Whether you’re an amateur musician, an employee working from home, or simply someone who lives on a busy street, you’re probably constantly subjected to a barrage of noise. This unwanted sound is known to impact productivity, raise stress levels, and ruin even the most perfect recordings.
When forced to live in a noisy environment, many individuals turn to DIY solutions for an answer. However, what these people don’t realize is that soundproofing is a science that requires a great deal of expertise to get right. The wrong choice of materials or failing to account for surface reflections can result in wasted time, effort, and money.
So, what are the biggest DIY soundproofing mistakes, and how do professionals help avoid them? Here are five points to consider:
Mistake #1: Confusing Soundproofing with Acoustic Treatment
When looking up how to soundproof a room, you may have come across two common solutions —soundproofing and acoustic treatment. However, despite the terms being used interchangeably, both solutions are distinct and solve entirely different issues.
While soundproofing focuses solely on blocking noise from entering or exiting a space, acoustic treatment aims to improve the sound quality within the room. When comparing soundproofing vs acoustic treatment, the choice of materials differs vastly too.
Using an acoustic panel may help reduce echoes and reverberations inside a room, but it isn’t effective at acoustic insulation. This is because it lacks the mass needed to keep the louder sounds — such as the sound of traffic — out.
Instead, a soundproofing technique, like installing a mass-loaded barrier or using a specialized soundproof drywall, are more likely to give you that peace of mind.
Mistake #2: Using the Wrong Soundproofing Materials
Go onto TikTok, and you’ll find many influencers offering DIY solutions to block sound. Their choice of materials could include anything from egg cartons to thick carpets. And, sure, while some of these materials can be effective at minorly improving sound, they are far from a professional solution to dealing with noise.
Instead, soundproofing requires using thin but dense materials that prevent sound waves from traveling through walls and ceilings — a task that a lightweight item like an egg carton cannot achieve.
Some common materials used to soundproof a room include mass-loaded barriers, acoustic caulk, and reinforced drywall.
Mistake 3: Ignoring Air Gaps and Weak Points
Even once you’ve procured the high-quality materials, their installation throws up several more challenges. For example, many casual soundproofers don’t realize how much small gaps around doors, windows, and vents can impact your efforts.
Since sound can easily travel through any of these openings, professionals will put in great effort to plug the gap. In most cases, they’ll do so with the help of an acoustic sealant, caulk, or expanding foam.
Many online resources suggest that soundproof curtains or heavy furniture can provide the mass needed to block sound — but this is a misinformed opinion, as most of these objects are ineffective at sealing gaps.
Mistake 4: Poor Installation Techniques
Similarly, the installation process throws up several other pitfalls. Even if you account for all the gaps and read up about the best soundproofing solutions, there’s no guarantee that you know exactly how and where to place the materials.
In fact, one of the biggest errors amateur soundproofers make is installing panels over walls or ceilings without removing the original surface first. This is a big mistake that could render your expensive soundproofing equipment about as useful as an egg carton.
Similarly, failing to connect the soundproofing partition to walls, floors, and ceilings with an isolation strip gives sound enough of a gap to travel through. The only way to ensure that you’ve covered all bases is to work with a professional who understands how to layer materials and seal connections.
Mistake 5: Expecting a One-Size-Fits-All Solution
Every space has unique acoustics and noise challenges. Relying on a generic solution you read online without accounting for your specific needs first isn’t just highly inefficient—it’s basically a waste of time.
To find a solution that best fits your needs, you need to know how sound works. And not just how sound waves move but also how they interact with various surfaces and materials and how they travel across rooms of different sizes and layouts.
It’s very rare for two rooms to use the exact same soundproofing methods and techniques.
Why Professional Soundproofing Matters
While DIY attempts can be tempting for their perceived cost benefits, we urge you to think long-term. Simply pushing a bookshelf against a wall may cost you nothing — but it also does essentially nothing to fix common soundproofing problems either.
On the other hand, working with a professional comes with significant advantages:
- A professional will conduct an acoustical analysis to identify the source of the noise and offer you a customized solution.
- Experts have access to high-quality materials that aren’t available in retail stores. Some, like Evolve Acoustics, even create their own bespoke solutions.
- The installation process goes off without a hitch and ensures that you see the results without wasting money on mistakes and inefficiencies.
Essentially, when you work with a professional like Avi from Evolve Acoustics, you save an incredible amount of time and money that would be wasted on trial-and-error, misleading Google search results, and common DIY soundproofing errors.
Let Us Evolve Your Soundproofing Efforts
To avoid major soundproofing mistakes and turn your room into a sanctuary, don’t hesitate to contact us for a free consultation today.
