Sounds through the walls can be irritating anytime, whether you’re sleeping or working on your dream project inside your home or office. There must be a thousand times you might have thought of stopping these sounds and looking for ways to make temporary soundproof walls.
Yes, there are ways to help you create temporary soundproof walls, and in this soundproof guide, I will bring you 15 of them.so if you ever asked yourself if you can make walls soundproof, this article is your answer.
As we know, it’s really expensive to rebuild the walls of your apartment and office buildings that leak sound. So, finding a temporary but effective solution will save our money and offer us a soundless peaceful journey between walls.
All the following ways to make the walls soundproof are temporary, and if you merge some of them, you will be able to temporarily soundproof a room. The soundproofing materials we will be using here today are mostly temporary, so you can remove them any time you want.
1. Soundproof Blankets
Using soundproof blankets on the wall is an effortless solution if the budget is very low.
You don’t require an expert to install these blankets on your wall as well. Adding them to a surface (in this case, on a wall) will increase the mass of the surface and block outside noises.
Recording studios use these blankets most, and you can install them on walls and doors, and windows.
These sound-deadening blankets are the best cheap soundproofing material on the market. Nail them on the surface, cover the area of the room, and they will block noise for sure.
2. Install Soundproof Wallpaper
You must have heard about wallpapers. No, not those that we use on digital screens like computers and Smartphones.
Wallpapers that are well designed and we use on the walls to decorate our interiors. Yes, you can block your apartment, and office room’s noise using appropriate wallpapers on the wall.
These wallpapers are easy to install as they are peel-and-stick type. The wallpapers mostly hold three-dimensional designs that can recreate your imagination on your wall.
You can install any design you like on the wallpapers and then install them. They can even work as an effective soundproof material that can make walls soundproof.
3. Acoustic Foam Panels
Acoustic foam panels are another effective and budget-friendly option that can solve your loud noise issue coming out from the walls.
They are very cheap and very easy to use around the walls of your rooms. You will have different designs to choose from, so if you don’t have to worry about the look of your interior.
As the acoustic foams and wedges are cheap, you will find them in recording studios, just like soundproof blankets. Try to purchase acoustic foam with self-adhesive features, or you have to purchase foam tape separately.
If your budget is slightly low, then you can try these to block the sound that leaks from your walls.
4. Seal and Caulk Possible Holes with soundproofing sealant
If your apartment or office is a bit old, the walls must have cracks and holes that help outside noises travel into your room. Noise travels through air, and air can travel anywhere through even a tiny hole or crack.
And nowadays there are a lot of electrical outlets we use in our house where holes are easy to find. To cover these holes and cracks, you can use acoustic sealant.
You can also use the green glue compound and chaulk through all the cracks and holes to close them as well. It can block both airborne and impact noise.
5. Soundproof Paint
Okay, the effectiveness of soundproof paint is still a debatable issue for users. But if you ask me, does it block sound?
Well, my answer will be Yes and No. There is a level of sound that the paint cannot block but reduce. But if you have a bass frequency level of sound, then the answer is no.
Basically, the soundproof paints are relatively thicker than the normal paint, and so they tend to reduce noises slightly. So if you have a low level of noise and want to reduce it, then you should go for it.
6. Install Mass Loaded Vinyl Mat
Vinyl mats are one of the best effective soundproof materials that you can put on your floor to block impact noise. But I am sure you never knew that it could block airborne noise when you install them on your walls as well.
The vinyl mat can absorb noise very well, and as they are made of thick material, they can work as a sound deadening material pretty efficiently.
On top of working as an effective soundproof material, they can also play a vital role in keeping the temperature of your room as intact as possible. So in winter, the temperature of your room will remain higher than outside.
7. Place Furniture Against the Wall
This solution is not to block outside noise but to reduce echoes in an empty room. Yes, an empty room can create echoes, and thus noise can seem loud.
So, you can put heavy furniture into the room to reduce the echoes. But as we search for ways to soundproof our walls, how can placing heavy furniture help us?
Well, if you place the furniture against the thin walls, then it will reduce outside airborne noise to some extent for sure. To make it effective, you have to find out from which area of the wall the sound is coming.
When you find that, just place the furniture there and keep a little bit of gap between the wall and the furniture. It will help to absorb noise and make your room soundproof.
8. Hang Soundproof Curtains on Walls
Hanging our soundproof curtains can be an effective solution if you use them with other soundproofing materials like blankets, acoustic foams, and many more. We use curtains or the window to block heat from the sun, but yes, there are some heavy soundproof curtains that you can use on your walls as well.
Moreover, curtains look more beautiful than other soundproof materials such as blankets and all. So you can hide them using the curtains also.
9. Put Strips on The Doors
I know you guys thought that this article would teach you how to create soundproof walls? But one of the familiar places that help noises travel into the room very quickly is the gap under the doors. So how to build a temporary soundproof wall, including that gap under your doors. Well, this is the solution that you can go for.
Use door strips to close that gap and block noise that travels from there. Try to use adhesive door strips so that they can stick to the door and block noises effectively.
