Soundproofing a basement doesn’t just mean making it a quiet place in your house to go. After all, if you’re looking for a nice place in your home to unwind, the basement probably isn’t the first place on your list to go. Usually, there are a lot of things in a basement that make noise. Washer, dryer, hot water heater and noisy pipes are just a few sounds that can find their way from your basement into the rest of your home. No matter how you look at it, soundproofing your basement to keep sounds from entering and escaping is always a savvy investment.
If you’re lucky enough to be a part of building your own house, during construction is the easiest time to soundproof a basement. This can be done by doing things like ensuring that there are no two doors in the basement built directly across from each other because if they are built this way it’s an invitation for sound to freely reverberate throughout your home because they act as a sound funnel.
Since most of us probably can’t build our own houses or buy them brand new, we should know that there are still some things that we can do to maximize basement soundproofing. One of the main causes of noise in homes, especially older homes, is squeaky floors and ceilings. If you’re interested in minimizing these sounds as well as other sounds in your home, Green Glue should be your new best friend. It’s a very useful tool in soundproofing and can assist you in easily installing another layer of drywall on your ceilings over the original, as well as on walls and floors to help block out unwanted sounds.
Another place that sounds enter and escape rooms and your entire home from are windows and window frames. Even though some basements don’t have windows, many do. If you’re soundproofing your basement, you’ll want to make sure that window frames are composed of vinyl or wood, as these materials stop sound in its tracks. You’ll also want to make sure that there are no places for sound to escape on the frames. Fill in any gaps with acoustical caulk. If it’s the windows themselves giving you problems with sound, it might be wise to replace them with soundproof glass or double paned glass.
Although the basement might not be your favorite part of your house, soundproofing with this method or with mass loaded vinyl it will make your home a more enjoyable place to be overall if you do a little basement soundproofing.
