The majority of us will mainly use our garage to park our car. However, there’s quite a large number of people who use it for a wide range of projects, such as small carpentry projects, band practice, and much more.
These can often make much more noise than your neighbors, or other family members might be comfortable with. However, this doesn’t mean that you’ll have to stop any of your projects or move band practice somewhere else.
Instead, soundproofing your garage could be the right route to take. By doing so, you’ll be able to continue your band practice or DIY projects without bothering anyone. While many of us might think that only a professional can do this, it’s far from the truth.
You should be able to soundproof your garage quite easily by taking a few simple steps. If you’re already a fan of DIY projects, then this shouldn’t take you too long. If you’re not a DIY enthusiast, however, it doesn’t mean that it’ll be too complicated for you.
Instead, soundproofing your garage is much more straightforward than the majority of us may have thought. While some of the steps you’ll have to take might be time-consuming, they’re much less hassle than you would have considered, and shouldn’t be too complicated for the majority of homeowners.
What You’ll Need To Soundproof A Garage
Naturally, the first step that you’ll need to take when soundproofing a garage is making sure that you have the right materials to do so. This is something that many of us might not know too much about, aside from some of the obvious things.
However, there are a few key things that you should need when soundproofing, including:
Typically, you’ll be able to find each of the above at a hardware or DIY store. However, these can often be much more expensive than you might be willing to pay. This doesn’t have to be an issue, as you’ll be able to find everything you need to buy online.
How much of the materials you’ll need with vary drastically depending on your garage. This should mean that you’ll need to take a few measurements before you buy any of the materials.
While this will naturally mean waiting a few days for delivery, there’ll be quite a large cost saving. Despite this, it’s always recommended that you go for one of the more expensive options that are available with each.
This is mainly because cheaper alternatives might often not be as high-quality as you might like. While this isn’t always the case, it’s certainly worth comparing a few options to ensure that it’s affordable while still offering a significant amount of soundproofing.
Step By Step Guide To Soundproofing Your Garage
Once you’ve gotten all of the materials you need, you’ll be able to soundproof your garage. While this may be somewhat time-consuming, it shouldn’t be as difficult as you might think, with the majority of steps being quite straightforward.
Each step should prove to be quite effective at reducing the level of noise that escapes your garage. While you might find that your garage is soundproof after taking only a few of the steps, it’s still worth doing each of them together to ensure that it’s properly soundproof.
This will ensure that sound doesn’t escape from any part of your garage, regardless of what projects you might be doing inside. As a result, you should find that you’ll have no more noise complaints from your neighbors or anyone inside the house itself.
There are several specific steps to take, with each being just as effective as the others.
1. Soundproof The Windows
If you’re using your garage for band practice, then there’s a large chance that you’re not going to need a view. This should mean that you’ll be free to cover up the windows with a variety of things to help soundproof them. Doing so could be vital to soundproofing your garage, although there are a variety of ways to do this.
This first is to brick up your window, which should avoid any noise from getting through it. Taking this approach can often be much more efficient than the many other available methods, which is why it’s worth considering. However, there are a few less labor-intensive approaches to soundproofing your windows.
First, you’ll need to make sure that there aren’t any cracks or holes around the window. If you find any, then you’ll be able to seal these with an acoustic caulk, which is a quick and easy way of adding a large amount of soundproof-ability. However, you’ll need to take a few additional steps when doing so.
The most effective is to place soundproof curtains on your windows, which should have quite a noticeable impact on the amount of sound that gets through. When choosing one of these, it’s worth picking one that’s as thick as possible, as these will be much more effective than thinner models.
Window plugs have also been quite a well-recommended option to take for quite a significant amount of time. However, there’s a large chance that you’ll need to make this yourself, which should take a considerable amount of time.
There’s also the option of replacing your garage window with ones that are either double- or triple-glazed. These are much more soundproof than many others, which makes them a viable option.
2. Soundproof The Garage Door
Next to the windows, the garage door is the largest place where noise will escape. You’ll need to pay a significant amount of attention to make sure that it’s as soundproof as possible. However, this is a step that could be somewhat more complicated than others, as you’ll need to make sure that you can still open and close the door.
There are a few ways that you should be able to do so, with one of the most effective being to hang soundproof curtains or blankets by the door. These are typically made from fiberglass or other sound-absorbing materials. As a result, they should have quite an impact on the amount of sound that gets outs.
One drawback to using acoustic curtains is that you’ll need to cut them up so that they fit your garage door perfectly. While this is a slightly time-consuming process, it can be well worth it.
If soundproof curtains are slightly outside of your budget, then you could consider moving blankets. While these are slightly less effective, they can be much more affordable while still reducing the amount of sound that escapes your garage.
