Fabric on the walls, i.e. wall hangings. The thicker the better. An area rug or two will also help.

It's amazing how well this works. I find that my bathroom gets all echo-y when I've taken away the towels on laundry day. It's really just one towel, a facecloth, and a bathmat.

(I assume you rent, therefore installing serious soundproofing technologies isn't a realistic option.)

Yes, if you are talking about the external part of your apartment's walls, you can purchase soundproof sheetrock and have a contractor install it on the outside of the walls. Living in a private house with multiple apartments and plagued by a similar issue, I would also say that the sound is travelling from the floor and ceiling, or rather the lack of insulation on the floor substrata. So I would suggest to cover the floors with thick rugs, we did this, and it has improved a lot. For the walls I am afraid there is no other way than the expensive way... sheetrocking...

I assume the writer is a staff member of the school, since I'm pretty sure they don't just rent out parts of boarding school dorms. I definitely second the fabric on the walls idea and area rugs.

There are these 'egg carton' type of insulation you put on the wall. I believe you can get them where they sell stereo equipment or even at fabric stores. Then I suggest to go over them with a nice printed fabric or solid of your choice to cover them as they are not attractive unless you want that 'futuristic' look. :o}
Good Luck..I would have liked to see a picture of your apartment..sounds lovely.

...and when we all say "wall hangings", this includes window treatments. Thick, well lined (even thermal) curtail panels on all of your windows will also help stop sound bouncing around the room. If you don't need curtain panels for function, put up some large stationary fabric panels as curtains and let them just frame out the windows. (Hang them high and wide!) You could even DIY these using a thick, beautiful upholstery fabric, a big roll of hem tape (no sewing!), curtain clip rings and any type of rod you like. Hope this helps!

The people who design and build recording studios know all of the tricks to soundproofing a room. I built a studio around 10 years ago and here are a few points that I learned.

1. Sound waves travel through air, so any air gaps will allow sound to escape. If there are cracks, vents, or openings of any kind, the sound will get through.

2. Sound waves pass through solid surfaces by vibrating the surface and then passing the vibration to the air on the other side. Increase the mass of any large surface to reduce how much it can vibrate. More mass, less sound transmission.

3. Sound will reflect on any flat surface. Sound waves vary in length from several feet to less than a millimeter. If you have ever watched the waves at a beach, you noticed that some waves are more powerful than others, because of the convergence of two waves adding their energy. Low frequency sound converges when reflected off surfaces and creates loud zones, particularly in corners.

To truly soundproof a room, you really only have a few options.

The first order of business is to seal up the room and make sure there isn't an "all air" connection to the adjoining spaces. The second order is to increase the mass of the walls, and/or decouple the room surfaces using a construction approach called "room within a room". This last one isn't something you are likely to do unless you are building a recording studio.

You can increase mass with another layer of sheetrock, you can suspend mass-loaded vinyl between the layers. You can "stucco" the walls with a thick layer of joint compound.

After these are done, you can reduce sound reflection and resonance in your room with rugs, acoustic panels made of fabric-covered rigid fiberglass insulation, and thick curtains. Thick, fabric chairs in corners will help reduce low-frequency build-up.

The people who design and build recording studios know all of the tricks to soundproofing a room. I built a studio around 10 years ago and here are a few points that I learned.

1. Sound waves travel through air, so any air gaps will allow sound to escape. If there are cracks, vents, or openings of any kind, the sound will get through.

2. Sound waves pass through solid surfaces by vibrating the surface and then passing the vibration to the air on the other side. Increase the mass of any large surface to reduce how much it can vibrate. More mass, less sound transmission.

3. Sound will reflect on any flat surface. Sound waves vary in length from several feet to less than a millimeter. If you have ever watched the waves at a beach, you noticed that some waves are more powerful than others, because of the convergence of two waves adding their energy. Low frequency sound converges when reflected off surfaces and creates loud zones, particularly in corners.

To truly soundproof a room, you really only have a few options.

The first order of business is to seal up the room and make sure there isn't an "all air" connection to the adjoining spaces. The second order is to increase the mass of the walls, and/or decouple the room surfaces using a construction approach called "room within a room". This last one isn't something you are likely to do unless you are building a recording studio.

