Cheap Soundproofing for Door?

v3nge

New member
Hello everyone. So my room has thick walls, but my door is very thin. I'd like to keep sound from leaking out through the door. What is the best thing I could do to soundproof my door for under $60? Thanks a lot!
 
Put weather stripping around the edges and a threshold and sweep/seal on the bottom. Any mass you can add on the inside, if feasible, will help, too.
 
What [MENTION=196982]keith.rogers[/MENTION] said. Take 1/2 drywall and put it on the front and back of the door. Sound has a hard time traveling through different thicknesses of material. Sound hits the 1/2 inch drywall, then through the 1/4 inch skin of a hollow core door, then through the dead air space, then through the 1/4 inch skin of the outer door and then through the 1/2 drywall again. Most home studios will use this to keep the cost down. If you rent the home or room, you may not be able to do this.
 
Great info everyone! Thanks a lot. What type of drywall would you recommend? Should I avoid the kinds that say lite?
 
Great info everyone! Thanks a lot. What type of drywall would you recommend? Should I avoid the kinds that say lite?

DON'T USE DRYWALL ...The drywall concept will totally help but THIS will increase the resulting sound deadening much more.

The weather stripping is equally important so be sure to do that.

Once you have the sheets up it's up to you how "nice" you want your door to look..if it's just you and you don't care I suppose you could just leave it sheeted with the screws showing..

Me because I know how to do drywall ( Tape and mud ) I'd edge the perimeter in 1/2" corner bead specifically made for edging a 1/2" sheets of drywall..Then I'd mud the edges and screw heads...sand and smooth it all up...Then I'd paint it...BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! I'd add these magical little hollow glass beads to the paint mix before painting to add EVEN MORE sound deadening...


Oh yeah screwing the panels to the door...On the side that opens out you can go almost to the edge of the door ( leaving room for the edge strips ) on the inside of the door where it hits the door stops you'll need to hold back the panels about 1/2" for the door to clear the stops and weather stripping. There a lot of ways you could actually attach the panels but remember it's a hollow door and the panels themselves are just like 3/16" hardboard... The outside edges have solid wood so screws will bite in there...the mid section not so much for the screw to grab. If I were doing this I'd use silicone caulking to secure the panel in the middle and only use screws on the perimeter @ 6" apart..Some might suggest liquid nails but IMO Liquid nails gets hard and rigid and STINKS..... Silicone remains pliable and has awesome sticktivity...I'd apply the silicone in just smaller that hershey's kisses dots ...again spread about 6" apart...That's how I'd do it and I am sure it'd work but there are a lot of ways this can be done to get equally good results...Good Luck!
 
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Great info everyone! Thanks a lot. What type of drywall would you recommend? Should I avoid the kinds that say lite?

Regular 1/2 drywall is what I use. You could also do the bookshelf thing and stay within your budget. It is very easy to do and will give you more mass as well as look pretty cool. This is what I will be doing. Look at the pics below, they may help you understand the concept.

View attachment 100888View attachment 100889View attachment 100890

As mentioned by [MENTION=1094]TAE[/MENTION], keep your drywall screws to the outside edge, making sure you stay 4 inches away from each corner. Than apply the 1/2 channel on all four sides and secure with adhesive caulking. Trim out door with regular door casing covering 1/2 channel using 6 penny finish nails. Paint the door & Trim.

You can do the same thing with 1 x 4s if you are good with a saw and tape. You will than fill with cut books to create deeper mass. You just frame out the door on the side it swings into the room. At a later point, you would just keep building bookshelves to match the door and it will just disappear into the wall its self. This is a great way to add cheap diffusion.

View attachment 100891
 
It's only a few dollars more and superior at killing sound

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Here's the 1/2" metal edging / trim I was speaking of
drywall-corner-bead-726653-64_1000.jpg

BTW the bookcase thing is way cool but I have to assume you would need some seriously stout hinges to pull that off...not your typical interior door hinge...that's an assumption on my part not a given but it does make sense..
 
It's only a few dollars more and superior at killing sound

View attachment 100892

Here's the 1/2" metal edging / trim I was speaking of
View attachment 100893

BTW the bookcase thing is way cool but I have to assume you would need some seriously stout hinges to pull that off...not your typical interior door hinge...that's an assumption on my part not a given but it does make sense..

Your first post confused the he** out of me. As I was reading it, I thought, "why would he say not to use drywall, and then give a detailed explanation on how to install it". It was only after reading your last post that I realize you may have been talking about the sound board pictured above.

To the OP, I would suggest that you take [MENTION=1094]TAE[/MENTION] suggestion if it has a higher absorption rate then drywall. I get so stuck in my ways, I don't look for other alternatives. Kinda like since it worked last time, it will work this time. As far as the bookshelf goes, no extra hinges are needed if you use 1x4s. I have been building them for years and never had one call back. Using 1x4 works perfect as nothing has to be ripped down to fit. Pick your items and use adhesive caulking to keep them on the shelf's.

