Working from home is fantastic. Not having to commute and deal with traffic is something that I love now that I’ve started working from home.
However, working from home means that you won’t be in a typical work environment where excessive noises, like the ones your kids make while playing, aren’t an issue.
This is why soundproofing a home office is so important, because reducing unwanted distractions means that you will be able to work much more efficiently.
In this article I will go over each of the steps necessary to properly soundproof a home office, starting with the ones I feel will be most effective.
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How to Soundproof a home office
Start by soundproofing the doors and windows using a weatherstrip and installing a door sweep, since this is where most of the unwanted noises can get in.
This should take care of the issue in 99% of the cases, but you could also consider installing drywall to insulate the walls, getting a thick rug, and acoustically treating the room.
Insonorización versus absorción acústica
Insonorización es el proceso de aislar o bloquear el sonido, no permitiéndole entrar o salir de una habitación.
Para hacer esto, necesitarás usar materiales que estén diseñados para no dejar pasar el sonido, como vinilo cargado en masa, paneles de yeso, etc.
Absorción de sonido Se basa en materiales que absorben bien el sonido, como paneles acústicos, mantas acústicas, etc. para reducir el eco en el interior de una habitación.
La absorción del sonido, aunque no es excelente a la hora de insonorizar, seguirá siendo útil, por lo que es posible que desees utilizarla junto con materiales que bloqueen el sonido para lograr los mejores resultados.
Puedes aprender más sobre el diferencias entre insonorización y tratamiento acústico aquí.
Ahora, entremos en la guía.
1. Insonorizar la puerta
Soundproofing is all about sealing every single gap or crack where sound might be allowed to get in- or out, since no matter how small the gap, it will still be able to get through.
Insonorizar una puerta se puede hacer en unos 15 minutos y por muy poco dinero, y los resultados se notarán mucho.
Un consejo para comprobar si la puerta está correctamente sellada es hacer que alguien se pare al otro lado de la puerta (con la puerta cerrada) usando una linterna para iluminar todo el marco. Tú, desde el otro lado de la puerta, no deberías ver pasar ninguna luz si está sellada correctamente.
Si puedes ver ciertos puntos por donde entra la luz, trabaja en ellos hasta que estén sellados.
Steps to soundproofing a Home Office door;
- Burlete de la puerta: La cinta burlete es, con diferencia, la mejor herramienta para crear un sello hermético entre la puerta y el marco.
- Utilice masilla acústica: Si bien no es tan importante, el sellador acústico puede ayudarlo a sellar cualquier espacio que se haya formado a lo largo de los años entre el marco y la pared.
- Instalar un barrido de puerta: Un barrido de puertas cubrirá el espacio que queda abierto entre el piso y la puerta.
Si bien hacer estas cosas ya debería proporcionar una mejora drástica, si desea insonorizar la puerta aún más, entonces lee mi publicación sobre cómo insonorizar adecuadamente una puerta.
Nota IMPORTANTE: If your home office has a Sliding Door, then soundproofing it might be a bit different. But don’t worry, since here’s a guía sobre cómo insonorizarlos which will take you through the whole process step by step.
2. Insonorizar las ventanas
Glass isn’t particularly known for its insulation capabilities, which means that windows are definitely a place that you will need to work on to soundproof your home office, especially if they are somehow connected to the rest of the house, which isn’t that normal but I’ve seen it happen. In fact, my home office has a window that connects it to the kitchen.
El proceso de insonorizar las ventanas es casi idéntico al de las puertas, pero si quieres una guía completa de cómo hacerlo, aquí tienes mi guía sobre cómo insonorizar ventanas.
Pasos para insonorizar una ventana
- Utilice un burlete: El mismo concepto se aplica aquí; coloque el burlete al marco y esto debería crear un sello hermético al cerrar la ventana.
- Utilice masilla acústica: Si hay un pequeño espacio entre el marco y la pared, lo que suele ocurrir en ventanas más antiguas, use masilla para sellarlos.
- Instalar cortinas acústicas: Colgante cortinas acústicas de buena calidad absorberá parte del sonido.
- Utilice mantas móviles: Las mantas para mudanzas son excelentes absorbentes de sonido y son fáciles de instalar.
Hay mucho más y si realmente desea insonorizar sus ventanas adecuadamente, consulte la publicación que vinculé anteriormente, pero siempre que coloque burletes en las ventanas y las cubra con un material muy grueso, debe estar listo.
