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Soundproofing Doors at Home Depot

The walls of my listening room are pretty solid, but a fair bit of noize seems to leak out underneath the door, which then echoes into the hallway which is acoustically bright and reflective.

Consulting websites which are devoted to soundproofing, I have found some impressive but very expensive solutions: seals which move up and down, lead lined recording studio doors, door sized covers etc etc.

For my purposes, I would greatly appreciate any advice on how I might install a simple, inexpensive solution for this old wooden door which has a gap of at least an inch.

Would home depot have a seal that you would recommend? A heavy rubber flap for the door jam?

Has anyone had success doing this yourself?

cheers

cwlondon
cwlondon
rwwear
2,851 posts
 
The exterior door is the way to go. Just make sure you use a threshold with a seal.
bulldogger
262 posts
 
The exterior door with seals all the way around it the way to go. No offense but I do not believe some of you have any experience with sound reduction. Drapes would to nothing for something like this. To block sound, you have to stop air transmission and that mean seals and that means mass. The heavier the door the better. Even a metal door with seals is better than an interior door without. When the door is installed, also caulk around the perimeter of the frame before you put up the trim. If you do not, your sound proofing is only as good as the thickness of the trim,which usually is not thick, that you install.
zaikesman
3,017 posts
 
No offense taken -- the light-duty suggestions aren't supposed to hermetically seal off the room, just cut down HF reverberation a bit, in keeping with CWL's expressed wish for ideas that A) are inexpensive and B) keep the present door intact. I agree that this approach can't be of greater than middling effectiveness, but I don't think more is possible unless those two preconditions were to be removed, in which case have at it. But I can't really tell whether his main priority is alleviating a residual annoyance inside the listening room, or making the rest of the house quieter...
acadie
54 posts
 
An exterior door is the solution on the cheap side. That is what I did for my dedicated listening room.
jwc37
38 posts
 
Another vote for an exterior door. I bought one with a small double-pane window so that one may see to the other side which was an important consideration for my wife. It is best solution I have found. Caulk well as mentioned above.
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