How to Soundproof a Room from the Outside Noise

Are you bothered by outside noise coming into the room? Do you wonder how to soundproof it and prevent outside noise from disturbing your peace?

I admit that living in the city is fantastic. You can quickly get everywhere, and there’s so much to do. I love it (and have lived in the suburbs, too, so I’ve experienced both).

It’s just that the noise is unbearable sometimes: cars, barking dogs, delivery trucks revving their engines early in the morning, trash collection, emergency services, and who knows what else. 

Oh my gosh, it can seriously drive you mad sometimes! 

The thing is, it doesn’t have to!

Indeed, you don’t have to put up with the noise from the outside. Some fantastic ways help you soundproof your room or apartment from the outside noise and block it once and for all. 

In this guide, I’ll show you how. We’lll also discuss all the methods you can use to block the outside noise and regain peace in your room. 

So, without any further ado… Let’ss take it from the top.

How noise enters your room or apartment from the outside

Before I show you exactly how to block the outside noise, I need you to understand how the problem occurs. 

I know; it sounds like I’m about to give you some unnecessary information. But believe me, it will make soundproofing a room from outside noise much more accessible. 

To block that noise once and for all, you first need to understand how that noise enters your room or apartment.

So…

Most of thenoisethat’ssse that’s bothering you is airborne noise. 

Airborne noise is created when sound travels through the air. A good example is music playing from a stereo. The sound of “social” music floats until it reaches y, which is how you can hear it.

In practice, the sound makes the air vibrate, and sound waves travel through those vibrations. Your ears also pick up those vibrations and translate them into the sound you hear. 

So, the sounds of dogs barking outside are nothing but air vibrations. The same goes for car horns, engine roars, emergency people’s conversations, music blasting from car stereos, and almost every sound you hear outside.

(That said, there are some impact sounds that you might hear, such as roadworks. Some of the noise you hear comes from machinery working, which are still airborne sounds. But some of it might also come from ground or wall vibrations. Nonetheless, these sounds become airborne after entering tandthat’ssndthat’ss how your ears pick them up – as the vibration of tHere’s.)

Here’s why I’m telling you this. Since airborne outside noise travels through the air, it enters the room in the same way as the air enters it. 

Since these noises travel through the air, the best way to soundproof them is by putting something in their path.

A QUICK EXAMPLE: Consider how you block outside smells from entering the room. You close the window or doors. After all, what you experience travels through the air. Putting a blockade on its path will prevent it from reaching you.

Airborne sound works in the same way. It starts as a vibration carried through the air until it reaches your ears. 

Or an obThat’s. 

That’s why the sound of your speech gets muffled when you press your hand against your mouth. Suddenly, the sound has fewer options to travel further. Your hand blocks the way, after all. 

That is why the sound of music gets significantly quieter and muffled when you cover the speaker with a blanket. Again, not all of the sound can reach you now. What you hear are the sound waves that manage to pass the barrier around the edges of the blanket, for example. 

Can you block all the outside noise in a room?

No, most of you won’t. But you can reduce it significantly, even when you can hardly hear most of it (unless the sound is loud).

This has a lot to do with the types of noises that bother you, their intensity, proximity to your apartment, frequency, and so on. 

Large machinery working nearby will, most likely, generate such insane vibrations that no matter what you do, you will hear some of it. But you can reduce it significantly. 

You will always hear certain noises, too, as they might be entering the room through other rooms or from upstairs. 

Again, you can reduce their impact, and this guide will teach you how. 

So, let’ss get to that.

What you need to do to block outside noise from entering your room or aWe’veent

We’ve already discussed the general solution – putting something path. But there is a little more to it than that. To fully soundproof a room from outside noise, you need to do three things:

1. You need to seal and block any means for the sound to get in
2. Then, you need thewall’sshewall’ss vibrations, 
3. Finally, you need to ensure that whatever vibrations still occur do not travel from surface to surface until they reach your room.

As a result, your project to soundproof a room from outside noise will have threeDon’tts:

Don’t know how to complete all these stages? In this section, I want to discuss them in detail and explain what’s involved in blocking outside noise from getting. (You’ll learn exactly how to do it in the following section.)

Stage 1. Sealing any gaps and cracks to prevent noise from cWe’ve in

We’ve already discussed that airborne sound travels through the air. The vibrations of the air generate it, and those vibrations are carried through the air as sound waves until they reach your ears. 

This means that sound can sneak into your room the same way as air, which also means even the thinnest cracks and gaps in the wall. The same goes for any gaps around the window, underneath the windowsill, or around the doors and the doorframe. 

As the first measure, you need to fill and seal all such gaps and cracks. And I do mean all of them, including some areas you might not even consider a potential way for sound to get in. 

