Whether you’re recording music and podcasts or you just enjoy the serenity of soundproof rooms, you should always make sure that your door is also soundproof.
After all, the door is usually the largest hole in the room and leaks a lot of sounds from outside.
If you want to know how to soundproof a door, you’ve come to the right place. In today’s article, we’ll walk you through a brief guide with a variety of methods on how to make your door soundproof. Let’s jump in!
1. Check for Any Cracks or Gaps, and Seal Them
Never underestimate the impact of small gaps and cracks in leaking sound from the other room. Here’s how you can get rid of this problem:
- Turn off the lights in your room
- Ask someone to shine on a flashlight through the door from the other side, and scan the entire door
- If you see any tiny points where light is leaking, the sound should leak too.
- Load a caulking gun with clear silicone or wood sealant, and press it over the gaps.
- Wipe the excess with a putty knife and let the caulk cure
2. Apply Soundproofing Tape to the Door
If your door’s structure has no holes or cracks, you should make sure that the rest of the door, including the sides and the top, are protected against sound leaks. Luckily, there are a few pieces of door accessories that can help you with that.
These accessories include Foam insulation weather stripping tapes and door gaskets. These are originally meant for garage doors to insulate the garage and keep of outdoor weather.
However, you can install them on your door because they’re easy to install thanks to their self adhesive face. Additionally, they don’t require hammering with nails.
Simply cut the stripping to match the size of the bottom of the door and fix it so that it leaves no gaps on the floor.
3. Install a Door Soundproofing Blanket
Soundproofing blankets are great at improving the level of sound absorption while having the advantage of being a removable accessory.
This means that you can easily set it up to instantly dampen all the sounds from outside without making any physical changes to the structure of the door. This makes them ideal for rentals and dorm rooms where door modifications aren’t allowed.
Moreover, door blankets are quite portable and affordable, so you can pack them along wherever you go for immediate improvement in the sound quality of any small room.
4. Add a Bottom Door Sweeper
The bottom of the door is always the biggest leaker of sound in the door because you need to leave a reasonable gap between the door and the floor.
However, you can still avoid this problem by applying various soundproofing accessories to the bottom of the door, such as an automatic door sweeper.
These work like magic in preventing sound from the outside to pass in, especially when combined with weather stripping or door gaskets.
The best part about door sweepers is that they come in a wide range of designs and styles to choose from. Here are some of the most popular and efficient types of soundproofing:
5. Coat the Door with Sound Absorbing Paint
Surprisingly, a sound-absorbing coat is a thing! These paints create an invisible microscopic layer over the door that absorbs the tiny vibrations of the sound waves.
Some people claim that a door that is treated with sound absorbing paint blocks loud sounds by up to 30%.
Although this doesn’t sound like much, combining this method with other techniques will add up and help you reach an absolute silence while recording.
6. Use Sound Absorbing Panels on the Other Side
Sound absorbing panels are a great way to prevent echoes in the room by absorbing the sound waves.
Although they don’t help much in “soundproofing”, you can use them indirectly to make your room quieter and more recording-friendly.
Simply buy a couple of panels or use any extra ones that have been lying around, and install them on the other side of the door, whether it’s another room or a hallway.
This technique will help in muffling the sound waves before they come in contact with your door, which prevents the sound from leaking into your room.
7. Install Soundproofing Curtains
Soundproofing curtains are extremely efficient at preventing the windows from leaking outdoor sounds into your room. However, you can also use them to do the same effect on your door.
Like attachable door sweepers and door blankets, these curtains won’t affect the structure of the door and can be instantly opened and closed.
However, you should keep in mind that you’ll need to drill a few holes in the wall above the door in order to install the curtain rods.
8. Increase the Door’s Mass Using Vinyl
Vinyl panels work in the same way as door blankets, except that they look much better and will be permanently attached to your door, which makes them ideal for professional recording rooms and studios.
The best part about these panels is that they’re incredibly easy to install because they use adhesive tapes rather than nails and hammers.
9. Replace Glass Part with Triple Pane Glass
Lastly, if your room door has any glass parts, you should also upgrade regular glass with insulation-grade glass. This includes double or triple-pane glass.
Such modifications can be a little costly if you’re soundproofing an entire glass wall. However, for small parts on the door, it shouldn’t be this expensive.
In addition to the cost of the glass, you should expect the laborer to charge you anywhere around $40 per hour.
Wrap Up
With that said, you now know how to soundproof a door to enjoy the maximum level of purity and clarity while recording music, podcasts, or voiceovers.
As you’ve noticed, there are plenty of methods to prevent outside noises from leaking into the room through the door.
Make sure that you test them out and see the ideal ones according to your needs, DIY skills, and budget.