Is it just us, or does the world seem like it becomes noisier every day? If you work a traditional 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. job, the rampant noise outside your home may not be a major issue in your life. If you are one of the many thousands of Americans who work outside traditional hours (first responders, medical professionals, servers, etc.), it may be more important for you to sleep during the day instead of at night. This article will describe methods you can use to reduce outside noise from entering your home, which objects in your home cause the most noise, and which building materials in your home can be used to mitigate noise.
What Methods Can Be Used to Reduce Outside Noise From Entering a Home?
- One effective method is to get soundproof windows. This type of window will reducing incoming noise by as much as 75%-95%. Soundproof Windows do not require extensive installation as they are placed behind your preexisting windows; installation per room only takes hours.
- Another great way to “denoise” your home is to get soundproof doors installed. Two highly useful methods are noise-reducing sliding glass doors and noise filtering acoustic steel doors. These will be more effective than adhering weather-stripping beneath your doors.
Which Objects in Your Home Cause the Most Noise?
- Your television is a big culprit. It can be tempting to attempt sleep with the background noise of your television in the room, but resist this urge. Even familiar voices from your favorite shows can keep you up.
- Major appliances also contribute noise to your home. Your ears are sensitive to even small noises as you attempt to sleep. Your ice maker, ceiling fan, dishwasher, washing machine and dryer can all add little bits of noise while you try to get some rest. Turn these appliances off or set them to be active during your active hours.
- It may sound unusual, but increasing the pillow count in your bedroom or living room can help reduce noise. Due to the materials used to create pillows (cotton, foam, feathers, etc.), they make excellent sound-absorbing devices.
Which Building Materials in Your Home Can Be Used to Mitigate Noise?
- Believe it or not, but the material used to create your floor is a big factor in the noise that carriers through your home. Hardwood and vinyl laminate materials used to create hard floors will reflect sound through your home much more so than carpet. No one is advocating that you go 70’s-style with shag carpet, but a soft carpet material will absorb sound instead of reflecting it.
- Another relatively inexpensive way to block noise in your home is to purchase acoustic panels and apply them to the walls in the room where you sleep. Many of these panels are made from sound-absorbing foam that can make your bedroom more like a recording studio than a noise box.
Our experience at Soundproof Windows indicates that 75% noise reduction is sufficient in almost all cases to give you some peace and quiet. Our customers feel the noise reduction is very significant – and definitely enough to end the noise ‘problem’.
The manner in which you soundproof a room from outside noise is up to you, but you don’t need to do it alone. Give us a call and we’ll be happy to provide you with a custom-tailored noise assessment and noise mitigation plan based on your specific home arrangement! Our estimates are always free!