How to Insulate From Noise

Insulate your home to protect it from the effects of noise pollution.

Noise pollution, although not hazardous to your health, can be a major concern and headache if it goes unchecked. Whether it comes from dueling electronics or noisy neighbors, noise can quickly get out of control. However, insulating your home or work space from noise can be accomplished by following a few simple tips to stop noise at its source and to dampen noise so that it travels a shorter distance before leaving you in blissful silence.

Things You'll Need

• Insulating material (such as carpeting and wall insulators) Acrylic latex

Instructions

1. Adjust building plans to dampen noise pollution. Don't install switch and receptacle boxes back to back, insulate interior walls, insulate pipes and use flexible building materials that won't conduct sound in the way that traditional metal does. Employ the room within a room technique by providing for thick walls with noise canceling layers in them to stop sound from penetrating from one side to the other.

2. Add acrylic latex or polyurethane caulk to any gaps around doors or windows. A good rule of thumb to follow is that if air can get through, sound can get through as well.

3. Apply sound-absorbing materials to floors, ceilings and walls. Carpeting can be used on floors and special soundproofing tiles can be added to walls to absorb sound. There are many different materials available; test them out personally before deciding what is best for your particular noise problem. A good barrier should cancel at least 50 percent of the sound coming through the wall.

4. Avoid hard surfaces wherever possible. Most noise pollution comes from noises echoing off of surfaces. Hardwood floors, hard countertops, walls without coverings and exposed pipes all are common noise amplifiers that cause noises to carry much further than the sound would were it striking softer materials.

Tips & Warnings

• Noise cancellation doesn't just come from insulation but also from the reduction in the amount of noise produced. Try to buy the quietest appliances possible to cut down on the amount of insulation needed.

• It is easier to soundproof an area before it is built. Afterward, noise canceling insulation may be more prohibitively expensive or aesthetically unpleasing than if it were included in the original building plan.

References

• Home Tips: Sound Insulation & Soundproofing for a Quieter Home
• Netwell Noise Control: Creating a Sound Barrier
• Acoustiblok: Soundproofing, Sound Proofing Materials