The Home Ownership Thread

[Gibonius]

Our new house is really not as noise isolating as I had hoped....on multiple levels.

On smaller scale, the vaulted ceilings seem like they were specifically designed to bounce noise from the kitchen, over the partition wall to the living room area. Somebody starts washing dishes and you can't hear the TV.

You can get some goofy standing wave patterns in room designs like that, transmit sound across the room very effectively.

I'd love to see a house that accidentally had a whispering gallery.

And then add in a bunch of things like...the doors aren't solid core so sound is harder to block out that way. Or the master bedroom backs up to a kitchen wall, but the wall doesn't appear to have any efforts to insulate the sounds so somebody getting up early and preparing breakfast sends a lot of noise into the bedroom. Also, I notice that my office door is built with the kind of gap you'd leave for HVAC purposes...except my office has a dedicated return and shouldn't need it.

Wasn't really looking to start replacing doors...but that might be on my list now. Might also consider some of the options for decorative acoustic panels (or artwork printed on acoustic fabric, backed by foam/wool) just to deaden things up a bit.

We have the cheapest hollow core doors in the universe, they barely block sound at all. I'd love to upgrade them, but then you start counting doors and multiplying by the cost of nicer doors and it gets a lot less appealing.

 

[double00]

Might also consider some of the options for decorative acoustic panels (or artwork printed on acoustic fabric, backed by foam/wool) just to deaden things up a bit.

you could also find some nice rugs to hang , think of it like artwork printed on acoustic fabric .

 

[brokencycle]

Our new house is really not as noise isolating as I had hoped....on multiple levels.

On smaller scale, the vaulted ceilings seem like they were specifically designed to bounce noise from the kitchen, over the partition wall to the living room area. Somebody starts washing dishes and you can't hear the TV.

On a larger scale, even though my office is on a 2nd story and offset above the garage, the stairwell orientation seems to give sound a straight shot up. Somebody sitting in the living room and talking (or watching TV...or a crying baby...) is very audible.

And then add in a bunch of things like...the doors aren't solid core so sound is harder to block out that way. Or the master bedroom backs up to a kitchen wall, but the wall doesn't appear to have any efforts to insulate the sounds so somebody getting up early and preparing breakfast sends a lot of noise into the bedroom. Also, I notice that my office door is built with the kind of gap you'd leave for HVAC purposes...except my office has a dedicated return and shouldn't need it.

Wasn't really looking to start replacing doors...but that might be on my list now. Might also consider some of the options for decorative acoustic panels (or artwork printed on acoustic fabric, backed by foam/wool) just to deaden things up a bit.

Where my computer is allows the sound of my voice to carry down the stairs and into one of the bedrooms. A combination of angled ceiling and hardwood floors allow sound to bounce. Solid doors definitely help. You can also do acoustic panels of some kind in addition to adding soft surfaces.

You can get some goofy standing wave patterns in room designs like that, transmit sound across the room very effectively.

I'd love to see a house that accidentally had a whispering gallery.



We have the cheapest hollow core doors in the universe, they barely block sound at all. I'd love to upgrade them, but then you start counting doors and multiplying by the cost of nicer doors and it gets a lot less appealing.

We replaced all the doors in our house in 2018. They were <$200/ea for solid core primed panel doors. It adds up but worth it to me.