By, Kate Hamblet
As the days get colder, you’ll probably find yourself spending more time indoors. While it’s always fun to cozy up with the family on these chilly days, being packed together inside your home can also lead to an overabundance of unwanted noise.
Noise pollution is a common issue that affects our overall well-being. It can lead to stress, sleep disturbances, reduced concentration, and even health problems. Soundproofing your home can significantly mitigate these negative effects, offering you a haven of peace and quiet. With a quiet home, you’ll have improved sleep quality, enhanced productivity, and reduced stress.
Here are some practical renovation ideas to make your home a quieter and more peaceful place. And if you’re building a new home, you can apply all of these strategies to your design as well!
Soundproofing Tips: How to keep out exterior noises
Insulation and air sealing:
(If you know me, you aren’t surprised by this first tip.)
Insulate your exterior walls and attic and make sure your house is air-tight by sealing up cracks and gaps in the exterior walls and roof. This not only keeps the noise out but will lower your energy bills as well. Natural insulation like sheep’s wool, wood fiber, and hemp are three amazing choices for insulation that will help soundproof your home.
Double Glazed Windows
To reduce outdoor noise from getting in, check out what kind of windows you have. If you have single-pane windows, you’ll definitely want to upgrade them to double-pane windows to reduce external noise infiltration. This upgrade also improves energy efficiency.
How to control interior noises
Acoustic Insulation
Insulating walls and ceilings with natural acoustic materials like sheep’s wool, hemp, or wood fiber insulation can effectively dampen sound transmission between rooms. These materials absorb and dissipate sound waves, reducing the impact of noise.
Solid Core Doors
Interior doors should be solid all the way through to control noises between rooms. Sound will always find the path of least resistance, so if you insulate your walls but have a hollow core door, the sound will easily travel between rooms.
Curtains and Drapes
Thick, sound-absorbing curtains can help dampen noise from conversations or TV watching. Only use curtains where you really need them though! They are also great at trapping dust, allergens, and toxins, so they need to be cleaned regularly to remove the dust.
Acoustic Wall Panels
If you want something that is soft and absorbs sound like curtains do, but don’t want to deal with curtains, acoustic wall panels are a great option. They can be made of natural materials and can add interest to your walls. Baux is a company to check out. Acoustic slat wall panels are another cool option.
Floor Underlayment
If you don’t want sound traveling from your first to the second floor or vice versa, an acoustic underlayment is a great option to put under your finish flooring. Cork is a natural product that works well for acoustics.
By, Kate Hamblet
The Wellness Architect Balanced Architecture
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