Yes, you can soundproof your bedroom, but the effort to do it depends on several factors.
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Bedroom soundproofing factors
- 1How much noise reduction do you need? Soundproofing is never perfect; noise can only be reduced, not eliminated. The more noise reduction you need, the more effort and cost it will take.
- 2Do you need to reduce interior or exterior noise? To reduce external noise, often, but not always, it is sufficient to improve windows only. However, sometimes walls need to be rebuilt as well.
- 3From which direction does the noise come? The cost of soundproofing renovations depends on the area of the wall/ceiling/floor surface that you need to rebuild. First, you need to understand where the noise is coming from.
- 4Where is your bedroom located? In a bungalow, if the bedroom is in the corner of the house, you usually need to rebuild two walls and possibly the basement ceiling. If the bedroom is on 2nd floor of a two-story house, you usually need to rebuild two or three walls of the bedroom and the ceiling in the room below
Bedroom soundproofing details
Three other issues need to be addressed in all cases:
Doors: Doors always need to be improved. I have written a separate article about soundproofing doors.
Heating ducts: Most homes have forced air heating and cooling. Noise often transmits through the supply and return ducts from one room to the next, even if the rooms are not adjacent. This noise path needs to be addressed. It usually requires installing sound absorbers or silencers into the ductwork.
Impact noise: Impact noise (footsteps, dropping objects, closing doors, cupboards, etc.) transmits throughout the house more readily and further than airborne noise (speech, sound of TV). This noise is reduced by any soundproofing measures to a lesser degree than airborne noise and needs special attention.
As you can see, a simple request – soundproofing my bedroom – has several interrelated issues. It would be best if you addressed them to achieve the desired noise reduction. If you do not seek the advice of a soundproofing consultant and rely on a contractor to do the soundproofing, you will often be disappointed with the result. Fixing a botched soundproofing job usually requires starting the renovations all over again, doubling the cost.
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