DIY Guide to Soundproofing a Room

Soundproofing a room can make your home more enjoyable and improve the value of your home. Many people think of recording studios when a soundproofed room is mentioned; however, it is increasingly popular to soundproof rooms for other reasons, like creating a soundproofed room for a home theater. Noise pollution, whether from inside the home or outside, can be a significant annoyance or disturbance. Whether you want to keep noise out of your home or limit sound inside your home from traveling to other houses or rooms here are some DIY tips you can use to soundproof your room.

When planning your soundproofing project it is helpful to remember some basic science about sound. Sound can be defined as energy propagated by mechanical vibration. The three factors that are involved in reducing sound intensity are air, mass and distance. Distance is something you probably do not have too much control over while preparing to soundproof your room. Most DIY projects to soundproof a room are going to be concerned with air and mass. Mass is significant because heavier objects stop more sound than lighter objects (except perhaps fiberglass insulation). The general rule is that if you double the mass of a wall only half the sound will be transmitted through to the other side. However, remember too that as the frequency of the sound lowers it becomes more difficult to isolate. For every one octave drop in pitch the sound reduction is reduced by half. This is why you can hear the bass sounds coming out of a concert or arena.