Home Theater Room: Tips on How to Soundproof a Room
Home Theater
Sometimes, you just want to stay at home and chill. One of the best ways to do that is to watch some movies and feel like you are in an actual theater. It is as if you are disconnected from the world, and it’s just you and your movie, and maybe even your bag of popcorn. That, of course, will only happen if you have a soundproof room. Do you think it’s way too expensive to have? Do you think it takes a lot of work? Fret not. There are a lot of possible ways to make your room, or home theater room soundproof.
Interior Design
The best time to make a soundproof room for your home theater is before you even construct a house and be guided with a home theater room design. That way, you can design the interior of your house and consider the distance of the rooms. Make sure that the door openings do not face each other. This will lessen the noise that comes in and out from every room. Another way is to thicken your walls, so they can act as mufflers. A lot of people recommend using fiberglass batt insulation for more silence. Vinyl windows, especially those which are double or triple framed sheet, also act as effective insulators against the noise. It would also be helpful if you have a vast space in the house. This will help the sound spread and make it less contained. Like what science says, sound travels the fastest and the farthest when on air.
Slight Renovation
Even though your house has been built already, there are still a lot of ways to make sure your home theatre room is soundproof. Slight renovation of your chosen room can be done by making use of the interior design mentioned as your guide. Just like what was aforementioned, you can put any insulation on the walls. This will prevent the noise from getting to the other side of the room. Another way is by utilizing the room within a room (RWAR) soundproofing method. Creating a new room inside with provided wall gap between the new walls and the original walls can lessen or eliminate sound travel from your home theater to your neighborhood, thus keeping your sounds surround at the same time, not annoying to your neighbors.
Noise Absorbent and Noise Reduction Materials
Another technique is to use noise absorbent and noise reduction materials such as a special type of latex paint, like the famous Acousti-coat. It is water-based and is formulated with high concentration of noise insulation chemicals to absorb sound. It can be painted all over the walls and the ceiling. Acousti-coat is a 30% sound proofing material, therefore it is expected that minimal noise can still be heard from the other side of your home theater room. And of course, the oldest trick in soundproofing your room is using a lot of carpets on the floor or even on the walls; and curtains for the windows. The thicker and softer they are, the better and the more sound will be absorbed.
Your Privacy and Consideration to the Neighbors
When your neighbors feel like doing on-the-spot repairs which will require a lot of hammering, you can be assured that you won’t be bothered from watching your favorite movie in your home based movie theater. Same goes when you feel like eating your midnight snack while watching a movie, you won’t bother your neighbors who are in the middle of their sleep.
