How to Soundproof a Room for Cheap
Noisy neighbors, traffic from the street and crews working on the parking lot or road in front of your home, all create noises that invade your personal space. The noise interferes with your private life and your personal life, making it hard to concentrate. It may even make it difficult, if not impossible, to sleep at night. Even if you only have a small amount of money available, you can still soundproof your home from those loud noises. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Cardboard egg cartons
- Thumbtacks/nails
- Acoustical spray
- Carpet remnants
- Heavy rugs
- Weather stripping
- Heavy drapes
Instructions
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Cover your interior walls with cardboard egg cartons. The uneven shape of the egg cartons causes the sound waves to bend and change when they hit. This reduces the amount of noise you hear. Attach the egg cartons to your wall using ordinary thumbtacks or nails.
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2
Spray acoustical spray onto your ceiling, even if your only have loud noises coming from the sides. When sound waves enter your house through any source, the sound spreads throughout the room. The acoustical spray creates a textured surface, which helps distribute the sound waves through your home and may cause the noise to lessen.
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Apply carpet remnants and heavy rugs to your floors. Noise from outside may cause vibrations on your floorboards, which makes the sound seem even louder. Covering the floor with an extra layer of material, helps buffer and block some of the sound waves.
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4
Add weather stripping to your doors and windows. Any gaps or openings in between your doors and windows allows sound waves to enter the space. Use cheap weather stripping to block out the noise. You'll also save on your heating and air conditioning bills, as it keeps air from entering or leaving your home.
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Use heavy drapes on all your windows. The heavy drapes block a portion of the sound waves that enter or exit through your house. The drapes act as a buffer, causing the sound waves to bounce off, instead of coming into your home.
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Tips & Warnings
Replacing the doors is another way to soundproof your home, if you can find the doors cheap enough. Look for interior doors that have a core in the middle, which helps block out noise. A sand filled door is one such option.
Using exterior doors on the interior spaces in your home, may also help block out the excess noise.
References
- Photo Credit lonely egg in carton image by Cindy Haggerty from Fotolia.com
