Noise Cancelling System for Home: How to “Build” One Easily
Making your home a quiet place can sometimes be a tricky job.
There is no such thing as a magic wand that will make your home all of a sudden a better place to live.
You will need to make some measures of soundproofing before being able to finally enjoy your silence.
I’ve been asked a lot is there any kind of noise cancelling system for home, or noise protection that can definitely work. The answer is: there is!
Of course, as implementing any other system, you will need to make some layers of protection all over your home.
When I started building my soundproofing system for home, we were short on budget and needed to act quickly.
Our baby couldn’t sleep because of a traffic noise and the neighbors all around the house.
So, we did some soundproofing but it wasn’t enough. We’ve covered windows and doors, but walls were still a wick point.
Therefore, if you intend to build the system that will completely work out, you will need to cover every single point of your home.
From windows, ceiling, walls, doors, to even floor.
I’m not going to lie to you - there is a plenty of work to do, but if you really want your silence and peace, it will pay off in the end.
Let’s see what you will need in order to build your noise cancelling system for the home.
How to build a noise cancelling system for home
1. Secure your doors
Your doors are the main source of the noise coming from outside.
Luckily, to soundproof them isn't that much time and money consuming.
Here are some of the most popular ways of soundproofing your doors:
Get a weatherstrip tape
Weatherstrip tape is quite a cheap method of soundproofing your doors.
It’s a tape that should be put all around the doors, in between the wall and the door, because those are the weakest spots of your door.
Weatherstrip tape can be found for less than $10, and you can use it not only for doors, but for windows as well.
Simply apply it to the frame of whatever you wish to soundproof (doors, windows).
It’s most commonly self-adhesive and you will do the job within a minute.
This method will not only help you soundproof but reduce some thermal leaking as well.
Use a door sweep
The door sweep is a nice solution that you can use on the bottom of your doors.
Door sweep has a similar function as a weather tape, and it’s a replacement for it since you can’t use a weather tape to insulate the bottom of your doors.
The door sweep is also a cheap method of soundproofing the doors, and not only that you will benefit from insulating from the sound, but prevent thermal leakage, and bugs.
We recommend this door sweep.
Again, you will need no more than 2 minutes to install it.
Just clean your doors, measure the gap, and seal it to your doors afterwards.
Put some soundproofing blankets or window curtains
Soundproofing blankets are thick blankets used to prevent a noise that’s coming from the outside.
It’s commonly used for soundproofing doors, walls, or even windows.
Soundproofing blankets are easy to install and kind of cheap. However, they might look strange on your doors.
That’s why there is a lot of designs to choose from and find out which one suits your interior the best.
Window curtains can be used to soundproof doors as well.
Ideally, you will use them as a soundproofing method for windows, but let’s not limit them only to this purpose.
We will discuss more about soundproofing window curtains in the next section.
For more ways to soundproof a door, click here.
2. Soundproof the Windows
Windows are the second most vulnerable place of your home, especially if there is just one layer of glass.
You can use several things to improve the insulation of your windows:
Soundproofing curtains
Soundproofing curtains might seem like not that efficient solution, but on contrarily, they are quite good fighters against the noise.
Being thick as they are, they will prevent not only sound coming through, but thermal leakage as well.
You can find dozens of these in various designs to fit your interior.
There is only one thing that I would suggest: get those with eyelets. They are quite easier to install.
All you will need is something to put them on - a garnish.
See our review of the best soundproofing curtains here.
Window inserts
Now, this one you can’t buy anywhere as it depends on your window dimensions.
So, you will need to build one (if you wish).
All you need is to measure the dimensions of your window and build one layer of protection by yourself.
You will need a glass, some material that can be used as a frame (to your preference), and a sealing material.
We explain more about how this can be easily done over here.
Soundproofing blankets
Blankets are always a good option to soundproof something. However, I would not prefer them on my windows.
They will completely prevent the sunlight to enter the room - keep that in mind.
Anyway, I’m offering you this as a solution if your window’s view is not that important.
3. Soundproof the Walls
In the modern world, with the walls as thin as they are, you will definitely need some soundproofing to apply to your walls.
There are several things that can be used for such cause:
Use mass loaded vinyl
This product is made especially for the noise control.
It’s a flexible material that you can hang on your walls, install on your ceiling or floor to deaden the sound.
Mass loaded vinyl is the most popular method of soundproofing your walls.
It’s odorless, and quite easy to install. It will deal with the noise in no time. Try this one.
Get an extra drywall
Since the noise is most commonly coming through your walls in the form of vibrations, the easiest way to deal with it is by building a drywall using some dense materials to stop the noise effectively.
However, this method requires a lot of effort.
Now, you don’t need to install it all over the place. Covering the most vulnerable places will do the job just fine.
On this Youtube video, you can see how to install drywall properly with ease:
Put some acoustic panels
Especially designed for studio and recording purposes, acoustic panels will deaden the sound without doubt.
They are thick materials that will prevent both, indoor and outdoor noise from passing through your walls.
However, they are sometimes (frankly) ugly, so you need to choose wisely those that will fit into your interior.
Luckily, there are a lot of designs to choose from.
Find those adhesive acoustic panels, as they are much easier to install.
Installing process is quite simple, and won’t take much of your time.
4. Soundproof the Ceiling
Soundproofing the ceiling is only an option if you are living in an apartment and there are neighbors above that are causing a lot of noise.
In this case, I would recommend some acoustic foam panels.
However, they are tricky to install on your ceiling, so you might need a hand of a friend.
Other than that, you can speak with your neighbor to put some nice thick carpeting on his floor to reduce the noise from the footsteps.
You can also consider using acoustic ceilings or installing acoustic clouds.
5. Use White noise machines
Finally, if there is still a bit of noise that bothers you, a white noise machine like this can do the job just fine.
White noise machines are often used in some working environments, to increase the focus, or simply to help you fall asleep.
By producing the noise that our brain easily ignores, they will change the focus from the other noises that are actually bothering us.
Final Word: On Building a Noise Cancelling System for Home
In the light of everything of the aforementioned, we may conclude that there are no set standards to building one noise cancelling system.
You can opt between all of the methods that we previously spoke about and choose the most fitting one.
Hopefully, this article helped you create your own noise cancelling system for home.
Noise Cancelling System for Home: How to “Build” One Easily
Looking for a noise cancelling system for home? How about building your own? Follow these simple steps to build your own soundproofed home easily!
Instructions
- Secure Your Doors
- Soundproof the Windows
- Soundproof the Walls
- Soundproof the Ceiling
- Use White Noise Machines