How to Soundproof a Home

To help you keep your home’s noisy rooms noisy and the quiet rooms quiet, we’ve developed the beginner’s guide to home soundproofing.

Each guide includes in-depth methods for soundproofing a home one piece at a time, as well as a curated list of soundproofing products that helps take the guesswork out of selecting the right materials for the job.

If you need to learn how to soundproof a wall, ceiling, floor, door, maybe even something less obvious like the pipes inside your walls or an HVAC system, we can help! Home is more than where you hang your hat – it is also where you listen to your TV, have important conversations with your children, and, after a long day of work, slumber in peace and quiet. At Soundproof Cow, we think you should be able to do all of these things in the same home without sound transfer from one room interrupting the peace and quiet of another.

Pick the home soundproofing guide that best describes your home’s sound issue to get started.

Explore Soundproofing for Every Room in Your Home

Learning how to soundproof a home goes beyond padding layers and layers of material on every surface. At Soundproof Cow, we follow a solutions-based approach in reducing sounds and improving acoustics. Below are some of the best tips to soundproof a home:

1. Living Room
   The primary goal of soundproofing a living room is to restore neutral sound balance and improve comfort by controlling and absorbing noise. Hanging artistic acoustic panels helps achieve better sound quality while maintaining visual appeal. Floor and ceiling treatments minimize sound transmission and echoes.
2. Kitchen
   Soundproofing a kitchen is key to reducing impact and airborne noise coming from loud appliances and noisy pipes. You can do this by covering pipes in soundproofing wraps and your walls with soundproofing insulation.
3. Bathroom
   Soundproof your bathroom using perimeter seals for doors and soundproofing barrierss for walls. Flooring underlayments and acoustic foam also help absorb noise.
4. Bedroom
   Soundproofing a bedroom can help create restful nights and quieter mornings. You can do this by installing soundproofing barriers and sound insulation for your walls or lining them with acoustic panels. Other methods include controlling noise from doors using sweeps or seals, or reducing sound through floor underlayments.
5. Loft
   For open spaces like lofts, soundproofing can be challenging but not impossible. To soundproof a loft, you can add acoustic panels on the walls or install floor underlayment to reduce noise transfer through the floors. Hanging baffles can also help reduce echoes through sound absorption.
6. Sunroom
   Soundproofing your sunroom is a great way to maintain a zen space for guests and family. You can add carpets and area rugs to absorb sound, and hang heavy curtains to dampen noise coming in and out of the room. Fabric-covered soundproof panels and a DIY soundproofing kit also seal doors from all sides.
7. Kids’ Playroom
   Help children focus their attention on playtime by soundproofing your playroom. A convenient way to keep noise out is by installing Quiet Door™ Acoustic Panels or mass-loaded vinyl sheets.
8. Laundry Room
   Minimize unwanted noise from the constant humming and buzzing of your washing machines and dryers. Soundproof your laundry room by adding Quiet Door™ perimeter seals and sweeps on all sides of the door. We recommend insulating laundry room walls and installing an Impact Barrier flooring underlayment to complete the job.
9. Man Cave
   Relish alone time in your personal space with tried-and-tested solutions to soundproof a man cave. Consider using Quiet Barrier® HD Soundproofing Composite and flooring underlayments during construction, or adding post-construction solutions like door seals and sweeps.
10. Home Theater
    You can better enjoy movie nights when you soundproof a home theater with Soundproof Cow’s reliable solutions. Opt for sound absorption products like fabric-wrapped acoustic panels and acoustical treatments, or go all out with the complete isoTRAX® Soundproofing System.
11. Basement
    Tune out the noise from your neighbors and avoid causing disruptions with tips for soundproofing a basement. Seal cracks and gaps in the ceiling, add door seals and sweeps and install custom art acoustic panels that suit your style.

How Can I Reduce Noise in My Home?

We at Soundproof Cow think it would be a good time for you to learn the fundamentals of soundproofing. To reduce noise in your home or any other enclosed area, the laws of physics say you need to do at least one of these three things:

• Create open space — The further sound waves have to travel, the quieter they sound.
• Put mass between your ears and the source of the sound — Dense items will absorb or block sound waves.
• Stop vibrations — Dampen vibratory noises with sound reducing materials like vibration isolation feet, Vibra Block® sound deadening strips and Green Glue.

Seal windows and doors with soundproof caulking. Since it is not always feasible or cost-effective to add more space to a room, Soundproof Cow offers detailed soundproofing guides incorporating premium, acoustic materials most DIY-ers can install.

Get a Free Acoustic Analysis

Types of Materials to Consider When Soundproofing Your Home

When soundproofing a home, there are a variety of options to consider to achieve your goals. Some of the common types of soundproofing materials used are:

Acoustic Panels: Add acoustic panels to walls to deaden and dampen sound.

Door Seals & Sweeps: Reduce sound transfer through doors by installing a door sweep to the bottom or perimeter seals.

Flooring Underlayment: Install a quality flooring underlayment to soften footsteps and reduce noise transfer.

Soundproof Barriers: Use sound barriers on walls to block sound or vibrations.

Best Sound Absorbing/Sound Deadening Materials for Soundproofing Your Home

If you are renovating your home and want to make the space quieter, grab some PROFLEX™ 90 underlayment to install under your new flooring. An unbelievably easy-to-place sound attenuation material, PROFLEX™ 90 comes in rolls that you unroll, measure and cut to fit. Then all you do is peel off the protective backing and press against concrete, cured or wood surfaces. Secure bonding of PROFLEX™ 90 is complete by rolling out any remaining air bubbles, bonding the underlayment to your subflooring. Once this is complete, you can start laying your new flooring.

Call the herd at 1-866-949-9269, and get help soundproofing your home. Our Account Managers would love to guide you through solutions to resolve your sound issues.