Curtains are by far the best item to install on the windows since they serve three purposes; soundproofing, acoustic treatment, and they actually dress the room.
3. Insonorizar los enchufes eléctricos
You might be wondering why I’m even mentioning this, since one wouldn’t immediately think of outlets being the culprit of poor sound insulation, but they definitely can let noises in- or out and without much difficulty either.
The good news is that they are very easy to insulate, and in an affordable way also!
Pasos para insonorizar una toma de corriente
- Utilice un sello de salida: Estos sellos de goma van entre la placa y el cuadro eléctrico y evitarán tanto ruidos como corrientes de aire.
- Masilla Acústica: Masilla Acústica Se puede utilizar para insonorizar formas extrañas, como cajas eléctricas.
- Utilice masilla acústica: También puede utilizar masilla acústica entre la placa y la caja/pared eléctrica para crear un sello más adecuado.
Another alternative would be to get a weatherproof electrical outlet cover, but this could interfere with the aesthetics of the kitchen.
4. Soundproof the Air- Vents
The issue with air vents is that you can’t fully soundproof them without sealing them off entirely.
There are a couple things you can do, however, keep in mind that air vents are designed to keep air coming in and out of the room, which means that obstructing them will lower that air flow; E.g. Air conditioners.
Steps to Soundproofing Air-Vents
- Hang Sound absorbing materials in front of the vents
- Make a Sound absorbing maze inside of the vent
- Build a sound dampener
- Seal the vent
Hang Sound Absorbing Materials in front of the Vent
Using sound absorbing materials like acoustic blankets and hanging them in front of the air vent will decrease the amount of noise allowed into the home office.
This is the simplest and quickest solution, even though some sound will still be able to get through.
Build a Sound Dampener
This method can help slightly, but it will take more time than just hanging blankets in front of the Air vent.
Sólo necesitarás algunas piezas de madera contrachapada o tablero de fibra de densidad media, espuma acústica y algo de esfuerzo.
Debería verse así;
Make a Sound Maze inside the Vent
This one is a bit trickier to accomplish, but it does work.
Sound likes travelling in a straight line, as soon as you build a maze out of sound absorbing materials, like acoustic foam, for it to navigate before it can reach the office, the level of noise that ends up getting in will be drastically lower.
Debería verse así;
Combining this method and the previous one should result in a significant noise reduction.
Block the Vent Entirely
If you don’t care at all for the vent and just want to fully reduce the noise, then it might be a good idea to simply block it off.
Here you have two options;
- Stuff the vent full of sound insulating material and then cover it up with drywall.
- Use this Big Gap filler that you can get on Amazon and fill the hole with it. It will expand and be air-tight as well as water resistant.
After you’ve done this you can sand it off and paint over it.
4. Insonorizar las paredes
Si las paredes están mal aisladas, tal vez porque cuando se construyó la casa no le prestaron demasiada atención, entonces es posible que tengas que hacer algo al respecto tú mismo.
Solo te recomendaría este paso si sabes lo que estás haciendo o si contratas a un profesional, pero debes saber que podría terminar costándote una fortuna.
Agregue una capa adicional de paneles de yeso
Si bien puede ser bastante costoso y llevar mucho tiempo agregar paneles de yeso a las paredes existentes para agregar otra barrera que el sonido tendría que atravesar, en algunos casos podría ser la mejor manera de abordar realmente el problema.
Drywall no solo actuará como una barrera adicional, sino que también evitará que las vibraciones se propaguen por las estructuras de su hogar, lo que significa que bloqueará los sonidos del aire y los ruidos estructurales.
Una cosa adicional que podrías considerar hacer es agregar esto compuesto de insonorización a la parte posterior del panel de yeso para bloquear aún más el sonido.
Nota: Utilice masilla acústica para sellar los espacios que quedan entre las láminas de paneles de yeso.
Instale vinilo cargado en masa con paneles de yeso
Before you install the drywall, if you really want to take things to the next level, you should install MLV on the walls first and THEN the drywall on top of it.
- First you need to measure the surface that you want to cover, making sure that the MLV will cover as much of it as possible.
- Next cut the MLV to those exact measurements.
- Position the first strip of MLV in the top corner of the wall making sure that it’s straight and fasten it with nails, screws or a staple gun. Be generous with the staples since it’s heavy.
