This is an easy guide on how to soundproof an apartment door so as to improve on the leaking of sounds through your apartment doors.
And as we are going to learn in this guide, there are different ways and methods to soundproof your apartment door, whether it is the front door or the interior door.
10 Ways On How to Soundproof an Apartment Door
1. Use Soundproof blanket to Cover Your Door
Soundproof blanket is one material you can use when it comes to soundproofing your apartment door. They are good and well know for absorbing sound. Because they are made of fiberglass, Soundproof blanket fit in well for your soundproofing.
There are both the heavy blankets and the light ones, but here is the thing, heavy blankets usually absorbs sound more better than the light blankets, and this makes the heavy blanket a better choice for door soundproofing.
2. Seal all the Openings, gaps and cracks in your Door
There is no doubts, all the sounds penetrating your door all come from the openings, gaps and cracks in your door. So, this is a very simple idea. Seal all gaps and cracks!
It is easy to employ this method in improving on the noisy sounds that enters through your door.
First of all, you will need to find and identify all the openings and cracks in your door. To do this, close your door when it is dark in the night, with all the lights in the room for that door turned off.
Now, let a friend hold a light from the other side of the door while it is closed. With this, you will be able to see through any openings in the door where light passes. This simply means that sound also pass through such openings. Now seal the opening with airtight sealant.
3. Hang Heavy Curtain On Your Door
Hanging some heavy curtain on your door is a great idea. Soundproofing is about dense materials that are able to absorb sounds, and keep them from penetrating, so heavy curtain hung on your door will help absorb those sounds.
You can simply use curtain rod nailed over your door, and then hang the curtain on it, and let it run down to the floor.
4. Use Acoustic Panels On your Doors
You can use acoustic panels on your doors to minimize and keep off sound and echoes that enter your apartment. This is one good thing about acoustic panels, they reduce noise and also reduce echo. Additionally, it is easy to install them.
5. Use a Door Sweep
One way sound enters your apartment is through that space between your door and the floor. This is where door sweeps come helpful as they are used to seal the space between the door and the floor.
They are made of sound-deadening materials which helps prevents sound penetration when they are used in sealing the space when you close your door.
6. Make Use Of Rug on the Doorway
While rugs beautify an apartment, heavy rugs can help deaden sounds and echoes, and reduce their impact. Just place a heavy rug on the your doorway and let them absorb the sound or noise coming from the outside.
The use of rug method is easy as there is no special method for rug installation. And you can decide to combine rugs or combine rug with another method.
7. Use Foam Panels that Absorb Sound
Foam panels work to reduce the impact of sound wave and reduce noise by way of reducing air flow. They are relatively cheap compared to some soundproof materials. Installation is not difficult as you can simply hang them on the door using screw or command strip.
8. Automatic Door Bottom
Automatic door bottom is also a sealant for gap or space between your door and the floor. It is a more modern concept to the Door sweep.
It works by having a small button-like or a plunger which lowers and allows the rubber seal cover the space or gap between the door and the floor, anytime the door is closed.
9. Use Door Gasket
Door gaskets are used to cover gaps at the door header and jambs and blocks noise and also light and moisture.
10. Hang A Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV)
Mass loaded vinyl has added mass by metal as the name suggests. This makes it good for blocking noise and sounds from the outside. To hang MLV, you will have to cut the sheet into the right size for the area of the door you want to cover. Then stick the sheets with the paste and let it dry.
Other Permanent Ways to Soundproof an Apartment Door
1. Caulk All Gaps And Space Using the Green Glue Sealant
Sound and noise can penetrate your apartment from even a smallest hole, crack or gap. Therefore, you have to seal every gap if you want to keep off sounds in your apartment, and you can do this with green glue sealant.
2. All Hollow Door Has to be Solidified
A lot of people do not know that most doors are hollow, which allows for sound to pass through them. So to reduce sound penetration, it is necessary to have solid doors.
Therefore, you may need the permission of your proprietor to make changes to the door construction if you must have this solution done on the door.
3. Go for Solid Door
If you have the option for solid door, always choose them if you are concerned about noise and sounds penetration. Though replacing doors may not be easy considering it is expensive, but if you can do that with the permission and approval from the property owners, then go for solid door.
Conclusion On Soundproof for Apartment Door
Soundproofing an apartment can be challenging, even though some of the materials needed can be expensive, but then you just have to check very well to see which method or combination of techniques that suits your need to reduce noise and sound coming from your apartment door.
While it will cost you money buying the needed materials, you can opt for cheap ones based on your budget and how much you want to soundproof and reduce noise.
In all, take appropriate measures and consider combining two or more of the methods in this article to get your desired result.
