Guide to Soundproofing Boiler Room and Stop It Making Noise
Our family playroom is placed in our basement.
We normally spend a fair amount of time in it: watching TV, movies or just playing with the youngest member of our family.
But we had one problem.
Since this family area is right next to our boiler room, there are many sounds that are disturbing whatever we are trying to watch.
Our first solution was to spend all of our family time in our living room, which is placed on top of our boiler room.
This wasn't the best solution to our problem.
The noise our boiler was making was still coming through our ceiling.
Even though it wasn’t as loud, it was still pretty annoying and bothered us when we were just trying to relax in front of the TV.
When that boiler kicks in, we weren’t able to find a single room on our first floor where we couldn’t hear it.
I don’t know about your preferences, but even if you are not spending that much time in your basement, the noise your boiler is making can impact your life upstairs.
If you are tired of hearing those annoying sounds on a daily bases, I have a solution for you.
I’m guessing you already did some soundproofing in your house.
Well, this is similar to soundproofing any other room.
You could go ahead and soundproof all areas of the room: ceiling, walls, door, and windows (if there are any in the boiler room, of course).
But before you start your constructions, here are a few things you need to know about the type of noise boilers make.
What Type of Noise is Your Boiler Making
Soundproofing a boiler room can be demanding.
You must know which material to use because your boiler isn't making an airborne noise.
Boilers and furnaces produce impact noise whose main characteristics are vibration noises and noises of low frequencies.
Handling the impact noise is a quite a difficult task.
You are probably familiar with soundproof foam panels.
If you want to eliminate airborne noise, this material would be your top choice.
But in this case, it won't do the job.
You will need something that can efficiently block those low frequencies.
So, let’s give a look at what you can do.
Soundproofing Boiler Room: Areas to Tackle
For the best results, most of the surfaces in the boiler room will need your attention.
If you don't have that much money to spend on this task, you should at least consider soundproofing a wall that separates the boiler room from all the other rooms in the house.
In our case, we started with soundproofing the wall that was standing between the family room and the boiler room.
This definitely gave us some results, but for the best results, we had to just go ahead and soundproof all of the remaining areas in the boiler room.
Also, keep in mind that noise can easily escape any crack or gap. Try your best to cover these.
Covering these would be of great importance on your soundproofing journey.
Boiler Room Walls
Whether you decide to soundproof every surface in your boiler room or maybe just some of them, I recommend starting with soundproofing your boiler room walls.
The biggest part of noise will be blocked this way.
Since reducing impact noise is not an easy task, start with adding soundproofing material on your walls and inside of them, if possible.
Mineral wool batts are one of the best materials when it comes to dealing with this type of problem.
It is meant to be put on your walls and it is one of the best materials when it comes to blocking impact noises.
If you want to avoid going to the doctors after you are finished with applying the material, always use gloves and glasses. It can cause skin or eye irritation.
Additionally, it won’t hurt to cover your mouth as well.
It is not the best material to breathe in.
If you are looking for another material that will do the job just as well, consider purchasing professional fiberglass panels.
This is an acoustic and anti-vibration insulation material that can do the job just fine.
For the price, you will be happy with the results and the level of noise reduction.
The panels are so easy to put up.
All you need is a simple adhesive. Just make sure to apply the one that won’t do much damage to your walls.
There are a few more products you can use for soundproofing your walls.
Mass Loaded Vinyl is one of those materials.
The material is glued up to the wall and you just need to tape the seams with the seam tape.
For the better results consider putting a drywall over the MLV.
If you decided to purchase this material for soundproofing, I have some good news!
All the leftover materials you have can be used on your floor, door, and windows.
You won't have to spend extra money on products to put on those areas.
You will possibly have a feeling that all these materials don’t cover small areas that well.
Green glue will help you with those spaces.
When it comes to stitching up smaller spaces, you should probably use Green Glue Tubes.
Boiler Room Doors
Hanging a fiberglass blanket is the simplest way to soundproof any door.
All you have to do is hang it on the wall, above the top of your door.
For hanging these blankets, you can use heavy duty hooks.
Since these blankets are movable, in case you decided to put your fiberglass blanket on any other door in your home, these hooks will allow you to simply take it down and put it elsewhere.
If you want the best results, use the aforementioned fiberglass panels with the blanket.
You can apply it to your door just like you would apply it to your walls.
You can get a great reuse of the material here as well.
Panels can be taken off of the doors whenever you want and placed on any other area.
Keep in mind that your door has a lot of small cracks and openings.
If you don't cover them, the noise will easily go through them.
That is where the standard door sweep steps in. The material is easy to install and pretty flexible.
When it comes to cracks between the frame and the door, to get rid of them apply self-adhesive weatherstrip to the frame.
There are different sizes of it so maybe one size is a little too thick for your door.
Make sure you choose the right one.
Boiler Room Windows
You should probably only read this part if your boiler room has any windows.
But this step is completely optional.
Now, I already wrote about soundproofing your windows. Here I will just remind you about a few tips and tricks.
Maybe you already used those self-adhesive weatherstrips to soundproof your door.
If you already did that, I have some good news for you!
You can use the same weatherstrips on your windows as well and seal any cracks there might be.
Another option is to use sound deadening curtains.​
Even though they don’t work that well, they still do a fair job eliminating the echo.
And for the better effect, you can add blinds as well.
Boiler Room Ceiling
Like I said, noise, that your boiler is creating, is easily spreading through your ceiling.
This can have an effect on your daily upstairs activities.
The steps you followed for soundproofing the walls can be easily followed here.
If you decided to use mineral wool batts to soundproof your walls, you can just add the same material to your ceiling.
Again, you choose whether to apply the material on the outside, inside or both.
This depends on the amount of construction you want in your home.
Putting them both inside and outside of your ceiling is the best solution and will give you the best of results in the end.
Another great solution is adding resilient channels to your walls.
If you already decided to decouple your walls and ceiling, why not add these and get the amazing results.
These channels are pretty easy to install.
The only downside is you will maybe lose a little bit on the ceiling height.
If your boiler room is in your basement, then here are some cheap ways to soundproof your basement ceiling.
Final Verdict: Is Your Boiler Room Still Making Noises?
If you are on a budget, consider using products that can be applied to different areas of your room (I’ve mentioned several products in this article that can be applied to both door frame and window frame, or your walls and door).
You will cover more parts of your boiler room and won’t have to spend a lot of money.
Another way to save some money is soundproofing just a wall or a wall and door that are separating two rooms.
You will, without a doubt, reduce the amount of noise, and from then on you can easily continue with soundproofing the rest of the room over the time.
Don't be afraid of the amount of construction this task may need.
In the end, you will be able to enjoy your time spent in the basement and improve the quality of your life in general.