What Are Door Seals and Sweeps?
Soundproof door seals reduce the air and sound transferred through entrances by lining the perimeter of doors with aluminum and silicone. Door seals are DIY soundproof materials with which you install using household hand tools. All you need to do is a little pre-drilling for attaching soundproof door seals, and then follow the easy instructions included in the package.
Soundproof door sweeps also use aluminum and silicone, but are installed at the bottom of doors to block sound and air from escaping through the threshold. Enhanced by a long-lasting silicone seal that remains pliable even in cold temperatures, soundproofing door sweeps are great for use in hotels, apartment buildings, recording studios and homes with multiple bedrooms. Door sweeps, like acoustic door seals, help keep interior noise in and exterior noise out. Door sweep installation is simple, yet it makes a cow-sized difference when it comes to noise control.
Door seals and sweeps can be used separately, but provide the most thorough door soundproofing when used together. As you’ll see, our door seal kits and under door sweeps make the perfect pair.
Why Should You Soundproof Your Door?
The majority of noise escapes and enters through doors and windows, yet they are easy to overlook when it comes to soundproofing. Without soundproofing the door, soundproof walls, floors, ceilings, and windows will not live up to their potential. There are three main pathways for noise transmission in a building. Those are:
- Cracks around and under the door
- Cracks around window frames
- Walls and vents
All gaps and cracks in a room need to be sealed as tightly as possible for the best soundproofing. This means you’ll want to soundproof your door to ensure the highest level of soundproofing possible. Also, soundproofing a door is generally a simple fix that makes a big difference.
You should soundproof a door any time you wish to reduce exterior noise or keep noise inside. For example, a soundproof door will effectively reduce noise from outside sources such as:
- Car alarms
- Traffic
- Barking dogs
- Neighbors
- Industrial noise
- Construction
Likewise, a soundproof door will help prevent sound from escaping your music studio, home theater, office or any room you want privacy and freedom to make noise.
What Makes a Door Soundproof?
Generally, the more mass a door has and the tighter its seals, the better it will be at protecting against noise. Consider the following – a hollow core wood door has a sound transmission class (STC) rating of 17 decibels (dB). Simply said, the higher the STC, the better. If the door takes up 20 percent of the wall, it will reduce a wall with an STC rating of 48 to 24 STC. However, if the hollow core door is replaced with a solid wood door and sealed around the edges and threshold, it will block noise with the added mass and close up gaps. You would then see a reduction to only 33 dB instead.
The Benefits of Door Seals and Sweeps
Besides getting a full eight hours of sleep, or eliminating guilt for buying your teenager a drum kit, there are several more benefits to soundproofing your door. By using door seals and door sweeps, you’ll also enjoy:
- Improved air quality: A sealed door prevents pollen and dust from getting into the room, leading to better air quality. It also helps keep insects out so you can play guitar without having to swat flies away.
- Lower utility bills: By sealing air leaks, you can potentially save 10 to 20 percent on yearly cooling and heating bills. That’s because, in the winter, door seals and sweeps help keep heat in, and in the summer, they keep heat out.
- Less humidity: Soundproof doors increase humidity control which helps protect the home from mold and mildew and keep electronics in good shape.
- Improved comfort: By closing up gaps around the door, you reduce drafts and create consistent room temperatures, making your home or commercial space more comfortable.
Doors seals and sweeps can work their magic in a wide variety of settings, or pretty much anywhere you want to block noise and save on energy bills. For example, you might install door soundproofing products in the following locations:
- Apartments
- Homes
- Music studios
- Kennels
- Hotels or resorts
- Band practice rooms
- Home theaters
- Offices
- Conference rooms
- Warehouse or industrial facilities
- Computer and equipment rooms
Ultimately, you’ll save money and enjoy a more comfortable environment by soundproofing your doors wherever you wish.
Door Seals and Sweeps Available at Soundproof Cow
Even the newest doors can’t completely seal perimeters to prevent air and noise from escaping. With Soundproof Cow’s Quiet Door™ sweeps and seals, you can soundproof new doors, old doors, metal doors, wood doors, outside doors and inside doors. Combining silicone and aluminum, Quiet Door™ sweeps and seals significantly reduce the amount of air and sound moving around a door, so you enjoy less noise and greater peace.
Here’s a list of our door seals, sweeps and kits to help you meet your soundproofing needs.