For several years, our professional soundproofing services have helped homes, businesses, and workspaces benefit from custom solutions. For an idea of what our completed projects look like, browse through our gallery — or scroll through our services in detail on our website.
street, you’re probably constantly subjected to a barrage of noise. This unwanted sound is known to impact productivity, raise stress levels, and ruin even the most perfect recordings.
When forced to live in a noisy environment, many individuals turn to DIY solutions for an answer. However, what these people don’t realize is that soundproofing is a science that requires a great deal of expertise to get right. The wrong choice of materials or failing to account for surface reflections can result in wasted time, effort, and money.
So, what are the biggest DIY soundproofing mistakes, and how do professionals help avoid them? Here are five points to consider:
Mistake #1: Confusing Soundproofing with Acoustic Treatment
When looking up how to soundproof a room, you may have come across two common solutions —soundproofing and acoustic treatment. However, despite the terms being used interchangeably, both solutions are distinct and solve entirely different issues.
While soundproofing focuses solely on blocking noise from entering or exiting a space, acoustic treatment aims to improve the sound quality within the room.
When comparing soundproofing vs acoustic treatment, the choice of materials differs vastly too.Using an acoustic panel may help reduce echoes and reverberations inside a room, but it isn’t effective at acoustic insulation. This is because it lacks the mass needed to keep the louder sounds — such as the sound of traffic — out.
Instead, a soundproofing technique, like installing a mass-loaded barrier or using a specialized soundproof drywall, are more likely to give you that peace of mind.
Mistake #2: Using the Wrong Soundproofing Materials
Go onto TikTok, and you’ll find many influencers offering DIY solutions to block sound. Their choice of materials could include anything from egg cartons to thick carpets. And, sure, while some of these materials can be effective at minorly improving sound, they are far from a professional solution to dealing with noise.
Instead, soundproofing requires using thin but dense materials that prevent sound waves from traveling through walls and ceilings — a task that a lightweight item like an egg carton cannot achieve.Some common materials used to soundproof a room include mass-loaded barriers, acoustic caulk, and reinforced drywall.
Mistake 3: Ignoring Air Gaps and Weak Points
Even once you’ve procured the high-quality materials, their installation throws up several more challenges. For example, many casual soundproofers don’t realize how much small gaps around doors, windows, and vents can impact your efforts.
Since sound can easily travel through any of these openings, professionals will put in great effort to plug the gap. In most cases, they’ll do so with the help of an acoustic sealant, caulk, or expanding foam.Many online resources suggest that soundproof curtains or heavy furniture can provide the mass needed to block sound — but this is a misinformed opinion, as most of these objects are ineffective at sealing gaps.
Mistake 4: Poor Installation Techniques
Similarly, the installation process throws up several other pitfalls. Even if you account for all the gaps and read up about the best soundproofing solutions, there’s no guarantee that you know exactly how and where to place the materials.
In fact, one of the biggest errors amateur soundproofers make is installing panels over walls or ceilings without removing the original surface first. This is a big mistake that could render your expensive soundproofing equipment about as useful as an egg carton.
Similarly, failing to connect the soundproofing partition to walls, floors, and ceilings with an isolation strip gives sound enough of a gap to travel through.
The only way to ensure that you’ve covered all bases is to work with a professional who understands how to layer materials and seal connections.
Mistake 5: Expecting a One-Size-Fits-All Solution
Every space has unique acoustics and noise challenges. Relying on a generic solution you read online without accounting for your specific needs first isn’t just highly inefficient—it’s basically a waste of time.It’s very rare for two rooms to use the exact same soundproofing methods and techniques.
To find a solution that best fits your needs, you need to know how sound works. And not just how sound waves move but also how they interact with various surfaces and materials and how they travel across rooms of different sizes and layouts.
Why Professional Soundproofing Matters
While DIY attempts can be tempting for their perceived cost benefits, we urge you to think long-term. Simply pushing a bookshelf against a wall may cost you nothing — but it also does essentially nothing to fix common soundproofing problems either.
On the other hand, working with a professional comes with significant advantages:
- A professional will conduct an acoustical analysis to identify the source of the noise and offer you a customized solution.
- Experts have access to high-quality materials that aren’t available in retail stores. Some, like Evolve Acoustics, even create their own bespoke solutions.
- The installation process goes off without a hitch and ensures that you see the results without wasting money on mistakes and inefficiencies.
Essentially, when you work with a professional like Avi from Evolve Acoustics, you save an incredible amount of time and money that would be wasted on trial-and-error, misleading Google search results, and common DIY soundproofing errors.
Let Us Evolve Your Soundproofing Efforts
To avoid major soundproofing mistakes and turn your room into a sanctuary, don’t hesitate to contact us for a free consultation today.
For several years, our professional soundproofing services have helped homes, businesses, and workspaces benefit from custom solutions. For an idea of what our completed projects look like, browse through our gallery — or scroll through our services in detail on our website.