You can increase mass with another layer of sheetrock, you can suspend mass-loaded vinyl between the layers. You can "stucco" the walls with a thick layer of joint compound.

After these are done, you can reduce sound reflection and resonance in your room with rugs, acoustic panels made of fabric-covered rigid fiberglass insulation, and thick curtains. Thick, fabric chairs in corners will help reduce low-frequency build-up.

Making all of this look good is a matter of using your creativity. :-)

An ex of mine had soundproofing foam on the wall as decor (and for some function) It was these: http://www.zzounds.com/item--AUR2WD01CG with 2 rows of four hung diagnonlly with each one rotated differently. It worked as bachelor pad "art". Obviously not everyone's style, but I believe they make different colors so perhaps you could find some thing that fits your style.

Old plaster walls are a good start--they tend to transmit less sound than drywall.

As other posters have said, the more fabric in the room, the more the sound will get caught in your room and not transfer to other spaces in the building. Curtains, rugs, upholstered furniture, fabric wall hangings (quilts, tapestries) will all help.

Plants are also useful in controlling sound. The leaves help break up the sound reflections, or something. So consider an indoor tree or lots of smaller plants.

Bookcases filled with books, not pretty objects, will also help to block the sound from traveling. Put them on the shared walls. I've found this to be a huge help, but then I have an awful lot of books.

Move TV and any sound systems away from the shared walls. Don't have phone conversations near the shared walls.

I know restaurants use felt on the underside of tables to limit sound transferrance. Perhaps you could research this and find out if you can use it to your advantage..?

Also, I'm seconding the rugs and wall hangings. Thinking also that you could put a felt backing on any picture frames that are on the offending walls to abosrb some of the sound.

I believe that if you position the bookcases-with-books (suggested by Xarkady) a couple of inches out from the walls, the gap reduces sound transmission further.
And do watch out for any actual open airways (ventilation ducts, etc.) which are supehighways for sound transmission.
The do-it-yourself little foamy insert gizmos that are sold to insulate light switchplates (& outlets) should help too, if you wiring is on a shared wall.

Tim is correct: soundproofing (when it comes to the materials you're using to do the soundproofing) is all about mass. So if you're going to hang something to dampen the noise, it better have some mass to it.

Talk to the administrator about their doing the soundproofing properly. The school may feel it is to their benefit for you to hear everything that is going on and care little that you feel like the fish in the fishbowl while running a residence hall. If that is the case I strongly recommend asking them for more bookcases for all your books and for additional wood wardrobes without mentioning it is for soundproofing. Have personal phone conversations under thick down comforters and keep your voice down. Keep work conversations brief and use email or instant messenger where possible.Use the closed caption feature on your television and lower the volume. Best of luck.

A trick I see often to dampen sound in tall-ceilinged rooms and a few restaurants: fabric stretched over a frame (stretcher bars for artist canvas will work) and hung horizontally from the ceiling on monofilament. Sort of like a dropped ceiling. You wouldn't want to do that across the whole place, but perhaps in your office corner, over your desk? Otherwise, thick rugs, curtains and thick textiles on the walls (kantha quilts are inexpensive and colorful). Purchasing a large artist canvas (paint it one color if you are not artistically inclined) and backing it with foam, quilt batting, corrugated cardboard, etc., before hanging it on the wall is a cheap way to make art and block sound at the same time.

I am considering a future project to help this same problem. I live in a (rented) 1920s house that has been converted to several units and the walls are thin. The suggestions about more fabric is correct. If you have a blank wall, you might consider installing heavy curtains that could be pulled close at night. This is how music performance spaces control acoustics. Music practice rooms often have large padded canvas-like pieces hanging on the walls. As one commentator suggested, you could have a DIY piece that is decorative. Often theater seats are insulated with sound-absorbing material, so consider filling hard, hollow furniture pieces you have with soft items. In my own small space, I plan to have shelves (IKEA Expedit) all alongside the walls. Before situating all of them, I thought about backing them in carpet or some kind of thick sound-absorbing material. This way the sound-proofing isn't quite as noticeable. As others have suggested, rugs on the floors and walls are effective and good-looking.