1. Quiet Door™ Perimeter Seal
The Quiet Door™ Perimeter Seal fits tight around a door to ensure sound does not leak out or seep in when the door is shut. You can use it on new doors with cheap seals, or old doors with worn seals, and with metal or wooden doors. The Quiet Door™ Perimeter Seal is easy to install and only requires a drill and drill bits for pre-drilling as well as the following basic tools:
- Phillips screwdriver
- Tape measure
- Hacksaw for trimming
With our standard door seal kit, you can expect the following benefits:
- Made of durable, heavy-duty materials including aluminum framing, silicone seals and stainless steel hardware
- Can be adjusted to ensure a snug fit
- Decreases airflow for improved insulation and superior soundproofing
- Sold to treat the standard door size of 36 inches by 86 inches but can be trimmed to fit smaller doors
- Tested and certified for quality
If your door is larger than the standard size, give us a call, and we will make a custom perimeter seal for you.
2. Quiet Door™ Adjustable Perimeter Seal
The Quiet Door™ Adjustable Perimeter Seal serves the same purpose as our standard Quiet Door™ Perimeter Seal and is also composed of long-lasting, noise-reducing aluminum and silicone. The only difference between the adjustable perimeter seal and the standard perimeter seal is the presence of adjustable screws. When you turn the screws with a screwdriver after installation, you can push more of the silicone seal out from its aluminum frame. This means that if the seal wears down, you can easily make it like new again.
The adjustable perimeter seal is ideal for rooms that get a lot of traffic and where you want maximum soundproofing.
3. Quiet Door™ Door Sweep
Can you see light coming in from the bottom of your door? Even worse, can you see feet march by? In either case, it’s time for an under-the-door sweep. The Quiet Door™ Door Sweep forms a snug seal from the bottom of a door to the threshold. You’ll greatly reduce noise by closing up the gap at the bottom of the door, and you’ll help other soundproofing materials in the room work to their full potential. Our door sweeps feature the following qualities:
- Constructed with a tough, durable aluminum frame and silicone seal
- Fit old or new doors, wood or metal up to 36 inches wide
- Can be custom made to fit the bottom of wider doors
- Will reduce airflow beneath the door to block noise and provide greater insulation
- Tested and certified for quality
- Can adjust the seal with the turn of a screw to replenish worn seal areas
Like many of our soundproofing products, our door sweep is easy to install, and only requires the use of the following basic hand tools:
- Drill and drill bits
- Phillips screwdriver
- Tape measure
- Hacksaw for trimming
4. Quiet Door™ Automatic Door Sweep
The Quiet Door™ Automatic Door Sweep pushes down tight against the door threshold as the door closes. Like the standard door sweep, the Quiet Door Automatic Door Sweep is made of quality aluminum and sound-blocking silicone. However, the adjuster rod allows the seal to rise and fall without the need to manually adjust it. If you wish, you can turn the rod to the right to reduce the drop, and to the left to increase it.
As with the standard sweep, you only need to have a drill, drill bits, Phillips screwdriver, tape measure and hacksaw to install the automatic sweep. Both seals ensure longevity so you can spend less time worrying about silence, and more time enjoying it.
5. Quiet Door™ Commercial Door Soundproofing Kit
The Quiet Door™ Commercial Door Soundproofing Kit is designed for commercial and light industrial applications where moderate sound control is needed, and aesthetics are of little importance. For example, if you run a woodworking business, you might consider installing our Quiet Door™ Commercial Soundproofing Kit to prevent noise escaping into the world outside and to keep noise out so you can focus on building masterpieces.
This kit comes with hand-selected items to ensure optimal noise reduction by forming a complete seal around a door. The commercial door soundproofing kit includes the following items:
- A sheet of Quiet Barrier™ LD Soundproofing Composite which features a half inch of acoustic foam, a half pound barrier and a pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) backing
- A Quiet Door™ Adjustable Perimeter Seal
- A Quiet Door™ Automatic Door Sweep
- A tube of OSI® Pro-Series® SC-175™ Acoustical Sound Sealant
The soundproofing composite, when attached to the door, provides an extra layer of soundproofing power, and the seal and sweep tightly close up any gaps around the door when it is closed. The peel-and-stick composite is extremely easy to install. Use the acoustical sealant to close up any cracks and gaps, and to seal joints between soundproofing materials. Owning a few basic tools and a little construction experience will help you to install this kit in about an hour. To install the composite you’ll need:
- Utility knife
- Straightedge
- Tape measure
- Pencil or marker
For the perimeter seal, door sweep and acoustic sealant, have the following tools on hand:
- Drill and drill bits
- Philips screwdriver
- Hacksaw for trimming
- Caulk gun
Benefits of using the Quiet Door™ Commercial Door Soundproofing Kit include:
- It’s easy to install, saving time and labor costs.
