You’ve found the apartment of your dreams for a good price and you move all your stuff in and settle down. You feel you’ve got a great neighbourhood when suddenly one day you realize you can hear everything your neighbours do. You can hear from your front door your neighbour’s walk across the corridor, hear their talk or slap their door across the hall or hear your neighbour’s TV across the bedroom wall. Also, if there is a road in front of your apartment, noise from road-side traffic could drain you. What do you do?
For many apartment dwellers, unwanted noise often seems unavoidable which can be fortunately cut-out using soundproofing. Soundproofing an apartment isn’t that complicated or expensive and even the simplest strategies can make a big difference.

1. Cover walls or ceilings
   You can absorb a lot of noise by using sound-absorbing materials like cotton, foam, and felt (ideally used by musicians to soundproof rooms) on your apartment’s walls and ceilings. If you find these don’t give the right look, then you could apply materials like decorative fabric or pieces of art including pictures and frames on your walls. Some materials are better at blocking out higher pitch sounds while some block lower ones effectively. Affixing wall tiles, ceiling tiles or ceiling baffles works well too.
2. Use Acoustic Panels
   Acoustic panels are boards or fabrics that hang on walls which can effectively reduce echoes which are caused by sound bouncing off hard surfaces or stop the noise that could be entering through a door, window, or walls.
3. Use Rugs
   Adding rugs or carpet to your floor will help keep sound from bouncing inside the room or reduce the noise from traffic. If you have a hard floor, throw down a thick rug to minimize the noise.
4. Use sound-proofing curtains
   Hanging heavy black-out curtains on windows and doors can help to absorb any noise that sneaks through them. These can act as a good soundproofing layer and are a good acoustical solution for your apartment.
5. Reduce reflected noise
   Noise reflects off hard surfaces like walls, floors, or ceilings causing echoes and reverberations. To reduce sound reflection, cover bare walls, and even ceilings with soft materials, acoustic foam or acoustic panels on the walls, a rough rug on the ceiling, or rubber textile mats on the walls.
6. Use draft guards/stoppers and door seals
   When there are big cracks/gaps below your door, you can hear sounds like people talking and thus noise will enter your apartment. Adding a door sweep/guard under your apartment door to close the gaps can avoid those noises. You could also use foam weather stripping to seal the sides and the top of the door if the door doesn’t close tightly. Door guards/stoppers and seals are also an excellent and inexpensive way to insulate your home since they help in keeping the cold or heat out.
7. Use window inserts
   Window inserts are clear panes of glass or acrylic that you install over your existing windows that block outside noise without disturbing the outside view from your apartment. They reduce outside noise by at least 50% by creating an airtight seal. Some also pop out when they aren’t needed, making it convenient to open the window for fresh air.
8. Add bookshelves
   Bookshelves loaded with dense or heavy books provide excellent sound insulation apart from giving your apartment a cool look.

Conclusion:

Too many voids and clear surfaces inside your apartment can allow noise to sneak in. Soundproofing your apartment is an excellent way to counter external noise as well as avoid echoes inside your rooms. Acoustical treatment of your apartment using soft absorbing materials like foam or acoustic panels to cover walls or ceilings are good soundproofing techniques. Using rugs, carpets on the floor will further help you get rid of some hard surfaces which cause echoes.

About Tranquil soundproofing solutions:

Tranquil products are of excellent quality made using world-class materials. These will not only help you functionally but are also beautiful in design and will give your space a sophisticated and aesthetic look. We also provide the latest acoustical wall panels at a low price and we supply the best soundproofing materials in India.

Tranquil APS is a fiberglass acoustical system that can be used as wall panels and has an excellent Noise Reduction Coefficient (0.8 to 1). Tranquil Ecocore Panels can be used as pinboards and can reduce noise effectively. Tranquil Ecowood is a quality wooden panel to be used on walls and has excellent echo and reverberation reducing effect. Tranquil Filz is a woollen solution which has excellent noise insulation properties. Apart from the above Tranquil also provides blocks made of flexible mass vinyl for noise reduction.