Pad and cover a folding screen? My current condo has double 3/4 Sheetrock with a space between and I can't hear much of anything between walls. But anything that drops on the floor above me transmits. Oh for some spray in Eco--expansion foam when my upstairs neighbor decides to vacuum after midnight...but that's another issue! :D

Tim's comment is thorough and absolutely correct. If you have air leaks, you're going to have a lot of noise. We noticed a small difference in noise when we patched a bunch of holes in walls behind cabinets, etc. But the air leaks in our windows allowed in a ton of noise. We live near a major airport, an expressway, and multiple railroads, and new windows made it almost silent inside.

For your own peace of mind, you may want to have a friend come over and verify what can be heard where--i.e., are phone conversations more audible from one room vs. another? You don't want to feel like you can never talk on the phone anywhere in your own home! Good luck.

Can you get this thick felt wall covering in the States? Great stuff.
http://www.buzzispace.com/products/buzziskin

There is also an AT piece in the archive about a guy who covered his walls with Ikea down comforters.

All the best!

Hard smooth surfaces (like glass, tiles and, yes hardwood floors) reflect sounds much more efficiently than soft or uneven/rough surfaces (like foam, fabric, carpet). It sounds like you have a lot of hard surfaces in your apartment - aside from the hardwood floors I'm guessing you also have smooth-plastered, possibly even gloss-painted walls and large windows. So basically you need to counterbalance the hard/smooth surfaces with soft/rough ones. This is why fabric panels will help, as will area rugs and curtains. Basically anything with an uneven surface. Also if you have for example glassware or ceramics on display try to put them in enclosed storage instead as they are adding to your problem.

Tim is right - many others are mostly wrong. I work in the acoustics industry and there is a huge difference between sound absorbing materials and soundproofing materials - although they are usually used synonymously.

Putting up soft things like acoustical foam, blankets and curtains with 'absorb' sound within your apartment and make your space less reverberant and echo-y, but it will NOT stop sound transmission through your walls, which seems to be your issue.

To truly soundproof you can add mass, like mass loaded vinyl, within the walls during construction, apply damping materials that catch sound vibration and convert it to heat energy like damping compound, and also isolate your walls creating a room within a room. Since you are renting, your best bet is a damping compound like Quiet Glue Pro (http://acousticalsolutions.com/31~quietglue-pro) or Green Glue and an additional layer of drywall to your existing walls.

Also - if you have windows and doors, these are weak points when soundproofing. There are acoustical window seals (http://acousticalsolutions.com/66~acoustic-window-seals) and door seal kits (http://acousticalsolutions.com/598~door-seal-kits) available to retrofit soundproofing to these existing weak spots.

A friend soundproofed his small bathroom by spraying expanding foam insulation through tiny holes in the wall. It would be really expensive to do that in a larger high ceilinged room, but maybe a contractor could blow in insulation.

bookshelves with books are good, as are large pieces of furniture, such as cabinets and armoires, on the walls between the apartments. I have a large armoire with shelves containing bed linens and folded clothes and hear nothing from the apartment next door who like to play loud music late at night.

cork

I think the best way to sound proof a room and leave a good finish is obviously to use some type of insulation, and then cover that with hard board. The most commonly used insulator is something like polystyrene. Once applied, this can then be covered over with hardboard, or something that will deflect the sound. It depends on what you are using the room for.

If you are looking to soundproof the room including the floor. I would definitely advise that you try finding something similar to this structural protection matting http://www.floormats.co.uk/commercial-matting/structural-protection-mats Once laid, this can be done over with hardwood. And on top of that, a carpet can be put down.

If you do this, you will have a very soundproof room.

You can try various noise stop methods depending on which suites you -
1. Thick double layered curtains
2. Acoustic Door Seals
3. Products such as Green Glue to make additional wall panels
4. Soundproof Windows which are typically done using double glazed glass as depicted on this website http://www.grillesnglass.com/glass-windows/soundproof-windows/

Hope this helps!

Hi There,

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