Once you’ve installed either of these, you should notice that there’s much less noise coming out of the garage, which should be great news for your neighbors.
3. Use Panels On The Garage Ceiling
The garage ceiling is an area that many of us might forget when we’re soundproofing. However, much more sound can escape this way than you might have thought, so you’ll need to take a few steps that are focused specifically on this. While not essential, it’s highly recommended, especially when your neighbors live quite close.
There are a few relatively easy ways that you should be able to do so. Perhaps the most effective of these are soundproof tiles and foam panels, which should offer quite a significant amount of noise reduction.
These typically come in the shape of wedge or pyramid shapes and should be placed along your garage’s ceiling. Once done, these should increase your garage’s acoustics and make sure that little noise escapes from your garage if any.
If you’re planning in a band, these have the added benefit of allowing you to hear the music much better. As a result, you could be able to reduce the volume you play at, which could help make sure that your neighbors hear as little of it as possible.
It’s also recommended that you put some of these up around your walls, too. This should then help make your garage quite soundproof.
4. Put Up Some Acoustic Blankets
Naturally, you might need much more soundproof tiles for your walls than you would for your ceiling. This will typically mean that you’ll have to spend a large amount of money buying them, which the majority of us will want to avoid. There are a few things that you can use instead of acoustic tiles when soundproofing the walls.
Some of the more effective of these are using acoustic blankets similar to the ones you used for the garage door. These are often quite affordable and will cover a much larger area than acoustic tiles, although they’ll be slightly less effective. However, they’re still a relatively cost-effective way of soundproofing your garage.
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When you’re putting these up, you try to use ones that are as thick as possible, as these will offer much more soundproof traits than thinner models. Alongside this, it could be worth layering the blankets to soundproof your garage as much as possible.
5. Soundproof The Floors
While you might not think it, a large amount of sound can be transmitted through your garage floor. This is especially true if you’re using amps that are placed on the floor or even a drum kit. As such, you’ll need to take a few measures to reduce this as much as possible.
This can be much easier than you might think, as it will typically involve placing a soft fabric on the garage’s floor. While the majority of thick rugs should do the trick, it’s worth considering memory foam carpets, as these will be quite effective, possibly much more than you might expect.
- Durable Cushion - dense 1/3-inch thick felt adds soundproofing and insulation; non-abrasive to protect rugs and floors from scratches; adds extra comfort underneath rugs without extra bulking.
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As a rule of thumb, it’s worth making sure that the carpet or rug is quite thick. This is predominantly because thicker products will be much more effective at soundproofing than their thinner counterparts.
6. Bring Your Neighbors Over
While each of the above steps should have quite a significant impact on soundproofing your garage, they might not do so as much as you might need. Rather, it might not be up to your neighbor’s standards. Should this be the case, then there are still a few things that you might be able to do.
Prominent among these is by showing your neighbors that you’ve done everything possible to soundproof your garden. While they might have noticed this somewhat already, it’s still worth considering showing them exactly what you’ve done.
This might be enough to get them to stop making noise complaints and let you be. At a minimum, it should show them that you’re doing your best to be a quality neighbor and that you’ve taken their needs into account.
However, it could also be worth reducing the volume of any musical equipment that you might be playing in the garage. While you’ll only be able to do this to a minimal extent, it should work wonders when coupled with each of the above steps.
Alongside this, you should consider playing music only during hours where you’re not likely to bother your neighbors. This can also be the case if you’re working on any other projects that might generate a significant amount of noise.
While this might be quite restricting, you could come to an agreement with your neighbors where they might have no problem with noise being created during certain hours. This could make it vital to speak to your neighbors during and after the soundproofing process.
Conclusion
Each of the above steps should be a great DIY approach to soundproofing your garage. The majority should have a significant impact by themselves, although it’s recommended that you use all of them to make sure that it’s quite soundproof.
However, this doesn’t mean that no sound will escape from your garage, as this can often be impossible, especially if you don’t hire a professional. Instead, it means that you’ll have a significant amount of noise reduction once each of the steps has been implemented.
As a result, you should be able to do any projects in your garage without bothering your neighbors or anyone in your home. This should mean that everybody will be happy once you’ve finished soundproofing your garage.
Naturally, you’ll need to keep your garage door closed for your efforts to be effective, which could be something that many people might overlook. However, by closing it while you’re soundproofing, you’ll be able to do some of the above work on it, although you’ll have to make sure that it can still open and close once this has been done.
Though it will take you a significant amount of time to do each of the above steps, it should be well worth it. With that in mind, what’s stopping you from soundproofing your garage? It’s much more affordable than you might think, and you’ll be able to make sure that you’re not bothering anybody with any projects or by practicing with your band.