If there is one thing that can be really annoying when living in your home, it is the noise. Now, it is practically impossible to live in a completely silent environment. Some people can even go insane because they have been closed off and cannot hear any sound. According to this article, there is a room in this world that is so quiet that you can only hear your own heartbeat and breathing. This may not be the one that you want for your home, but it would be best to have the noise be minimized as much as possible.
However, this is almost impossible especially if you are living in the big cities. The ones who stay in rural areas are actually quite lucky. All of the noise that you get is either from the animals or nature itself. A few cars might go by, and a tractor can be pretty loud if you are near to it. This cannot compare to the kind of noise that the city makes though. Too much exposure to this kind of volume of sound can actually hurt your hearing in the long run. This is why it is important to keep your house as quiet as possible.
Well, this would usually start with the positioning of your house. If you are right in the middle of the city, then this is where all the noise is circulation. Living in an apartment can make this a little complicated, but it is doable. You can always choose a room that is away from the windows and main door so that this would not be directly hit. Make this room your bedroom or office and you wouldn?t have to worry about the outside noise. However, this is just for one. How about the rest of your house? You don?t just stay in one room and forget everything else.
If you find that you cannot just deal with all the noise anymore, then it is time to install soundproofing materials into your home. These can mitigate the flow of sound into your house which would tone down and even silence some of them. As you may know during your high school physics, sound is characterized by wavelengths. Disrupting or destroying this can be your key into achieving silence. It can be as simple as applying something to your walls to changing the entire setup of your house or room. As the latter option requires a lot more time and effort, we are going to stick to the former one. Read more about soundproofing your home here: https://www.thespruce.com/soundproof-your-room-or-apartment-4062945.
Basics of Soundproof Insulation
Soundproof insulation is just one of the ways that you can mitigate the flow of sound in your area as there are others as well. However, it can be considered as the best because it fills up the gap between your walls. As you may know, most walls in homes in North America are made from materials that may seem to be thick but is actually hollow. This is where sound flows and cannot be contained as well. Another neat advantage of insulation is it can actually regulate the temperature inside as well.
There are a lot of materials available for soundproof insulation; some of them are even found on the internet like on this website. It is important that you are going to choose the correct material so that you would not be wasting more money. There are some materials that you also need further assistance for installation so you need to prepare for that as well. For this article though, we are going to focus on two of the most effective soundproof insulation materials.
Batt Insulation
As you may have read before, insulation is generally for temperature control inside a home. One of the main reasons why this is so popular is because it is rather effective at that. It can trap air inside its cavity, making more comfortable to stay inside your home. Batt insulation is usually done by inserting and acoustic foam-esque substance between the walls. This way, it would stay intact as it fills in the cavities. Also, this would lower the energy costs for the house as you do not need to turn the AC or heater quite as often or as long.
However, it can also be used as a soundproofing material, When people noticed that it has this ability, companies have started using this as well. Sound travels through the air, and batt insulation can trap that along with the hot or cold air. Once this is done, you can be assured of silence for a long time although you need to update it as well. If you are using fiberglass, it is also good against fires and would be a great tool in controlling it as well.
Spray Foam Insulation
If you are looking for a more thorough fill up, then the spray foam might be for you. Like the batt, this also requires some sort of gun to apply between walls. You can also install this by removing the walls and applying it through spray like paint. This was also used as a temperature insulator but now can also be used as soundproof material .There are generally two kinds of foam insulation. The closed cell ones would fill up more of the space and would not leave bigger holes. This is great for temperature control but not so much for soundproofing. However, these are more durable.
On the other hand, the open celled ones might be a bit weaker in terms of structure. However, this is the better soundproofing material because it lets the air flow inside its cavities. Then, it bounces it back to the ecosystem. This doesn?t just let the temperature inside stay as normal as possible, but the sound is also controlled as well. No one can hear you from the outside and you are not exposed to the noise as well. It can be quite expensive so you need to prepare a bit more for this one.