If you’re a musician, sound quality is an important part of your life. Whether you’re practicing or trying to record, you want to limit the amount of outside noise coming in. If you live in a densely populated area, you’re probably also taking into the people around you into consideration. They also probably don’t to be hearing your practicing or recording sessions either! In 2014, with over 170,000 people working as musicians and two-fifths of musicians and singers working as self-employed, it’s not out of the realm of imagination that much of that work would take place at home. Sound insulation panels, decorative laminate, and acoustical ceiling accessories might already be a part of your home, but if you’re just starting out, these items can help produce a better sound recording and protect others from hearing you as well. They might also help you from being the victim of noise complaints or nasty phone calls from those neighbors who can’t bear excess noise.
Why Is Soundproofing Important?
Even if you’re not a musician, you may want to consider soundproofing your home, especially if you live near a high traffic area, a construction site, or even something as innocuous as wind turbine mills. There are around 26 million people between the ages of 20 and 69 who have high frequency hearing loss because of noise coming from work and leisure activities. Perhaps even more worrisome, about 30 million people over the age of 12 have hearing loss in both ears.
Protecting our hearing can also help our balance and reduce our risk of falling (important especially for older people). If you consistently hear noise at 85 decibels or higher, you could be more at risk for hearing loss. Furthermore, community noise can have an adverse effect on our health, impacting cardiovascular health and contributing to learning deficits. Indeed, some studies have shown that heart disease increases when community noise levels are higher than 40 decibels.
What Are Some Measures I Can Take to Soundproof My Home?
Some decorative laminate you can add to surfaces of your home have soundproofing qualities. So if you’re thinking about spiffing up some of your home’s surfaces, consider using soundproof decorative laminate for double duty. There are four ways that are usually combined in a variety of ways to soundproof a home.
Damping, filling in air gaps (“sound gaps”), decoupling, and adding more density or mass to your walls are the four main ways. However, do keep in mind that if you’re trying to block lower frequencies, decoupling is not necessarily the best tactic — the resonance in the walls actually increases. Instead, consider damping.
Adding layers of drywall and acoustical caulking can help add mass to your walls, preventing sound from going through them as easily. The longer it takes for sound to get through your walls, the less noise comes through. Plug sound holes by switch boxes, door casings, and ceiling fixtures with acoustical caulking.
Is There an Easy Way to Just Soundproof My Home?
If you want a truly soundproof home, there’s unfortunately no “easy way” out. You’ll need to invest in more than just soundproof decorative laminate (though that can certainly be a helpful measure) and do more than just adding some extra insulation in your walls. Soundproof wall panels, sound isolation wall panels, and the techniques mentioned above are all effective measures.
Hiring a professional to come inspect your house and offer consultation is also a great way to make sure that you’re taking the right soundproofing measures for your house, specifically. Targeting where air moves in and out of your house and plugging that up will help reduce your noise levels, because sound moves with air. Concrete and wood are two excellent materials for adding layers between your walls, because of their density.
For optimal sound quality and true quiet, don’t skimp on soundproofing costs. You want to get the job done right the first time and then simply sit back and enjoy your noise-proof house! Hire a professional, conduct the necessary research, and don’t be afraid to spend a little more to get the best quality.