It’s enough of a challenge to figure out where you lie in the spectrum of people who need acoustic treatments or soundproofing and similar dilemmas. As discussed before, it can be a bit of a fine line to walk.
I know, for us, it wasn’t exactly an easy feat, when we set it up in our home’s theater room. It’s always a struggle to decide what you need and how to achieve it best. It doesn’t help when you consider that a wrong investment can cost a lot if you make mistakes.
Obviously, it’s not that hard or costly to purchase some acoustic panels, but it can add up if you end up going in without a solid plan. Costs do add up if you need to buy multiples of even the best deal.
That’s why the goal here today is to make sure you:
-End up able to form a clear and concise plan of action
-Know what to aim for in terms of material and coverage
-Don’t end up wasting money
One word of warning: there is no ideal solution that can magically solve all your acoustic problems. In all honesty, the science of acoustics often relies on a person’s feel of it all and their opinion on how things ought to be, more than it relies on something precisely and coldly based on math alone.
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Are you sick of that outdoor noise and loud traffic on a Sunday morning? Or your unpleasant neighbors’ loud talking and fighting? Or those students above your apartment that are constantly having parties?
If the answer to these questions and other similar ones is “yes” then you are in the right place.
However, if you are new to soundproofing, it must sound over complicated to you, and you might not even be sure if it is worth the effort.
But, trust me, it is.
I found out how easy it can be, and how proficiently I can soundproof our little nest with the simplest of tricks, and how cheap it can be.
Read on to find out what I did.
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A co-worker of mine recently approached me complaining about a noise problem in her bathroom. Apparently, her bathtub drain makes a very annoying gurgling noise every time she flushes the toilet.
My co-worker came to the right person, but as knowledgeable as I am when it comes to fixing noise problems similar to this one, I wasn’t so sure what the cause of this problem might be and how she can fix it.
I had never come across this exact type of problem before. To my surprise, once I’d done some research, I realized the problems and solutions are similar to when your sink gurgles.
I wanted to share this knowledge with you and help you overcome this problem easily and without too much unnecessary work or money-spending.
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Anyone who’s ever had a problem with gurgling drains will tell you to try and fix them right away and there is a very good reason behind that.
It’s very important that you know that gurgling drains can be a strong indicator of a larger plumbing problem, which is why you should investigate your plumbing system and solve this as soon as possible.
Whether you’re having trouble with the gurgling noise from your bathtub drain, toilet, or sink, don’t let it continue for too long, because there are practical solutions for all of these problems.
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I enjoy living in the suburbs. Besides more space, privacy and a peaceful life I can build with my family, privileges of living in the city center are still available and just a car ride from my home.
However, living in suburbs has its downsides too. It’s well familiar that “less crowded space” is not only good for families, but also for the aircraft industry and their tendency to position airports in open-space locations.
This directly affects all homeowners living near the flight path due to their exposure to the airplane noise, which was proven to be connected with series of health problems, including sleep disturbance, hearing impairment and heart disease.
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When discussing how your home looks, often times the desire is that you have something you want to look at every day. Living in a home that has too many portions of it that downright annoy you can wear a person down really quickly, let me tell you.
Having shared a house with some roommates during college, I was treated, firsthand, to the anxiety-inducing sights of people transforming parts of the house into something unappealing.
Those parts always wore me down and made me consider living anywhere else, short of moving into a shoe box.
So, you’ll be glad to hear, now that I have my own home, I’m definitely enjoying myself far more. Especially since I can decide where things go and how, and French doors have always been something I’m fond for, so I got them.
Except one part of them isn’t even close to ideal, and you’re here today because you’ve seen or rather heard it yourself as well. The blasted noise they let through is sometimes enough to drive to tears or even thoughts of smashing them, despite how much I love them.
Despite how fancy they are, how refined my home looks thanks to them, they are really bad at ensuring a room isn’t bombarded with noise from outside. Or even keeping the noise of the room from going out in the first place.
So, let’s look at some options, from expensive and complex to simple and cheap, for resolving this issue. I will have to warn you up front that you might be out of luck if you are hoping for utter and complete soundproofing.
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Staying fit isn’t the easiest task in today’s world. Let me tell you, being someone who writes for a living and thus works from home does not do you any favors when you start evaluating the best ways to shed a spare tire around your middle.
Hell, even just staying in generally good shape is a challenge. Who has the time, these days, to go to the gym, to take hours out of their day to devote to that?
It’s not impossible, but you tend to sacrifice a lot, and with my schedule and family obligations, it’s no mean feat. I’m sure a lot of you are in the same boat, and that’s why we all decided to get a bike trainer.
Gloriously easy and reliable, extremely effective exercise. Seriously, here’s just a few benefits:
-Cardio workouts that take care of your heart
-Weight loss and fitness gain
-Ease of use (it’s literally as easy as riding a bike)
-Accessibility (it’s in your own home. You lose not even a minute beyond the time spent exercising)
But then reality reared its ugly head. I’m sure you’ve all lived it too, it’s almost impossible to avoid.
The noise. It started right up. I’m going to be providing some general advice that I wish someone had told me when I had these problems.
reduce bike trainer noise
That way, hopefully, someone else won’t have to struggle and try to come up with solutions to these issues. Because as great as a bike trainer is, unless you pay a lot or live totally alone, in a remote house, it’s going to annoy some people with its racket.
Sewing has become a bit of a nice hobby these days. It used to be all the rage, back when clothes weren’t so readily available to all and when you made a lot of things by hand to use around the house.
These days, I sometimes get weird looks when I admit I like to sew. Hell, even people who do it as a job get weird looks.
So, while I do love it, it’s kind of hard to talk to people about it, without seeming old-fashioned and that, I will admit, kind of dampens my enthusiasm. But not as much as the damned noise.
You know that noise that pops up almost when you’re at your best? When you feel truly inspired and like you’re creating your masterpiece?
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Sleep is the single most vital thing about keeping yourself healthy. No matter how well you eat, exercise and avoid stress, without being well rested you cannot be at your best.
Having experienced sleep deprivation due to having newborn babies to look after, I can assure you that it feels like a blessing to be able to sleep through the night now. However, often times, you don’t get to have that luxury.
Here, let’s list some of the many other potential problems that might prevent you from having a good night’s rest:
-Loud neighbors
-Loud family members
-Loud cars or motorcycles passing by your home
Notice how I easily listed at least 3 things that were a disruption because they were loud? From crying babies to airplanes, noise is what causes the issue.
That is why we will be discussing the potential consequences of using white noise to combat this. Keep in mind that if you’re a sound sleeper that falls asleep easily you don’t need to fret but most of us aren’t, so we need to look at other options.
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