10. Fix All the Sound Leaks
Check if your apartment or office has any sound leaks carefully because noise can escape from sound leaks into the room as well. Your electrical board or switches might get loose, the windows might have gaps between them, or if you use floorboards, then they might get loose and create sound leaks.
You can use duct tape, leak sealant, or stripes to the windows to fix all these leaks.
11. Focus on The Small Areas of The Wall
If you narrow down your soundproofing budget and don’t want to use soundproof materials all over the room, then this way will help you the most. As mentioned above, I have mentioned 3D wallpapers and acoustic foams to cover the walls might prove expensive to you.
So, to reduce the expense, you can focus on the exact areas that leak the noises the most. You can test it by creating loud noise from outside and telling your friend to observe and find the areas. Then use soundproof materials according to the requirement and budget in those areas. I hope the sound will reduce and you will have the noiseless experience you were looking for.
12. Changing the Doors
This is a much more expensive way that you can use to make walls soundproof. If the doors of your house or office are thin or hollow from the inside, then there is a possibility that they can’t block higher-frequency noises from coming in or letting out from the room.
In that case, if you have the budget, then I would like to suggest you change the doors and buy thicker, heavier, and more solid ones. Thick and solid doors block noises more effectively than thin and hollow doors.
13. Insulating the wall cavity using soundproof materials
Okay, I would suggest using this solution for those who are building or refixing the walls as it’s a very expensive way to make the walls soundproof. You can’t break your newly built house or rented office because it will take a lot of money, right? So while you are building or refixing the walls, only then go for this solution.
You can use soundproof materials such as spray cans that damp-blown cellulose over the walls and some soundproof materials inside the drywalls. It will be more effective and can block high-frequency noises as well.
14. Remove Air Gaps in The Walls
Air gaps in the walls are small, but they can be the perfect way of traveling sounds more than anything. Find them, mark them and use soundproof materials or sealant to fix them. You can use an insulation process to fill the air gaps, and the best part is that you can DIY this process quite easily.
If you have the budget, then I would suggest you hire professionals for this process. Other than that, you can even use duct tape to seal the gaps.
15. Add More Drywall to The Walls of The Room
So, in this article, I am sharing all the best possible temporary and budget-friendly solutions to make the walls soundproof. But the solution I am going to mention now will be expensive and for a long-term purpose.
You can add more than one drywall and keep it separate from the actual wall. So, by doing this, you will be able to make the sound bounce back where it came from.
Frequently Asked Questions
After reading my 15 ways, I am sure you guys must have some common questions about soundproofing walls. Below, I have tried to include some of the most common questions you might have.
How Can I Temporarily Soundproof a Room?
The answer to this question is very long, and I am sure if you have read this article, you might have got the answer already. To make it short, you can use soundproof materials for the walls, door stripes for the doors and windows and make your room soundproof temporarily.
How Can I Cheaply Soundproof a Wall?
You can use cheap and budget-friendly soundproof materials to make the walls soundproof such as heavy blankets, curtains, and acoustic foams.
How Can I Soundproof a Wall for Free?
So, if you don’t have enough budget for now but need to block noises ASAP, then you can use any soft but thick materials of your home on the walls to make soundproof walls for free.
Does Foam Soundproofing Work?
No, foams do not work effectively and make your walls soundproof as the acoustic foam does. Though manufacturers include insubstantial mass to block sound, the actual scenario is it is highly capable of absorbing sound.
Why Should You Do Soundproof Walls?
The answer is simple: nobody likes loud noises, especially when trying to concentrate on something important. On the contrary, you might not want any sound or noise leaks outside of your house, and people easily overhear you. In both situations, you should consider doing soundproofing to your walls.
Is Soundproofing Expensive?
As you can see from the above ways and solutions mentioned, most of them are budget-friendly. Yes, there are a couple of expensive ones, but not all of them are expensive. So, you can go for the expensive ones and also budget-friendly ones, whichever suits you well.
Downsides To Soundproofing A Wall
Yes, there are some downsides to soundproofing walls of your room or office. The first and most important one is that your room will get warmer and if you live in a warm location, you should think over all the solutions and go for the most suitable one for you. Sometimes it can be expensive if you really want to soundproof your room.
Tips For Soundproofing Better
Choosing what solution is best for you can make a reasonable margin of your time, and if you ask me, I would suggest you give that time to yourself to figure it out first. If you can find out what kind of soundproofing you need, your project of making the walls soundproof will be more effective than ever.
Start with simple solutions like sealing up small leaks and air gaps. If it doesn’t work, go for the next level and try to be as simple as possible.
Final Verdict
Well, above, I have shared the top 15 easy, effective, and budget-friendly ways to make walls soundproof of a room. Now you can easily know how you can make temporary soundproof walls within your budget. If your wall needs some advanced treatment to be able to block noises completely, then take help from the professionals.
Temporarily soundproofing your walls will help you to concentrate on what matters for you. And so, I encourage you to read this article carefully and know the possible ways.
