  |
|
|
GOT A QUESTION?
Technical
Quick Tips to Contractors!
(c) 2008 Super Soundproofing Co |
How to soundproof a door.Controlling Sound and Reducing Noise Passing through Doors.After dealing with the window, sound control in a room should go to the door: a typical interior style hollow core door will pass sound quite readily. (An STC of much less than 20- this means conversation can easily be heard). It should be replaced with a solid, exterior door, the thickest you can find. "MDF" (Medium Density Fiberboard) doors are cheap and have good sound blocking qualities. Make sure it's well fitted to the frame, no gaps or crevices for sound to migrate through. If there is, use closed cell tape, (not from the hardware store). The door should be sealed off as if it was 40 degrees below zero on one side. If it has a gap over 1/4" at the bottom, use a door sweep seal, (a metal strip with a rubber flap) mounted to it, available from us. (As shown here). Set it to just brush the floor.
Your new door may still need sound insulation. Use 1/8" MLV with 1/4" closed cell foam ($14.63 per lineal ft). bonded to it. Then cover with "Super Soundproofing acoustical mat". Usually 1" thick will suffice. Cut it a bit oversize to cover the seam of the door at the frame to help seal it. You can use the mat with the adhesive backing if you want to re-use it or remove it later.
A typical door 3' X 8' is 36 sq. ft. so 8' of the 4' 6" wide MLV will cover it. 9' of the 4'X1" foam will be needed. If there's a lot of sound still coming through, consider hanging a "Mass Loaded Curtain" (barrier) or a acoustical curtain over the door and frame.
Details -About soundproofing a door with MLV.
Think you can't replace the door with your door, Landlord problem? You can always put his door aside and rehang it when you leave. Better, create an "Airlock door system" by leaving his door in place and adding another door to the frame, opening the opposite way. (Solid core, of course!) TIP: Remove the molding from around (use care to not split it!), the door and check the gap between the frame of the door and the rough framing. Usually you'll find there is nothing there! Many times this empty space of the door frame has no insulation at all, just covered by two pieces of wood molding. Pack the area with our Super Soundproofing Mat (you can order just a few feet, we have no minimums), or use our caulk, and cover the gap with our lead tape, then replace the molding. This tip applies to windows too! (Do not use expandable foam as for thermal insulation. It will be worse than the airgap). Sliding doors have little or no acoustical qualities at all and are best replaced with one that has, or if not possible, covered with a hanging sound barrier such as curtains, etc. If it's a glass patio door, you could cover part of it with soundproofing mat and make a holding panel with mat attached to it to cover the door that moves when it's shut. Another option is to add another patio door with a new frame. This double door will block a lot of sound by trapping air between the door panels. Commercially available soundproofing sliding glass doors can be had here. Open doorways? Curtains hung across open doorframes usually don't perform well acoustically, but do some sound blocking if they are heavy and fitted well to the frame. If clear plastic and cut into strips for egress, the strips need to be overlapped about 50%. If using clear plastic, use the heaviest you can, we have it in up to .160 thicknesses. Acoustical curtains perform about the same. If possible, consider hanging curtains on BOTH sides of the doorway for greatly improved sound reduction. This is because the dead air trapped there works for you. Such curtain installations should touch the floor. Use double-sided tape to attach the curtains to the wall at the edges to help seal the curtain. Garage doors are another problem, especially bad if they are segmented doors. (Panels that are hinged). Such doors may prove difficult to deal with because of the gaps created by the hinging. However, our "Super Soundproofing Mat" glued to the inside may flex enough to work O.K. Use as thick of material as you can. It will also help to use a barrier like "Super Soundproofing Flooring" (MLV) to cover the entire door area including the walls to outside. (More on this on the web page about soundproofing a garage). Some notes about our "Door Sweep" (transom seal): (The part that should seal the door bottom against sound and <heat/cold loss> that fits on the bottom of the door). A transom seal is usually available from the hardware store that fits on the floor across the doorway. Use this kind too, if you have a huge gap. Try to get one with a rubber flap. (Mechanical ones are expensive and will eventually fail). We received a lot of questions about what kind to use and how to install them, so we now make available the correct type of seal that will not only help seal out sound but improve the doors thermal rating. A seal is essential to properly soundproof a door. Our soundproofing seal is a rubber loop, cut to your size, modified by us with sealed ends for added performance in creating a dead air space in the loop. We'll cut this to an exact fit for the width of your door if you'll give us the measurement of the width of the door. You will also receive the proper screws to mount it to your door, depending on whether it's metal or wood. Only a screwdriver and a few minutes is needed to install this very much needed attachment to block sound from coming underneath your door. When you have the exact measurement of the width of your door (within 1/8" inch) and are ready to order it, click on the button below. NOTE: These seal strips will only cover a gap of 1", max. If your gap is more than that, you'll need to glue a gap sealer ( a strip of wood) to the very bottom of the door to close the gap and to make a place to on which to screw your door bottom seal. Double door sealing: You can also get a "T" strip from us to close the center gap in your Double or "French" doors. It mounts to the inside edge of one side of the doors. Has a vinyl inset and comes with mounting screws. Fits tight, gives a clean look and blocks sound too. We'll cut to fit - give the height of your door within 1/8". Anodized Aluminum: 7' $41.00 8' $48.50 Dark Brown Finish: 7' $59.00 8' $65 We'll help you with this, just call us 8-5 Pacific time: 760-752-3030 If, after all, you wish to get a real sound proof "Acoustical Door", go to this link: Overly Doors Prices start at around $2500.
|
Use a roller like this to
roller the adhesive backed mat down.
If
If you must use a door with recessed paneling fill in the spaces with patches
of MLV.