Examples include sockets and light switches. There might be gaps between them and the wall, for example. You can barely see there. Air, heat, and sound can enter the room this way. 

Take a look at this image, for example. See how many different entry points for the sound there are:

• Gaps in old window frames
• Window lock
• Gaps under windowsills
• Chimney
• Crack in the wall above the mirror
• Electrical outlets
• Ceiling lamp, and more.

Stage 2. Adding mass to the wall to reduce its vibrations

So, first, we covered all the gaps the sound could get in.

However, noise from outside can also enter your apartment in another way. Sound waves can make the wall vibrate, and some of that vibration will translate into airborne noise in the room.

Let me explain to you how it works. 

The outside noise – heavy machinery or the rumble of a large truck passing by – hits the wall. 

Some of it gets reflected. It bounces off the wall, and it’s Loud. It’s hard to determine how much of the noise bounces back. It depends on several factors, like the type of unwanted noise and what the wall is made of. But in general, at least some of it gets reflected.

But the rest will turn into vibrational energy, and that’s what’s what’s causing your problem.   

That noise hits the wall and makes it vibrate. Again, some of that translates into heat. But most of this vibration will transmit through the wall, exit on the other side, and into your room. 

Therefore, in the second phase of the project, you need to increase the mass of the walls, windows, and doors to minimize those vibrations. 

Stage 3. Isolating the sound so that vibrations are not passed from one object to another

Finally, we must ensure that whatever vibrations still occur (and they will be tiresome; it’s practically impossible to eliminate them) do not readily pass from one surface to another.

Much of that outside noise will still enter your room if they do. 

So, here’s how to do it all in practice.  

How to soundproof a house from the outside noise

Here are the specific ways to block the outside noise from entering your home. 

A quick note – I organized them following the three-stage formula I outlined ear we’lllSo, we’lll start by covering everything you need to do to seal gaps and other means for the air (and sound) to get in. 

Then, we’ll consider adding mass to the wall and other surfaces and isolate sounds while trying to get in.

So, let’s get to it. 

#1 thenoise’ssenoise’ss entry points on the wall

I have to warn you—this may seem like a small thing, but it’s actually something you should spend considerable time on. 

After all, noise can enter your house even through the thinnest crack. So, what may seem like nothing but an innocent hairline crack is a massive gateway to bothering you with unwanted sounds? 

One example is gaps between sockets and light switches. People probably notice that these might not fit perfectly against the wall and that there is a tiny gap between them. But think about it: Behind them is the wall, the exact thing that vibrates and transmits the sound. So, even that tiny gap is a portal for the sound to sneak in.

Use Green Glue – a fantastic acoustic sealant caulk with soundproofing qualities – to fill in any holes, gaps, and cracks. 

Also, peek behind the skirting board, if possible. Builders often leave a tiny gap between the drywall and the It’ssoor. It’s not a significant gap that causes any thermal issues in any room’s heat, but it’s usually large enough to let a lot of noise in. 

Again, you can use Green Glue to seal it. Or, if you want to add an extra heat insulation layer, use expandable foam. It will completely stop the air from coming in and, thus, block any noises from entering the room through that gap. 

Do the same to the joint between the wall and the wall. The wall’s natural movement might also have created a tiny hairline crack there. On its own, it can easily be fixed with Green Glue. 

Could you use a standard caulk for this? Yes, you could. The benefit of using Green Glue instead is that it has soundproofing qualities. As a result, it adds that extra layer of protection against the noise that other caulksdon’ttlksdon’tt.

#2. Seal gaps around windows aWe’veors

We’ve discussed how to soundproof a wall and stop the noise from coming through various cracks and gaps. Next, we need to work on any doors and windows, if there are any.

Here are the most common ways to tighten those surfaces:

• Use Green Glue to seal gaps between the window or door frame and the wall.
• Use a weather strip to soundproof all four sides of windows and doors. Often, a window or a door might not be closed too tightly, leaving a little gap between it and the frame. Weather strips will help you seal those easily and without any significant expense.
• Install a door sweep to block air and noise from entering underneath the door.
• Check underneath the windowsill, too. Due to natural movement, there could also be a tiny crack there. But we won’t look there; we rarely consider that the sound might be getting in through there. 

#3. Install soundproofing curtains and soundproof window inserts

Remember my example earlier of blocking a speaker with a blanket? Well, this step works similarly to sealing most of the cracks, and the sound will still get through.

For one, windows, particularly glass, offer little resistance for the sound to come in. 

Unfortunately, lass lets more sound in than most other building materials. Even a doublwindowisn’ttdowisn’tt completely soundproof because the glass will allow that. That’s because, by nature, glass has low acoustic properties for different frequent” agencies. 

