One thing that most people experience while at the comfort of their homes is annoying noise levels. At first, people may use conventional ways to block the invasive noise such as increasing the volume of the television set or simply closing the door. Here is a simple guide on soundproofing a bedroom cheaply.
The noise affecting you may be external or internal. External noise emanates from busy traffic, squealing garbage trucks and also outside a business.
The internal noise comes from noisy neighbors and also noisy kids. People have come up with new, better and effective ways of reducing the noise levels. These hacks work both ways, those are, to reduce noise coming from outside and also to reduce the noise coming from your bedroom.
These noise levels may have a negative impact on your life and may escalate your stress levels and also ruin your sleep, as much as you want to avoid noise coming in.
It is also important to avoid noise from your house that affects other people. Most people or even couples love to have their own privacy that is why they would want to soundproof their bedrooms.
Soundproofing Techniques and materials
This is important for people to have a peaceful environment and personal space. With soundproofing techniques available, it is now possible to insulate your bedroom quite easily and cheaply.
Soundproofing simply entails putting a surface that would prevent any noise entry or exit. This is by reflecting the noise back to where it came from.
The effectiveness of these sound insulation techniques usually depends on the thickness, size, structure and even the density of these objects. There are various ways of soundproofing your bedroom cheaply.
Some of them are professional and others are just basic knowledge, though they are not 100% efficient they are quite effective. For you to effectively suppress noise levels it is quite good too: Find the source of the noise, you need to know the specific noises that they want to conceal and identify where it is coming from.
This is generally reduced to a specific place in your bedroom. Check the entry point this point is usually close to the source of the noise.
For most people living in apartments, it may be the thin walls separating them from their neighbors and also windows that point towards the streets.
Find out the point of reflection Noise entering your Bedroom will probably bounce back to the source. It is quite important for you to find this point of reflection.
Blocking out noises really works?
You can insulate their room to avoid noise from either the outside or the inside. How can you soundproof noise from inside?
For effective sound insulation, followings are the techniques tested by myself and got better results than expected. You also have a chance to use a few of them and experience a quiet environment within your own bedroom.
How to reduce outside noise in the bedroom?
01. Sound Masking
One way of sound masking your bedroom from inside noise is to fill it with furniture, other than the bed, you can add some sofas, tables, bedside chests, and rocking chairs depending on the size of the room. This is because it is hard for noise to bounce back from objects such as furniture.
02. Using draft stopper
You can also purchase and use a homemade draft stopper which is attached on the door to reduce noise from getting in.
03. Soundproofing carpets
You can use thicker carpets or simply hang a rug a thick blanket. Compared to windows, internal noise goes through doors than windows that is why it is important to make tight seals and also thicken the area so as to make the noise difficult to travel.
You can carpet the floor to reduce noise from traveling and can also opt for a cheaper method such as placing rugs around the room.
04. Making Ceiling Quiet
It is also important to soundproof your ceiling, especially so as to reduce noise coming from the apartment above you.
You can also decide to use a shag rug on the ceiling which can effectively reduce the noise reflection. In the case of floors, hardwood floors if not properly installed, may induce echo.
Extra Soundproofing Tips for Reducing the Noise Level
Other than the cheap ways of insulating the room from inside noise there are other more effective ways of reducing the noise level.
01. Start with hardwood floors & carpets
Hardwood floors are great inducers of noise. There are a few techniques and also products that can be used to prevent noise from traveling. While using carpets or rugs may seem effective. Carpet liners may be put under the carpet such as the polymath Grey Charcoal. They are more effective as they absorb more noise.
You can also choose to use an underlayment underwood floor. These floors act by preventing noise reverberation around the room. FatMat sound deadener pack can also be used for this purpose.
02. Try Door sweeps
Doors to prevent noise from entering through the door one can use door sweeps which are quite effective to install.
Angelfalls door sweeps can help to block the noise from entering or leaving the house from underneath the house.
03. Try to seal interior doors
You can also choose to seal the interior doors more so in the bedroom. Or you can decide to caulk the door by which makes it hard for noise to travel in. Door and Window Expanding Foam. helped me to caulk windows as well as the door of my bedroom. However, This Expanding Foam needs to be applied carefully.
04. Add Acoustic form panels ( Soundproof Form) to the Walls
Some of the ways you can use to soundproof a bedroom from outside noise are through Walls, Especially for those with thin walls, you better to decide to either use soundproofing panels around these walls or add special materials around the walls.
For those who decide to add a material to the wall, they can use products such as the Audimute Soundproof Material. These are used especially when putting up new walls or reconstructing the old ones of your bedrooms.
These products are quite effective as they increase the distance that the noise will travel and thus the amount of noise reaching you will be very minimal. The most important information to note is that the thicker the walls make better sound masking.
You can also use the soundproofing panels such as the ADW Acoustic Panels. They are quite easy to be put up. They are placed in front of the walls so as to absorb any incoming noise from outside.
Check out my post about Best Acoustic Foam Panels (Soundproof foam) 2019
05. Be Careful with Windows
Windows, this is another loophole from which noise can get in the bedroom from the outside. You can use a preventive measure such as sealing the windows, put up liners and curtains and can also DIY plugs can work around the windows.
You can also put DIY plugs around the windows so as to prevent outside noise is the Foam corner blocks.
These foams are cut into smaller strips and put the frames in the window. For the window curtains and liners, You can also use Thermologic Ultimate window liner or Thermal Insulated Black curtains. Both the curtains and the liners are quite thick in nature and they suppress noise quite effectively.
It is better to use adhesive strips to seal the loopholes or add some thickness into the material already put in place. For those who want to reduce noise coming through the window but don’t want to block the view, they could use window inserts. They work by creating an airtight seal which greatly reduces the noise.
Check out my post about soundproofing curtains.
Alternative ways of reducing noise
Alternative ways of reducing noise Other than the permanent solutions recommended above, you can opt to use some simple and conventional ways of reducing the annoying noise levels.
01. Playing slow music
Playing slow music or playing musical instruments in the background may be quite effective. For those on a higher budget, you can also buy a sound booth which works effectively by isolating the noise. For those on a tight budget, there are quite cheap and better ways which can reduce noise.
02. Using Thicker Stuff
Using bookcases, headboards or even positioning the thick furniture in the place where the noise is coming from also help to reduce unnecessary noises. Also, using thick blankets and quilts and hanging those using tacks are also effective solutions.
Another proven technique of reducing noise level is using egg cartons which also work effectively by redirecting the noise that is coming in. You need to place them in the right position. You could also use vibration insulation pads to reduce the noise levels coming from the speakers.
Conclusion
Soundproofing techniques are many and each work uniquely. Depending on your environment, type of noise and also your budget you can be able to reduce the noise completely or to a bearable amount.
The most important thing is the identification of where noises are coming from. It is also good to be on the know-how on various soundproofing techniques so as to know which method will work effectively to your satisfaction.
I believe this quick guide helps you to understand on soundproof a bedroom in an efficient way.