- Repeat the process until the entirety of the home office is covered.
- Cut out holes for the electrical outlets.
- Use acoustic caulk between each of the sheets of MLV, especially in the corners.
- Hang the Drywall and apply the desired finish.
I’d recommend you use this mass loaded vinyl which you can find on Amazon.
Cover the wall with Acoustic Blankets
Acoustic blankets-, while bring better at absorbing sound than blocking it, will provide an additional insulation layer to the walls, and if you cover the entire problematic wall with them, you should notice a difference.
Granted, it won’t be anywhere near as good as installing drywall, but it will help.
5. Insonorizar el suelo
The best way to reduce noise transmission is by decoupling the structures that are connected to each other so that the vibrations can’t be transmitted through them.
When it comes to the floor you have a couple of options;
- Instale tapetes entrelazados: Floor Mats will absorb your footsteps as well as the force of anything that you might drop on the ground, therefore also absorbing the noise that this might generate.
- Instalar un contrapiso para el piso: When installed under a laminate floor, this underlayment will absorb vibrations, footsteps, etc. which may otherwise cause noise.
- Install Carpet Padding: Carpet paddings will absorb any noise or vibrations and are generally installed under carpets.
- Instalar una alfombra gruesa: Installing a thick rug under your chair, or at strategic points in the home office, will help you absorb some noises (mostly footsteps as well as some airborne noise).
In most cases, I’d either recommend getting a thick rug or installing interlocking floor mats. The other two recommendations work well, but they require more work and are oftentimes more expensive as well.
6. Consider Acoustically treating the Home Office
Sound absorption isn’t that great at blocking outside noises, or in other words; external noises will still be able to reach even if you fill your home office with acoustic foam panels.
However, sound absorption will make it so that all the soundwaves in the room die out quicker, making it feel quieter.
This is especially useful if you need to record audio, since it will make it sound much more professional.
Here are some basic things you can do;
Purchase Acoustic Panels or make them Yourself
puedes comprar paneles acústicos en Amazon (enlace de afiliado) que ayudará a reducir el eco en la habitación.
Granted most of them don’t look to good, especially the cheap foam ones, but they will help.
What I’d recommend is making them yourself, since they will end up being more effective and cheaper, plus you can make them look however you want so that they work as part of the décor.
Hice paneles acústicos para el estudio de mi casa con lana de roca y luego también intenté hacer un par más con toallas, y ambos funcionan sorprendentemente bien, mucho mejor que los paneles de espuma normales.
Here’s a guía sobre cómo hacer paneles acústicos de lana de roca para $15 cada uno, or you can check out this video where you’ll learn how to make them using towels.
Utilice pinturas para la absorción del sonido
If you have any paintings that don’t have glass in front of them, or if you’re willing to remove it, you can follow the same ideas laid out in the video I just linked and stuff them full of towels, creating “acoustic paintings”, of sort.
¡De esta manera, podrás decorar la habitación con tus cuadros favoritos y hacer que también sean funcionales!
Consider Acoustic Curtains and Blankets
I already mentioned both these items previously, and if you’re trying to reduce the echo in a room, then installing a couple soundproofing curtains, or regular curtains that are thick and heavy, will help absorb those soundwaves.
Acoustic blankets can work just as well, but they don’t look as good, which is why I’d stick to the curtains.
Get the thickest rug you can find
I just mentioned this a second ago, but rugs-, especially the super thick ones, will help absorb a lot of the noises generated inside of your office.
Get a sofa and cushions
Sofas essentially work as a huge acoustic panel that’s right in the middle of the room, and getting a couple cushions for the sofa will not just help with décor of the room, but also at absorbing even more sound.
Granted, not everyone needs a huge couch in their living room, or may not have the space, but it can help.
Conclusión
I work from home writing articles and recording music, which means that I need a room that is both acoustically treated and soundproof.
Luckily, the room I chose for my home office was already very quiet, so I only had to soundproof the door and the window using a weatherstrip.
But I decided to make nine huge acoustic panels made out of rockwool, as well as also making a small sofa, and this changed the room entirely.
Soundproofing and treating the acoustics in your home office doesn’t need to be too complicated, and in most situations you only need to deal with the doors and windows, and that’s it! And this will cost you like $20 to do.
Espero que esta información haya sido útil!
¡Ten un día maravilloso!
Última actualización el 11 de mayo de 2022 por facundo
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