How Does Soundproofing Work?
The general idea behind soundproofing is to use a material to reduce the amount of sound that passes through your windows, doors, walls, floors, or other areas of your house or a building with the intention of reducing noise. Some materials are better at reducing noise than others, it depends where they fall on the STC scale, a scale designed to gauge how effective a material is at dampening sound. A wall with a STC rating of 40 means that the noise level on one side of the wall is 40 decibels higher than on the other side. The more dense and solid a material is, the better than chance that sound will deflect off of it. Foam is a great material to put in your walls to soundproof them. Soundproofing foam, or the liquid variation that is used in homes, has an average STC of 37. The thing about soundproofing is, that the material can either absorb or block sound, but they can never 100% block all sound. Soundproofing can use holes in its own material to absorb sound. Sound travels in waves and if you have materials with holes in it, the material can act like a sponge. Soundproofing will also sometimes involve pyramid shapes, which disperse the sound and break it up (like a wave crashing on a sharp rock). If you could somehow create a vacuum, then you would be able to eliminate sound even better because sound is actually vibrations in the air, and so with no air, there are no air molecules that can vibrate.
If you think about it, when someone uses ear plugs, they are doing a type of soundproofing. The idea of soundproofing is to eliminate or reduce noise further by use of a medium. The idea is that the medium will absorb, reflect, or reduce noise transmission. So by putting panels, or foams, or any type of material in a wall, it is the same as putting the material in your ear, you are trying to use a medium to block the vibrations of air particles (sound) from getting from one place to another. In fact, the way our ears are designed is to pick up the vibrations when the sound beats against the ear drum and transmits that noise into data which then goes into our brain. If your ear drum becomes damaged, like if you jammed a qtip in there too hard, then you could damage your hearing or go deaf.
If you think about it, when someone uses ear plugs, they are doing a type of soundproofing. The idea of soundproofing is to eliminate or reduce noise further by use of a medium. The idea is that the medium will absorb, reflect, or reduce noise transmission. So by putting panels, or foams, or any type of material in a wall, it is the same as putting the material in your ear, you are trying to use a medium to block the vibrations of air particles (sound) from getting from one place to another. In fact, the way our ears are designed is to pick up the vibrations when the sound beats against the ear drum and transmits that noise into data which then goes into our brain. If your ear drum becomes damaged, like if you jammed a qtip in there too hard, then you could damage your hearing or go deaf.
TYPES OF SOUNDPROOFING MATERIALS
There are many types of soundproofing materials out there , all with one common goal, noise reduction. Other than distance, or living in a house in the middle of nowhere, one way to dampen noise is by installing sound absorbing materials in your walls. You can add insulation into the walls or use materials like cellulose, which is a type of foam insulation that is blown into the walls through a hole. Fiberglass insulation is another common type of soundproofing material that is used in the floors of apartment complexes. Vinyl soundproofing is another option and even though it is thin, it has a very high mass. Rock wool is another type of insulation that is very good at dampening sound and giving you the quiet that will make your home more peaceful. There is also something called a resilient channel which is a length of steel that is designed to stop sounds and vibrations. If you install resilient channels incorrectly though, they will be ineffective. You can also use lead lined sheetrock to reduce noise. Even though you should be careful about lead, know that it is not dangerous having it in the walls.
Another material or tool for soundproofing is the wall plug. They are thick plugs that will block out noise and light and you put them in your window opening. It is typically easier to soundproof some areas over others, for example, it is easier to soundproof the floors than the walls. There are also acoustical sound panels that you can attach to your walls to absorb sound. There are many other materials that can help dampen sound, such as heavy carpeting or tacking on carpeting to the walls to dampen sound, but since that won’t look to good for the sound reduction, you might want to try hanging heavy drapes on the wall instead. There is also soundproof glass, but that can be hard for a regular consumer to obtain. If you want the glass for your windows, you can buy thicker glass which is really good for reducing noise. One good way to tell how well a soundproofing material will work is to check it’s STC rating. The higher the STC rating, the better the material is at making noise quieter. For example, a material with an STC rating of 63 will actually be 88 % quieter than one with a rating of 33. Getting the right material is important so you can enjoy your peace and quiet.
Another material or tool for soundproofing is the wall plug. They are thick plugs that will block out noise and light and you put them in your window opening. It is typically easier to soundproof some areas over others, for example, it is easier to soundproof the floors than the walls. There are also acoustical sound panels that you can attach to your walls to absorb sound. There are many other materials that can help dampen sound, such as heavy carpeting or tacking on carpeting to the walls to dampen sound, but since that won’t look to good for the sound reduction, you might want to try hanging heavy drapes on the wall instead. There is also soundproof glass, but that can be hard for a regular consumer to obtain. If you want the glass for your windows, you can buy thicker glass which is really good for reducing noise. One good way to tell how well a soundproofing material will work is to check it’s STC rating. The higher the STC rating, the better the material is at making noise quieter. For example, a material with an STC rating of 63 will actually be 88 % quieter than one with a rating of 33. Getting the right material is important so you can enjoy your peace and quiet.