Sound from your own home theater or sound system can turn around a bad day, immerse you in another world and, according to officials seeking means for population control in India, can even keep you occupied until you fall asleep.
On the other hand, if you're hearing someone else's sound system or conversation while you're trying to sleep, that's just noise. Annoying noise. Noise that's disturbing your sleep, relaxation, or impeding your ability to hear your sound system. Noise that might be creating a little conflict amongst the family.
A recent client decided to help his marriage along by making a conscious effort to reduce the noise coming from their entertainment room (aka his man cave) in the basement. While he was at it, he also decided to try to minimize the noise coming from the laundry room to the kitchen and between the kids' bathroom and the master bedroom.
Sound is a lot like water in a bucket. If there's a hole in a wall or ceiling, sound will come pouring right through, which makes home renovation projects to reduce noise challenging.
There are new technologies available to make renovating for noise reduction more effective:
• Use a sound-reducing drywall product like QuietRock [www.quietrock.com]. It can be applied in a regular drywall assembly in place of drywall or it can be applied to the current wall assembly, reducing the need for tear-down during renovation. QuietRock can block and dampen noise by up to 75% (in some cases, even more than that).
• When using sound-reducing drywall, be sure to also use an acoustical sealant [http://www.quietsolution.com/html/quietseal.html] around the perimeter of the room.
• Increase your potential for quiet by using acoustical putty [http://www.quietsolution.com/html/quietputty.html] over electrical, phone and plumbing outlet boxes.
• Check doors and windows; some let more sound through than others. Even when installing sound-damping doors, like QuietHome Doors [http://www.quietsolution.com/html/quietdoors.html], it is suggested that you pay particular attention to perimeters. Be sure all joints and jams are filled appropriately, especially around the edges, hinges and locks. One way of checking for air leaks is to turn the lights off on one side of the door and have someone on the other side shine a flashlight around the edge. If light can get through, so can sound.
With today's technology and remodeling techniques, the only noises you have to hear are your favorite sounds.
About the Author
George Geller is a soundproofing expert working with QuietRock- with over 10 years of professional experience. Quiet Rock is a division of Serious Materials which develops and manufactures a complete family of products for any soundproofing need. Serving media, multifamily, hospitality, education, medical, military, government, and worship markets, the complete line of QuietRock Soundproof Drywall is available across the U.S.
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