Make the door soundproof – 9 effective tips

Often it is simply because of the door that disturbing noises from the stairwell, the hallway or the room next door can apparently penetrate unhindered to our ears. Especially when the door is made of light and thin material and doesn’t even close tightly, the noise has an easy time. The walls can be so thick and massive.

It can be particularly uncomfortable if the bathroom door is very noisy. No matter which side of the door you are on, bathroom noises should stay where they are! But that can be arranged! In this article you will learn what you can do to make your doors significantly more soundproof.

In order to make a door more soundproof, one should first check whether there is a large air gap between the door and the floor. This can be covered with a bar, which already leads to a great improvement. Otherwise, particularly light doors let the sound through easily. Doors can be made heavier and therefore significantly more soundproof with vinyl mats or noise protection curtains.

1. Close the gap between the door and the floor

With many doors, the gap between the floor and the door is the easiest way for noise to get through. Especially if the gap is large, it is worth trying out first whether it might be enough to cover this gap. There are different ways to do this.

You can temporarily try to stuff the gap with a towel. This isn’t very practical for everyday use, but if it’s just a matter of ensuring a quiet night, it may be enough.

The whole thing is a little more professional with a special door bottom seal. These are usually referred to as ” draft excluders ” as they are often used to prevent cold air from entering. But they are also very good as noise protection. Because where air gets through, noise really gets through!

For doors leading out of the house or apartment, brush strips * are usually suitable as stoppers. For room doors, on the other hand, sealing strips made of silicone * or foam * can also be used.

2. Replace the seals between door and frame

The rubber seals between the door and the door frame tend to flatten and stiffen with age. After a certain time, it may be that the door is only loosely closed, which in turn allows air and noise to get through. However, this problem is easily fixed by simply replacing the old gaskets with new ones. Thats is quite easy. You can find recommended sealing tapes here, for example * .

3. Fill gaps between door frame and wall

Sometimes there are holes between the door frame and the wall through which the noise can penetrate. In this case, one should fill the gaps with an acoustic sealant.

If the air gaps and holes are no longer a problem and the door is still very noisy, it is most likely because the door is too light. High mass is by far the most important factor when it comes to blocking noise. The thickness of the door does not matter if it is hollow on the inside. A thin but heavy door is therefore more effective than a light, thick door.

So how can we make our door heavier? Here are some useful tips.

4. Install mass loaded vinyl mats

So-called mass-loaded vinyl can be just the thing to add bulk to the door without making it significantly thicker. Due to its high density, vinyl mats with a thickness of just a few millimeters already weigh quite a bit. This makes them ideal as a soundproofing material for doors.

The vinyl is simply glued to the door and you’re done. For a particularly great effect, you can apply the vinyl mats * to the door from both sides. It is worth it ..

Granted, black vinyl mats on the doors don’t look particularly pretty. However, you can also cover the mats with design film * without any problems so that you can no longer see them at all.

5. Apply bitumen anti-drumming mats to the door

Bitumen mats are also very dense and can be used in a similar way to vinyl mats. You can find self-adhesive bitumen anti-drumming mats on the market , which are easy to attach to the door and can sometimes be a bit cheaper than vinyl mats. Due to their high density, they also do a very good job of protecting against noise. Of course, you can also cover them with design foil afterwards for embellishment.

6. Use a noise barrier

Noise protection curtains are actually intended for noise protection at the window. But you can still use it for the door without any problems. Again, curtains on both sides of the door are more effective than just one. The heavier the curtains, the better. For a particularly good effect, they can of course also be combined with vinyl or bitumen mats.

You can either attach the curtains directly to the door or use a curtain rod to attach them to the wall above the door.

Curtains from  Moondream *  , for example, are specifically designed to block out as much sound as possible. Although they are not the cheapest option, they are all the more massive and heavier than curtains from cheap suppliers and are therefore also significantly more effective for sound insulation.

7. Cover the door with heavy sports mats

If you happen to have left over heavy sports mats that you don’t need, you can try hanging or sticking them on the door as noise protection. An ordinary yoga mat probably won’t have much of an effect (too light), but thick so-called protective sports mats that often adorn the floor of gyms can be much more effective.

8. Insert a new and heavy door

Instead of going to the trouble of soundproofing a thin and hollow door, you can just put in a new door with good soundproofing. This option can sometimes be the easiest, but of course it is not the cheapest.

When choosing the door, you should definitely make sure that it is made of solid material. In general, you can assume that a heavy door blocks out noise much better than a light door. However, make sure that the door fits well in the frame and that the gap between the floor and the door is as small as possible.

9. EXTRA tip: Tackle the noise source

You may also want to think about ways you might be able to reduce the sources of noise yourself. For example, it might be worth laying out a carpet in the hallway. Footstep noises are therefore significantly quieter. A carpet can significantly reduce footstep noise, especially on the stairs.

CONCLUSION

The door is often a crucial weak point when it comes to keeping out noise. With the right measures, however, a sensitive door can be made significantly more soundproof. First of all, it is important to ensure that the door seals properly and that the gap to the floor is as small as possible. For the latter, the use of sealing strips is particularly worthwhile. If the door is made of particularly light and sound-permeable material, you should try to increase the mass of the door to increase its noise protection. Vinyl mats or noise protection curtains are particularly suitable for this.