How to Soundproof a Mobile Home: The Ultimate Guide
As an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
Mobile homes are something really nice and practical, and quite popular nowadays.
Traveling around the globe, but with your house with you is truly something to wish for.
However, life on wheels is not all strawberries and rainbows.
It has its problems as well.
One of the problems that follows you wherever you go when it comes to mobile homes is the very sound insulation.
Why are Mobile Homes Loud?
Naturally, a house on the wheels has to be mobile, and in order to be like that, it would have to be light.
For this reason, mobile homes are made of materials that are thinner and lighter than the materials the real firm standing houses use.
Now the problem with these lighter and thinner materials is that they let much more noise through.
No matter if you are just talking, if you are in a toilet, or if you are a snoring sleeper, the sounds would escape the zone of your privacy much easier.
Same stands for the sounds that come from the outside and into your part-time home.
Of course, there are some tricks that you can try in order to make your mobile house feel a little bit more like home.
When it comes to soundproofing, there are 2 golden rules that you would have to respect if you want to have your peace.
These are:
- Make your weak structure dense (doors, walls, windows, etc.)
- Fill in all of the gaps that you can find (between doors and door frames, etc.)
How to Soundproof a Mobile Home
Now, for the soundproofing of your mobile home, it all comes down to the two aforementioned rules.
However, it is all pretty much the same as soundproofing a regular home, but I tried to make some of the methods more convenient for the purpose of soundproofing a mobile home.
For example, when you want to soundproof a mobile home it is much better to use thinner materials, since the room is already small, and you need the house to be light as well.
You wouldn’t want to add too much of materials to make the house too heavy or to take up too much of the already insufficient space.
Also, the studs in the walls of a regular house are not that much apart and the whole structure is much more stable than the structure of a mobile home.
Instead of using some heavy and fat materials for soundproofing walls, it would be better to use Mass Loaded Vinyl or so.
With all of this mentioned, here are some methods for you that you can use in order to make your mobile home more enjoyable.
Let’s begin!
1. Soundproofing the Doors
Weatherstrip tape
To start from the scratch, let’s give a look at the door.
The most important thing when soundproofing a door is to cover the gaps and cracks that you can find.
These can leak much more sound than you think, so it is important to seal them and block the path of the sound so that it cannot crawl inside of your house.
The gaps that I am thinking about here are the gaps that can be found underneath the door or between the doors and door frames.
However small these might be, they are very powerful and the sound can enter them.
If air can enter, so can sound; and to prevent the sound from entering, you will have to seal the holes.
The best way to do so is by using weatherstrip tape.
This is a cheap but useful tape made of silicone or rubber mostly (it can be made of plastic too) that you would normally install around and under your door to prevent the noise from getting inside of your room.
It can also serve as a fantastic protection against thermal loss, water entering your house, or even bugs.
If you have problems installing it, here is a useful video that might help:
Door sweep
Another fantastic thing that you can try to block the sound from coming into your house underneath the door are these simple door sweeps.
Their purpose is just the same as the purpose of the weatherstrip tape and you can use them to secure your door from leaking the unwanted sounds too.
They often have self-adhesive on them, so it is always easy to install door sweeps and make them do the work.
Even though it doesn’t sound like much, it can really make a huge difference, you will see.
Acoustic Foam Panels
To actually soundproof a door, you can use something like acoustic foam panels.
These panels are rather popular in the world of sound insulation, and they are really useful.
Acoustic foam panels are made of a sponge- like material that is good in absorbing the sound, so it will not let the echo create in the room, and it will be much more silent.
I already mentioned that it is important to use thin materials in soundproofing your moving home.
These panels are not heavy, but they can be quite fat, so I would suggest going with thinner ones when soundproofing your moving home.
Fiberglass Blanket
Yet another thing that you can try when soundproofing your door are these moving blankets.
They have a layer of soundproof materials that capture the sound inside and make the room quieter.
Additionally, you can easily remove them once you do not need them hanging on your door anymore.
2. Soundproofing the Windows
Weatherstrip tape
Same as you could use these when covering gaps between your door and door frames; you can use weatherstrip tape for your windows.
This is a fantastic solution for gaps and it can fill even the most stubborn of these.
And since the gaps between windows and window frames are quite common, you can just use the same method you used for soundproofing your door, and it will work just fine this time too.
Soundproof curtains
Soundproof curtains work on the same principle as moving blankets.
They are made of special material that has a layer of soundproof fabric that can capture the unwanted sound in its threads and not let is escape, and in this way make the room quieter.
Just hang the curtain over your window, and it will do all the work.
It can also serve as decoration, and let you sleep longer when you want to take a good portion of resting.
Window panels
This method is also something that can make a big difference in your peace and quiet in a small mobile home.
Putting window inserts on windows can create an air gap in which the sound will be captured and left roaming, but it will not enter the room and make any fuss inside.
If might take some work, this one, but it is the best method that you can try, and it brings up the best results.
Here is a useful video that can teach you more about installing window inserts on your windows.
3. Insulating Mobile Home Walls
Now, walls are the biggest part of a home, so it is natural that they leak the most sound, and it is very important to insulate them well if you want your moving home to be quiet.
It is also quite important to use the right material and to install those materials on the walls properly in order to have the best results.
Foam Panels
As I stated a few times already, these panels are a fantastic aid for sound insulation and are rather popular.
If you want to sue them, once more, try to pick thinner ones this time, since you do not want to take up too much of the space.
It is quite easy to install them, you just have to hang them on your walls.
Most of the acoustic foam panels are self-adhesive, but in case you were in no luck to find those, this soundproofing green glue can help you in this.
Read more about Green Glue here.
They are fantastic at absorbing the sound of traffic and people talking, but if you are dealing with more serious noise, give a look at the next two.
Fiberglass Panels
Another great thing that you can try are these fiberglass panels.
They are thin and can go up on your walls easily, and they are also good with both airborne and structure- borne noise, so they can really make a difference.
However, they are a little bit more expensive, so it is important to plan ahead and measure your room and space that you want to soundproof well.
You can also use these panels to soundproof your door if you like.
Mass Loaded Vinyl
In case you want to cover a big area, and since we are talking about soundproofing your walls, I believe you are, the Mass Loaded Vinyl is the right thing for you.
This material has been in use for ages and it is fantastic in blocking the noise.
It does not work like foam panels which are absorbing the sound.
Rather, this one is blocking it and sending it back from where it came from.
It is also poster- like and light, so it will be easy to hang it on the walls.
Now, it is not the best looking thing in the world, so there is another way to use it.
If you do not like it hanging around all black and ugly, you can also install it inside of the walls, and it can maybe do a much better job when placed inside like that.
4. Soundproofing the Floor
When soundproofing your floor, it is good to use the materials that are good in blocking the impact noise.
You can use the mass loaded vinyl too, but it is much better to use something like a FatMat.
It can work wonders in both normal sound deadening and in vehicle soundproofing too.
Again, this one does not look so nice, so you can easily cover it with a nice rug and mask it, and the rug can also work as a kind of soundproofing material itself.
For some information about soundproofing a vehicle, you can give a further look at this and this article.
On Soundproofing a Mobile Home
I hope that you have learned something new and useful here and that you will have nice trips in your new soundproof mobile home.
Once again, keep in mind that the materials that you are using should be light so that your house can keep rolling into the new adventures.
Have a safe trip!
Related: Soundproof Insulation for Campervan
Do you have an RV? Learn how to soundproof a mobile home to have peace wherever you go!How to Soundproof a Mobile Home: The Ultimate Guide
Instructions