One of the best things about having a home is being able to withdraw into your own safe haven and seclude yourself from the troubles of the outside world. This however, is not an easy task since although walls and a solid lock can prevent most intrusion from entering your home, noise can circulate freely in and out. A serious problem like this deserves to be addressed and here are some tips, tricks and ideas on how to solve the issue of noise at home.
Why is this such a Big Deal?
First thing you want is prevent the outside noises from entering your home. Imagine the scenario where you just returned home from an endless shift. You plan to take a short nap but the pack of neighborhood dogs tend to disagree. There could also be a construction or home remodeling taking place somewhere in your closest vicinity, or even a traffic jam taking place. For these reasons, you want your home to be sound-proof.
The Second, but not less significant reason is that sometimes you have to be too careful inside of your own home. Imagine that you just bought a brand new overpowered sound system only to find out that you cannot set it on more than volume 2 without triggering the neighborhood watch. As we already mentioned, your home is your sanctuary, your safe haven, but in order to make it truly so, you must find a way to reduce the harming influence of loud noises.
Life in an Apartment
There are several tricks for reducing the noise coming from your neighbors’ apartments, as well as to reduce the noise that you make in their homes. First of all, you simply cannot do a thing about the neighbors upstairs, it’s just the way things are. You can however improve the audio situation with your neighbors below. Add a quality, thick carpet on your floor and watch it do miracles. When it comes to the apartments around you, try lining your heavy furniture next to the shared walls or even adding sound-reduction wallpaper to the mix.
Soundproofing Your Home
Getting familiar with the essential soundproofing techniques will be your best ally in the battle against noise. When decorating your house, make sure that you use some sound absorbing materials such as acoustic ceilings and padded carpeting instead of hardwood floors and some similar surfaces. Insulating your home is not only great for noise reduction but also has a great energy saving value. Because of this, although pricier than some other modifications insulation should be first on your list of priorities.
Weak Spots
Now, let’s examine an issue that is practically the same for all homes. You can have the thickest carpet, high quality insulation and who knows what more, but if your doors and windows are of low quality, it will be as you did nothing at all. So, you should be best advised to invest in a quality door and improve not only your privacy but your safety, as well. On the other front, if you buy quality double glazed windows, this will reduce the noises coming in and out of you apartment, in addition to making your home more energy-efficient.
All in all, where there’s a will there is always the way. Some people will claim that this is simply too much work or too hard on the budget, but the truth is that you simply cannot put a price tag on your peace and privacy.