talky neighbors!
You could become a bee keeper!
Seriously though, you could try wind chimes or a small water fountain - use one noise to cancel out the other noise.
A beehive would certainly encourage a "buffer space"! I like the way you think. Yes, background noise helps a lot; I use a small fan and wind chimes already. The water fountain helped for a little while, but started making horrible noises because I neglected to use distilled water and ruined the motor bearings. The next one will do better. Thanks for the suggestions! I just might try the bees also.
If you don't want to add as much thickness to the wall, 1/4" thick cement board adds slightly more mass than 5/8" drywall, but will cost more. Alternatively, adding it between two sheets of dry wall is significantly cheaper than mass loaded vinyl also. You just need to use some caulk between them if you want sound deadening as well.
Thank you
All true, I work on HVC, and people try to insulate their home in many different ways. Like me, now that I'm trying to do my basement, I know about the outlet gasps and putting rugs in the walls, but most importantly, it is the basement ceiling for me. Thanks for the video.
One way to soundproof a door is just to replace the door with an EXTERIOR door. It will be heavier, usually steel sometimes with a faux wood finish and come with weatherstripping all around. For best results you may want to replace the door jamb too, which usually comes with the door and gives you a chance to use caulk behind the trip in any gaps. Also seal around any switch or outlet boxes as sound can travel thru them easily.
check to see if all exterior doors are EXTERIOR DOORS, I swore a Realtor installed an interior door, flipping the house, and quickly cheaply pushing a sale.
If you wanna get a better sound with a microphone one of the things to notice is usually people are sitting at their desk which is against the wall when they’re speaking which means your voice bounces right off the wall and comes right back to your microphone if you place a pillow between the wall in the microphone that pillow will capture a lot of that sound wave. And if you’re using a camera you won’t see it because it’s back against the wall. I also got an attractive oriental rug and hung out across the wall behind my computer desk, they do this a lot Eastern Europe and I think it looks pretty cool too.
I made a rehearsal room for my band a few years back. I found a company that was selling expanded cork panels of various thickness. I put 1.5 inches thick panels on all walls and ceiling, and some shock-absorbing slabs on the floor. The room was decently soundproofed and the deadening was awesome. At the time the expanded cork was around $12 per square meter.
Great tips. Prevent the noise (and light) when you have a chance. If you ever build, these little things can make such a difference in quality of life. Even if you have a leak/repair, if the wall is open, add what you can then.
When I replaced my mattress, I leaned the old one up against the wall to "get it out of the way for now".
It cut the noise of my neighbours watching tv, coughing, and snoring, in the next unit (purpose built multi story apt) enough, that it became a permanent padded side-headboard for my bed.
I put an aesthetically pleasing fitted sheet on it, and it's now been there for 2 years.
I hadn't considered the fact that having blocked the outlet in that wall (which is inconvenient) might be part of the reason it worked.
There's definitely nothing between the walls within our unit, but I had kind of assumed fire code would require them not to build back to back electrical between units... Then again, opening up holes in the walls to redo plumbing, in ways that allowed mice to move unit to unit very conveniently is apparently a thing they consider fine and dandy (solved it myself).
It's not a fantastic solution, and it wastes 5" of floor space - but it cost nothing, and means I don't have to wrestle a queen mattress out of a 3rd floor walk up until I move.
Now if only I could block the sound of lawn mowing, and the kid that "plays" by screaming like there's an emergency (despite being politely requested not to, for multiple years, by multiple neighbours - all the other kids manage to sound like kids playing loudly) without closing my windows, ensuring no air movement and blocking all natural light.
Apparently I just need to live with earplugs in at all times. 🤷♀️
Ah, the dilemma of wanting it to be quiet *and* wanting the window to be open... I feel ya XD
One day, someone will come up with something that will let us do that, but I haven't seen anything like it yet :)
It looks like this channel has a video about building "sound mazes" inside ones A/C vents, to allow airflow while reducing sound. I wonder if someone who's good with materials could make something similar that could be placed in front of an open window to deaden sound but still let in fresh air. Perhaps made with plexiglass? Hmm...
Check for mould periodically.
I used an old canvas drop cloth folded over like 10 times instead of a moving blanket, but it worked way better than the $85 "industrial soundproof curtain for warehouses and machine shops" that I bought. I hadn't considered the outlets though, so thank you!
After watching the whole video and reading comments..im big on redos and decorating (NOT the type of decorating as in knick knacky stuff and extra stuff to display and such..im into practicality and common sense with a splash of personal enjoyment). I have an idea for me and those who wish their moving blanket wasnt so ugly is to lay over it is fabric to your liking. Ive always loved fabric wall paper and draping fabric to cover walls. My husband doesn't know it yet but this plan has been swirling around in my head awhile and its going to come to fruitation. There's a non stop screaming child 2 houses away and would love to also stuff the ungodly noise there too..especially the parent who allows it.
Ive used mass loaded vinyl as underlay to my floor using acoustic sealant along the edges.. it is super heavy though.. cannot be understated
You’re definitely right! Buying in bulk is cheaper, but will also be a lot heavier!
As someone that really wanted to sound treat my room so I could have clear audio but also didn't wanna spend any extra money I just started collected cardboard and egg cartons as a replacement for those foam squares. They work great for deadening sound in a room.
If you have a Harbor Freight in your area, they have piles of affordable moving blankets.
I apologize in advance if this has already been asked a million times. I am looking to reduce the noise in one room of my home, created from my neighbors obsession with fireworks on the 4th of July (and a couple of weeks leading up to and following it). I am hoping it to do all of the things you have recommended in this video, including adding mass loaded vinyl and an additional layer of drywall to one specific exterior wall. Is this likely to help reduce, specifically, the volume of the fireworks?
Peltor ear muffs could help you too
It might help a little but the noise of fireworks are so loud and erratic that it makes it very difficult to soundproof against. Adding drywall and MLV will definitely help but also, make sure to look at the windows as well because a lot of the noise would be coming from there. Best of luck!
The moving blankets are an inspired move. I've done a lot of work on studios and as you said Sound proofing is hard to do. But sound deadening in the room is much easier. I'm putting up blankets in my studio this weekend.
These videos are informative. However, I would like to see more tests. Baseline a rooms ambient sound with none of the soundproofing done, and then add one change at a time. That way we can see progression.
More test coming!
I used Rockwool panels on a school band room that had a 3 second echo with a light clap of the hands. It was amazing how effective it was when I placed the panels in a checkerboard pattern at the tops of the 15ft walls. Dropped the echo down to less than 1 second and the overall volume down as well. The students were going deaf, and the teacher was suffering migraines. I can't recommend Rockwool enough! So effective and affordable.
I'm surprised you didn't suggest increasing the mass of the door, either by attaching sheetrock to an existing (hollow) door, or by replacing the hollow door with a solid wood fire-rated door.
I think you could add window and door spray foam to a hollow core door instead of drywall thickness.
I need to try that idea myself 😊
@@wandamoore1731 That's an interesting idea but I'm doubtful of it's effectiveness for two reasons. The expanding foam contains many air pockets so, while filling the void, doesn't add much mass to the structure. Second, the 'hollow' doors that I've seen are often filled with a cardboard honeycomb which would prevent the foam from spreading. 🤓
Brilliant advice. I have Strammit (compressed straw) walls and used some of these methods and they really worked. Thanks