“A 4 mm-thick glass is rather transparent (poor attenuation measured in dB) for high frequencies at the range of 3500 Hz; 6 mm-thick glass is poor for frequencies around 2000 Hz, and 10 mm-thick glass performs a “1300 Hz” (source) poorly.

One way to combat it is by replacing them with thick, triple-glazed, soundproof windows or storm windows. 

This would reduce the amount of outside noise your window transmits, increase its mass, and limit vibrations.  

Butlet’ss face it; that might not be viable for you to do now. So, as an intermediate step, consider two other ways of putting obstacles in the path of the noise:

• Soundproofing curtains. These typically look like normal, heavy, and thick curtains. In reality, these curtains have soundproofing and sound-absorbing materials woven into them and can block or absorb sounds from coming in. Check out various available soundproofing curtains.
• Soundproof window inserts. These custom-made inserts that you install onto your window make it thicker and more sound-abIhaven’ttIhaven’tt tested this method before, but manufacturers say these inserts can reduce the outside noise by a staggerAndthey’reedthey’ree really easy to install, which is always a bonus for DIY soundproofing projects.)

#4. Move large furniture, especially bookcases, to the wall

This simple, DIY soundproofing trick can help you increase the number of obstacles on the noise path without spending any money. 

Placing large objects, ideally with sound-absorbing qualities, can help reduce the amount of noise transmitting through the room. 

Books, for example, have natural sound-absorbing properties. Placing bookcases on the affected wall can help reduce the noise that reaches your ears.

#5. Install acoustic foam panels on the wall

Acoustic panels (soundproofing foam or soundproofing panels) have a high sound-absorbing capacity. They are typically used in recording studios, podcasting rooms, and any other place where a clean sound without reverberation is desired. 

But you can also use them to soundproof your room from outside noise. 

How? For one, you can install them in the direct path of the noise so that the sound is absorbed. Soundproofing experts recommend installing them on the wall opposite the source of the sound. This way, when the sound enters the room and reaches the wall, it is absorbed rather than reflected. 

That, in turn, will do two things:

• It will reduce its level and, well
• Cut it short. The sound will not bounce around the room but will dissolve, absorbed by the panel.

#6. thewall’sshewall’ss mass with drywall

A major problem with outside noise is that the walls that separate you and the source of that disruption are thin.

But the good news is that you can soundproof thin apartment walls.  

The not-so-good news is that doing so requires thewall’sshewall’ss structure.

One of the relatively simple ways to do it is by adding a layer of drywall to the wall.  

Drywall is a material, typically coming in sheets, that you use to build interior walls and What’s. What is significant about it is that it has some sound-absorbing properties and, thus, can do several things:

• Drywall will increase the thickness of the wall, reducing how much it can vibrate.
• It will althesound’ssesound’ss path as it travels through the wall. We discussed how some outside noise will reflect off the wall while the rest will enter it. Well, drywall can become another layer that will reflect and bounce some of that noise away from your room. 
• Drywall can also support additional insulation behind it, thickening the wall further and allowing you to place even more sound insulthesound’ssesound’ss path. This will increase the wall’s mass and allow it to absorb more noise than letting it enter the room. 

The result? A significant difference in the amount of outside noise getting through. 

TIP: Use RSIC-1 Clips when mounting drywall. Studs inside the drywall provide the path of least resistance for the sound to travel from one surface to another. These clips are designed to stop the sound from transmitting on the surface.

Some Amazon reviewers claim that mounting sound-insulating drywall on these clips has reduced the noise from the wall.

Additional tips for soundproofing a room from outside noise 

To close this, I thought I would share several additional tips to help you block the outside noise or at least the abovementioned methods. 

1. Put an obsthesound’ssesound’ss path outdoors. If you haveoverwhat’sserwhat’ss outside your house and can alter it, you could place obstthesound’ssesound’ss path there. Even a higher fence or bushes would help reflect some of the sound of the passing traffic, for example. 
2. Use soundproofing wallpaper to absorb more sound coming into the room. Despite its name, soundproofing wallpaper does not block sound. It works in a similar way to soundproofing foam panels and helps to absorb syoudon’ttyoudon’tt want to install those panels (as they do not always look good in a room), consider using soundproofing wallpaper instead. It will do the same thing as acoustic panels while looking much better.
3. Build a maze in the air vent if you have one. Air vents are a huge entry point for air (and outside noise). The problem is that, unlike gaps, you cannot permanently seal air vents. Luckily, you can still soundproof them by building a maze to help reflect the sound rather than allowing all the noise in. 

 Andthat’ss it…

Now you know how to soundproof your room or apartment from the outside. 

What’s left now is to start implementing those strategies one by one. 

Good luck!