Top 5 Tips for Soundproofing Your Home

Even though well-designed urban spaces are potentially more sustainable and energy efficient than pastoral or suburban environments, there are also some unique quality-of-life challenges that come with living in tightly shared spaces. If unmanaged, noise, in particular, can negatively impact comfort, peace of mind, and a sense of wellbeing.

Sound leaks through walls, ceilings, floors, windows, and doors. Like liquid, it takes the path of least resistance. That's why it's important to keep in mind that when soundproofing your home, you need to treat all necessary areas. And though we often use the term "soundproof," nothing is truly 100% soundproof. The efforts at noise reduction are also referred to as sound damping, noise damping, or acoustic design and performance.

Here are the top 5 tips to help reduce the noise in your home:

1. Treat all electrical boxes and any penetrations that will leave a passage for sound. Use a putty material that does not dry, crack, or shrink and is fire rated, such as QuietPutty.

2. Use sound damping drywall that is specifically made for reliable, high acoustic performance. Use soundproof drywall with the QuietRock EZ-SNAP technology, which is designed for simple, easy installation and can reduce noise in walls by half or more. It is the fastest, easiest, most reliable way to quiet your home.

3. Make sure your walls and ceiling are airtight. Using an acoustical sealant is crucial in any soundproofing project. Apply acoustical QuietSeal around the perimeter of the walls, ceiling, floor, penetrations and any seam that is not backed by a stud to maintain high acoustic performance in your assembly.

4. Examine the door(s) in the room. Doors are often forgotten in a soundproofing project. A door is a moveable part, which means it may not offer an airtight seal allowing sound to pass through the cracks. One way of checking for air leaks is to turn the lights off on one side of the door and have someone on the other side shine a flashlight around the edge. If light can get through, so can sound. There are special doors and windows designed for acoustics that you may want to consider for your project.

5. If you are still unsure or need some assistance with your project, get some advice from an acoustic consultant (http://www.ncac.com). The National Council of Acoustical Consultants specializes in sound and have first-rate knowledge of the science of acoustics. NCAC and can work with you to help you get the best sound performance for your specific project (home studio, theater, office, and etc).

These tips will enable you to build a reliably comfortable and quiet living space. You can and should be comfortable in your own home!