How to Soundproof a Room on a Budget

Few things test patience like a neighbour's late-night box set rumbling through the wall, or the reverse: knowing your own film night is keeping someone awake. Full soundproofing, the kind used in recording studios, means new layers of wall, floating floors and specialist doors. That is beyond most budgets and impossible in many rented homes. What is possible, and surprisingly effective, is cutting the easiest routes sound takes and softening the room so it stops amplifying itself.

Two different problems

People tend to blur two separate goals, so pull them apart first:

• Blocking sound stops noise travelling between spaces. It depends on mass, airtightness and separation.
• Absorbing sound reduces echo inside a room. It depends on soft, porous surfaces.

Acoustic foam tiles are excellent for the second job and do very little for the first. If your goal is keeping noise in or out, foam alone will disappoint. If your goal is clearer dialogue and less boom in a bare room, soft furnishings and absorbers help a lot.

Step 1: Find the leaks

Sound behaves a bit like water: it finds the gaps. Sit quietly in the room while someone plays music next door or outside, and move slowly around the walls. You will often notice that the noise is loudest near the door, around the window or close to sockets and pipes rather than through the middle of the wall.

Step 2: Seal the gaps

Sealing is the cheapest and often the most effective step.

• Doors: fit self-adhesive weatherstrip around the frame and a draught excluder or door sweep at the bottom. A gap under an interior door lets through a remarkable amount of sound.
• Windows: renew tired seals and check that the window closes firmly against them.
• Small cracks: fill gaps around skirting boards and frames with flexible acoustic or decorator's sealant.
• Sockets and switches: on shared walls, gaps behind faceplates can carry sound. Any work behind them involves electrics, so leave it to a qualified electrician.

Step 3: Upgrade the weakest surfaces

Hollow interior doors are light and let sound through easily. A solid-core door is a bigger job, but in some homes it is the single change that makes the most difference. Until then, a heavy curtain hung across the doorway on a rail adds useful mass.

Windows are often the weakest point for traffic noise. Heavy, lined curtains that overlap the frame on all sides help, and so does closing them fully rather than leaving a gap at the top. Glazing upgrades are a larger project; our piece on selecting high-performance glass explains what to weigh up if you are replacing windows anyway.

Step 4: Add mass along shared walls

Heavy, dense objects slow sound down. Without any building work you can:

1. Move a full bookcase against the shared wall; books of varied sizes also break up reflections.
2. Place wardrobes or storage units along that side of a bedroom.
3. Hang thick textiles, rugs or quilts on the wall as decoration.

Leave a small gap between furniture and the wall, which stops vibrations passing straight through and helps air circulate against damp.

Step 5: Soften the room

Clap your hands in the middle of the room before and after. A sharp, ringing echo turning into a dull clap is a sign you are on the right track.

Step 6: Think about the floor

In flats, footsteps and furniture noise carry downwards. Rugs with dense underlay, felt pads under chair legs and rubber feet under speakers and washing machines reduce impact noise. If you have a subwoofer, lifting it off the floor on a dedicated isolation pad can keep bass from travelling to the people below.

What usually is not worth it

• Egg boxes on the wall, which do almost nothing for noise and can be a fire risk.
• Covering every surface in foam when the real leak is a door gap.
• Expensive "soundproof" paint sold with bold claims; test cheaper steps first.

Be considerate in both directions

Soundproofing works best with a bit of give and take. Keep bass at a reasonable level late in the evening, point speakers away from shared walls and talk to neighbours if noise is a recurring issue. If you rent, check what you are allowed to fix to walls and doors before you start. And if you are setting up a big-picture corner, our guide on setting up a projector at home pairs well with a quieter room.