Live in A Noisy City? Here’s Exactly How to Sound-Proof Your Home!

Tame the hustle and bustle of the city streets with some of our easy ways on how you to make your home a little quieter!

Noise outside your home can be a huge factor that affects sleep, interrupts conversations, or leads to poor rest. Not being able to get the desired quietness in your place may lead to irritability, stress, and ultimately a headache! Everyone deserves a stress-free and noise-free environment, even if it means living smack in the middle of a big city. Here are some things you need to know about sound proofing your home:

Here’s What You Need to Known About Noise

Noise is measured by the sound it produces through a unit in decibels (dB). The tolerable amount of sound depends on each individual. However, regular exposure to noise of more than 85 dB may lead to permanent hearing damage.

Common noises that we encounter everyday are the barking of the dogs, cars passing by, shouting kids inside and outside their homes, moms scolding their children, ongoing construction by the street or a nearby house, blazing sounds from TV and radio, whirring household appliances such as the vacuum cleaner, or a passing plane or helicopter.

Dealing with Noise in your Home Location

Photo: Lo Chen Design

While it may seem impossible to completely eliminate noise, you can manage or even minimize the noise by doing any of the following:

Create a living space that is calm and peaceful. Although the living room may be a good place to rest, you may want to build a new room where you can have utmost peace and quiet that you need.

Inform the people in your home to give you some space to have a noise-free environment especially if you are working at home or relaxing after a long day’s work.

Design your home by using noise-reducing materials. Sound-proof your walls to ensure that even plane noise won’t get through the room or the whole house.

Close your windows and doors to minimize the sound coming from outside, especially if your house is near a busy street.

Photo: Wadia Associates

Install windows in parts of your home far from external sources of noise.

Avoid placing the laundry area beside or below the bedroom. The sound coming from the washing machine may not be loud enough but could still be annoying,

Use built-in robes to act as sound buffers in between rooms.

Make use of draught sealing strips to eliminate noise from cracks between adjoining rooms.

Concrete paving on the exterior surface may reflect more sound rather than absorb it. Consider using soft surfaces instead.

Creating a peaceful living space is possible if you consider all of the tips stated above. You may not be able to experience an absolutely noise-free home, but eliminating a portion of the noise may already do wonders to the quality of living in your house!