Working from home in your own office can be great, but unfortunately, noise is the number one culprit when work productivity decreases in the home office. Unwanted noise can be quite distracting, regardless of whether it’s caused by your lovely children, noisy neighbors or even construction in the neighborhood.
As a result, I decided to soundproof my home office, and in this article, I’ll share with you the best ways to soundproof your own office without spending a whole lot of money.
Sound Deadening vs. Sound Blocking
Suppose you have noisy kids (like my two boys) in a room adjacent to your office. You want your office to be quieter, so you purchase sound-deadening material to put over the windows, such as the pointed foam panels that are typically seen in a recording studio.
True to their name, sound-deadening products help with sound-deadening by preventing sounds from echoing around a room. However, they won’t keep outside noises from entering the room.
Fortunately, sound-blocking products will actually keep sound from entering the room completely, but sound-blocking requires density to be highly effective. This is why it’s much easier to build a soundproof home office than it is to sound-block an existing home office. If you’re building a house, you can have the builder simply use sound-blocking drywall or soundboard to prevent sound from entering.
If you don’t mind spending some money, and you want to block sound from outside the home, then a new soundproof window can fix a lot of issues for just a few dollars. For now, though, we’ll move onto other methods that will help you soundproof your office.
1. Seal Any Holes in the Walls and Ceilings
A concrete wall with even the smallest holes will allow a lot of sounds to pass through. Therefore, it’s best to inspect your home office for any holes in the walls and ceilings, and seal those first.
You can use fiberglass material to seal the holes, and I’ve found fiberglass batt insulation to be the best solution.
2. Soundproof the Door
A door has many visible gaps, so that makes it an easy place for noise to pass through.
If you’re on a low budget, then the least expensive, quickest way to soundproof your door is to get an inexpensive soundproof weatherstrip on to install under and around the door. Each weatherstrip will come with adhesive, so setting it up shouldn’t take much time.
Another option is to purchase a solid core door. To find out if you already have one, you can go up to your door and knock on it. If it sounds heavy and thick, then you have a solid core door. Based on my knowledge, all exterior doors are solid core doors, but most interior doors that are used in homes are hollow. This makes it quite easy for noise to pass through them.
If you have a hollow core door, I’d recommend picking up a solid core door at Home Depot or Lowe’s for around $100, and then hiring a professional to install it for you. After that, be sure to add the adhesive soundproof weatherstrip I mentioned earlier.
If your doorway is big enough to accommodate two doors, then I recommend using two doors. This made a huge improvement in the quietness of my office.
You may also need to purchase a draft stopper especially if you have carpet under the door of your home office. The draft stopper will glide across the bottom of the carpet and provide a soundproofing effect.
Another inexpensive option would be to purchase a soundproof blanket and hang it on the back of the door. These can be as effective as a solid core door at blocking out most of the unwanted noise.
3. Soundproof the Windows
As you look closely at your windows, you may notice a few tiny gaps, which may cause noise to travel into your office and affect your peace. The best way to soundproof your windows is to buy soundproof windows and have a professional install them. Soundproof windows are basically double-paned windows separated by a spacer.
If you’re on a budget, though, then a cheaper way to soundproof your windows is to add some soundproof curtains.
For further information, here’s a guide to soundproofing windows.
4. Soundproof the Air Vent
The air vent may be the largest hole in any of your office’s walls, so it could be the main way in which sound travels into your office. Unlike doors and windows, an air vent is open, which can allow for even more sound transfer.
Luckily, there are a couple of ways to soundproof your air vent(s). You can permanently block an air vent by using drywall or foam, or you can build your own sound maze.
5. Reduce Echo
While you’re in your home office, shout “Hello!” very loudly and see if you experience any echo. This will help you determine how much vibration is happening within the interior of the room.
Preventing echo won’t make the room quieter, but echo can make any sound more annoying than it already is. Consequently, we need to reduce the amount of echo.
Stopping the echo in your home office will be pretty simple. You can start by filling your room with rugs, and adding additional pieces of furniture can also help reduce noise. You may want to hang some large canvas pieces of art on the walls, with some foam behind each one, to soak up sound as it hits the walls. Moreover, you can put up curtains to prevent sound from bouncing off the windows.
If you don’t think preventing echo is important, go into your bathroom and turn some music on via your cell phone. The bathroom is typically a high-echo room, so chances are, you won’t be able to hear the lyrics clearly.
Keep the music playing and walk into a closet that’s full of clothing on hangers. You’ll then realize that the soft material of the clothing has absorbed the majority of the echoes in the closet, making it easier for you to hear the lyrics of the songs you’re listening to.
6. Work on the Floor
If your home office has a hard floor, then any echoes you hear are probably a result of that. Hard floors make sound waves travel around more easily, which is why an empty room with a hard floor echoes so much. Soft flooring, however, can absorb a great deal of unwanted noise.
To stop unwanted sound in its tracks, you may need to add some soft rugs to the room. But if the noise is coming from underneath your home office (for instance, if your office is directly above the garage) you may want to install an acoustic board under your carpet. This will help reduce the intensity of the sound.
7. Use Soundproof Paint
Yes, soundproof paint does exist! Once it’s been added to your walls, it’ll absorb a significant amount of noise so it doesn’t disturb you while you’re working in your room. Soundproof paint is very affordable, and the type I like to use is Acousti-Coat.
Conclusion
By following the steps in this guide, you can make your home office or any small room quieter. Most of the methods and tips that I’ve summarized above are fairly cheap and easy, but they’re very effective as well.
If adding blankets to a room in order to soundproof it really appeals to you, you may want to have a look at our guide to soundproofing a room with blankets. If you have any questions, feel free to let us know by leaving a comment in the comment section below.
image 1: Pixabay; image 2: Pixabay