- It’s a cost-effective alternative to replacing doors.
- The door covering has a Class A flammability rating.
6. Quiet Door™ Residential Door Soundproofing Kit
The Quiet Door™ Residential Door Soundproofing Kit is designed to soundproof standard metal doors common in apartments, condominiums and offices with low to moderate noise levels. Rather than including the composite barrier that comes with the Quiet Door™ Commercial Door Soundproofing Kit, this kit comes with a Quiet Door™ Acoustic Panel for soundproofing that is barely noticeable to the eye.
The acoustic panel is composed of two layers. One layer is a viscoelastic polymer used to deaden steel and reduce vibrations. The second material used is the attractive, neutral tone fabric cover which helps reduce echo in a room, and compliments any style of decor. These panels are also easy to install with a peel-and-place application and can be applied to a door in less than 30 minutes. You only need a pencil and a tape measure to install a Quiet Door™ Acoustic Panel. The Quiet Door™ Residential Door Soundproofing Kit also includes:
- A Quiet Door™ Adjustable Perimeter Seal
- A Quiet Door™ Automatic Door Sweep
- OSI Pro-Series SC-175 Acoustical Sound Sealant
7. Quiet Door™ Industrial Door Soundproofing Kit
The Quiet Door™ Industrial Door Soundproofing Kit is ideal for situations where extreme soundproofing is needed, and aesthetics are not a priority. This kit is our top performer when it comes to door soundproofing, and is great for use in industrial facilities, band practice rooms, gun range facilities and other areas where noise is expected.
Just like the other kits, the Quiet Door™ Industrial Door Soundproofing Kit includes the Quiet Door™ Adjustable Perimeter Seal and the Quiet Door™ Automatic Door Sweep. However, what sets this kit apart is the Quiet Barrier™ HD Soundproofing Composite.
Quiet Barrier™ HD Soundproofing Composite is a thick barrier and acts as a powerful noise blocker. It’s composed of a 2-pound barrier layer, one inch of sound-absorbing acoustic foam and an easy-to-use PSA backing. This combination of materials blocks sound and absorbs vibrations. The result is highly effective, high-quality soundproofing.
This kit covers standard metal or wood doors up to 36 inches wide and 86 inches tall. Like the other kits, you’ll need basic tools to install the seal, sweep and acoustic sealant. To mount the Quiet Barrier™, you’ll need a:
- Utility knife
- Straightedge
- Tape measure
- Pencil or marker
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How to Install Door Seals and Sweeps
If you possess a little construction know-how, a few basic tools and a desire to keep noise away, you should have no trouble installing our door soundproofing systems. We designed our soundproofing products to promote easy installation, so do-it-yourselfers can get back to playing the drums or enjoying a restful nap.
To show you an example here is how to install the standard Quiet Door™ Perimeter Seal:
- Measure the dimensions of the inside of the door frame.
- Cut the seal to fit the measurements using the hacksaw.
- Before installing the seal, hold it in place to make sure you have the right fit and adjust if necessary.
- With the door closed, line the seal up so that the gasket has about 1/32 of an inch compression.
- Using a number 36 drill bit, drill holes into the door frame for mounting screws.
- Tighten the screws, being careful not to overtighten them.
- Seal the gap where the perimeter seal meets the door frame using the acoustical sealant.
To install the Quiet Door™ Adjustable Perimeter Seal, you will generally follow the same steps, except you’ll want to avoid cutting off all of the adjustment screws. Our soundproofing products come with installation instructions to guide you through the process, and if you run into problems or have any questions along the way, feel free to contact us, and we’ll happily moove you in the right direction.
Buy Door Seals and Sweeps From Soundproof Cow
A quiet room is not complete without a soundproof door sweep and acoustic door seal. A soundproof door is necessary to make the most of other soundproofing materials in the room. You’ll produce a satisfying result when you add a soundproof door seal and sweep to your apartment, home, office or band practice space. At Soundproof Cow, we are excited to help you obtain maximum noise reduction, and we’ll work with you until it’s just right. To get started enjoying the delightful sound of silence, purchase a door seal and sweep today!
Got questions about whether Quiet Door™ soundproof door seals and sweeps are exactly what you need to resolve noise issues? Just give us a call at 1-866-949-9269, and we’ll help you as quickly as possible.
