WANT TO ROCK OUT? SOUNDPROOF YOUR GARAGE

Playing music is a great way to socialise, let off some steam, and develop yourself. Sadly, band practice usually requires a lot of space and makes a lot of noise. This can often leave you with one option; practice in the garage! But no-one wants band practice to be interrupted by angry neighbours, or worse, the police! Soundproofing keeps neighbours happy and lets musicians focus on their craft.

To effectively soundproof your garage, you first need to understand how sound travels. Sound travels due to particles vibrating. As one particle vibrates, it causes the particle next to it to vibrate. This causes a chain of vibrating particles which results in the sound travelling. We need to put in effective barriers to prevent the sound travelling out of the garage. Follow these few simple improvements to soundproof your garage.

1. Install a weather seal: Sound can escape through the gap underneath your door. Install a threshold weather seal to seal off this gap. Not only will it prevent sound escaping, it will also prevent rain, drafts, dust and rodents from entering.
2. Insulate the garage door: Most insulation uses pockets of air to prevent heat loss. These pockets of air are bad conductors of sound, and therefore help prevent the loss of sound out of the garage.
3. Carpet the garage floor: Concrete is a great transmitter of sound. A carpeted floor will reduce the amount of sound that reaches the concrete, reducing the amount of sound that escapes.
4. Install soundproof ceiling tiles: Sound can also escape through the garage roof. This is often less insulated, meaning there is no barriers to the sound. Soundproof ceiling tiles will reduce the amount of noise that can escape.
5. Install drywall: Layers of drywall, with air gaps between them, will again limit and reduce the conduction of sound and minimize the amount that passes out of the garage, helping to keep the noise down.

If you have followed these simple steps, the amount of noise leaving your garage should be significantly reduced. Now all that is left to do is ROCK ON!!!