While you might want to live in the action of the city, you don’t want the rat race of the city echoing in your apartment. Most tenants will tell you noise pollution is part of life, but we are going to say you do not have to live that way. This advice is a sure-fire way to soundproof your apartment and make it the den-of-zen you deserve.
Weatherproof Your Front Door
The hallways will contribute to the majority of noise pollution in your apartment. Most apartment doors are not too soundproof, and it is not weatherproof. If you see a large gap under the front door, you should add a door sweep. A door sweep is a thick, rubber strip that sticks against the floor. When stuck to the floor, a seal is created that does not allow air or noise to penetrate your apartment. Aside from preventing soundwaves from bouncing off the walls in the hall, it will cut your energy bill down by keeping your apartment insulated.
Use Door Curtains
Door sweeps work well for the floor, but what about the crack between the door and the frame across the top and down the sides? Use a door curtain to give yourself an added layer of sound protection. Room darkening shades are thick, black curtains used to block out the sun for folks that work the graveyard shift. Hang a room darkening shade over your front door to keep out uninvited sound and drafts.
Soundproof Bedroom Doors
To soundproof your bedroom door, utilize a draft stopper. A draft stopper will cover the crack between the door and the floor, similar to a door sweep for the front door. The ideal draft stoppers come with an elastic band, so you do not have to keep bending down to readjust them.
Do Not Let Sound Waves Bounce
Sound waves reflect off hard surfaces like your floor, walls, and ceilings. Increase the hard surfaces in a room, the sound bouncing around the room will likewise increase. You can reduce sound bouncing by covering hard surfaces with soft textures, such as rubber textile mats or carpeting. Beside the sound in your apartment no longer being reflected, it will make your walls a little thicker, and less sound will come in from other apartments around you.
Get a Thick Rug Pad
Stop sounds in a high-volume area with hard floors by putting down a carpet. Any rug will do distort a little noise, but you can increase the sound-reducing efficiency greatly by laying a thick rug pad underneath the carpet.
Use a Bookcase to Muffle Sounds
It is not uncommon for apartments to have thin walls. If you can hear the neighbors, place a bookshelf along the length of the wall trap any noise sneaking through. Since sound waves bounce, any vibrations coming through the wall will bounce around the inside walls of the bookshelf before fading out, giving you a remedy from your neighbor’s loud conversation or late-night party. The bookshelf works both ways; it absorbs the sound vibrations coming through the wall, but it also prevents your noise from escaping your apartment.
Install Soundproof Curtains
If the street out front of your window is popping, you hear noise pollution at all hours of the day. Most renters in large cities deal with this problem. You do not have to live with it though. Install soundproof curtains over windows that allow a significant amount of noise pollution in. An average soundproof curtain for a window can weigh up to fifteen pounds. The curtain normally sits flat against the wall or window to block out as much sound as possible. Use a soundproof curtain to block out noise pollution in your apartment to the best of your ability.