If you have the money, 1x6 is much cleaner, nicer and functional. You only need to add one more hinge and you will not have to cut the books down. I will book mark this thread and place a picture up when I finish mine. It will have the 1x6 inside the track room, as I will building a bookshelf on the back wall for diffusion, and the 1x4 in the hallway. 9 out of 10 people will pass right by it, not realizing it is a door. It all has to do with how you frame it out with the trim.
 
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DON'T USE DRYWALL ...The drywall concept will totally help but THIS will increase the resulting sound deadening much more.
Not sure if the Home Depot stuff is the same, but what I'm familiar with is Homasote and is commonly found in good lumber stores. Neither my local Lowes or Home Depot stocked Homasote or an alternative, but was able to find it at a local 'real' lumber/building goods supplier.
440 SoundBarrier Controls Sound in Floors, Walls and Ceilings | Homasote
Light in weight and should be easy to mount on a door.

Your Home Depot link took me to my local HD store and showed the soundboard as 'unavailable'.
 
Swap the door for a solid core door not an interior door. Solid core doors are typically used as outer doors on buildings. You could fix a thick sheet of MDF or fibreboard (chipboard) to the existing door but it wont be as good. You will also need the door seals as suggested.

By the way I use solid core doors, with a sheet of lead vinyl fixed to it, and very good seals. I did not have the room to fit a double door which would have been my preference.

Alan.
 
That's funny. It did the same for me. So when I clicked on the "More" about the product, it said: "Shipping Not Available For This Product". :facepalm::confused::facepalm:

Same. So I went to both Home Depot and Lowes yesterday, hoping they might have some of this sound board stuff, but they'd never heard of it. I would have just gotten drywall, but the employee at Home Depot dissuaded me from doing so. I also went to Sam Ash to see if they could order anything, but what they could order in was quite a bit out of my price range.

Does anyone know anywhere else where I can get the sound board sheets?
 
Same. So I went to both Home Depot and Lowes yesterday,

Does anyone know anywhere else where I can get the sound board sheets?

HD should be able to have it brought in just show the special order desk the item number...This should be able to be done at not extra cost.. If not Using the term "Sound deadening board" call a few local larger lumber yards or building supply houses...also there will be one or two large companies that sell drywall supplies to large contractors....Here in Los Angeles I can get it at my local HD and Lowes ..but it's Lala land

Your signature doesn't say where you are located but give me your city and I can probably find it for you in a few minutes
 
Soundproofing has always intrigued me and being someone who both grew up in construction, is a musician and has had the opportunity to go to 100's of both national and international building supply trade shows man I have seen a ton of ways to stop sound.

The coolest thing I have seen is sound deadening paint..now the link I posted is micro sized hollow ceramic beads you add to paint that definitely help knock out sound but the best stuff I ever saw was some black rubber type coating that was originally designed for the automotive industry.

With interest perked I did some googling and came upon THIS SITE basically soundproofing 101 good read obviously they are promoting their system and product which they use science to prove is a superior system...maybe it is ...maybe it isn't but I am sure it must work pretty good...love the idea of drywall sandwiched together with their Green Glue
 
I've not had any luck having Home Depot or Lowe's get anything on special order without shipping, if they'd do it at all. I'm happy I can find the Roxul at the one Lowe's near me!

That homasote stuff [MENTION=190964]arcaxis[/MENTION] mentions looks like a good alternative, and that I can find at a local builder's supply. I think I could tack that on the inside of the door with a few screws and maybe a couple angle brackets around top and bottom, so the touch-up/paint over would make removal un-noticeable. Have to go do some measurements.

P.S. There's no way to get a solid core door replacement for the OP's budget. I looked into it, and the cheapest door is over $100 installed, and I expect that's not much better than my hollow-core, since I can also spend $400 on a single, interior, solid core door. Probably the fastest growing white wood in the world, i.e., very low mass, and I wouldn't be surprised if it warps!
 
A ceiling tile panel to mount on the door shouldn't be to difficult to fabricate and fairly cheap.....

My local store says this is available.....
Made of mineral-fiber composite material
Designed for installation with the Armstrong ceiling suspension-grid system
4 sq. ft. coverage area per piece
Fire-retardant coating meets Class A code requirements
Enhanced acoustic properties absorb up to 55% of sound
Reflects more than 80% of light
Square lay-in edge detail


Armstrong Random Textured Square Edge 2 ft. x 2 ft. Lay-in Ceiling Panel-935A - The Home Depot

Standard NRC Ceiling Tiles | Armstrong Ceiling Solutions – Commercial
 
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