One of the best things about having a home is being able to withdraw into your own safe haven and seclude yourself from the troubles of the outside world. This, however, is not an easy task since although walls and a solid lock can prevent most intrusion from entering your home, noise can circulate freely in and out. A serious problem like this deserves to be addressed, and here are some tips, tricks, and ideas on how to solve the issue of noise at home.
What does noise pollution mean?
Noise pollution isn’t always a bad thing. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that noise pollution is any noise that is louder than 65 decibels (dB). To be exact, noise is harmful when it is louder than 75 decibels (dB), and it hurts when it is louder than 120 dB. Because of this, noise levels should be kept below 65 dB during the day, and research shows that you can’t get a good night’s sleep if the ambient noise level is more than 30 dB.
What happens when there is too much noise?
- When loud noises are always around, they can damage the eardrums and cause hearing loss. It also makes the eardrums less sensitive to small sounds.
- Noise pollution can hurt your health and make you act more aggressively, have trouble sleeping, and feel more stressed and tired.
- It can mess up the way you sleep (it is recommended to take sound sleep and not noise sleep.
- Sound pollution can make your blood pressure, heart rate, and headaches worse.
- Loud noise hurts not just people but also animals. If they hear loud noises for a longer time, they may act more aggressively.
- Misunderstandings can happen when conversions are interrupted or interfered with.
The first thing you want is to prevent outside noises from entering your home. Imagine the scenario where you just returned home from an endless shift. You plan to take a short nap, but the pack of neighborhood dogs tends to disagree. There could also be construction or home remodeling taking place somewhere in your closest vicinity or even a traffic jam taking place. For these reasons, you want your home to be soundproof.
The Second, but not less significant, the reason is that sometimes you have to be too careful inside your own home. Imagine that you just bought a brand new overpowered sound system only to find out that you cannot set it on more than volume 2 without triggering the neighborhood watch. As we already mentioned, your home is your sanctuary, your safe haven, but in order to make it truly so, you must find a way to reduce the harmful influence of loud noises.
Solutions To Reduce Noise Pollution
Life In an Apartment
There are several tricks for reducing the noise coming from your neighbors’ apartments, as well as reducing the noise that you make in their homes. First of all, you simply cannot do a thing about the neighbors upstairs; it’s just the way things are. You can, however, improve the audio situation with your neighbors below. Add a quality, thick carpet to your floor and watch it do miracles. When it comes to the apartments around you, try lining your heavy furniture next to the shared walls or even adding sound-reduction wallpaper to the mix.
Soundproofing Your Home
Getting familiar with the essential soundproofing techniques will be your best ally in the battle against noise. When decorating your house, make sure that you use some sound-absorbing materials such as acoustic ceilings and padded carpeting instead of hardwood floors and some similar surfaces. Insulating your home is not only great for noise reduction but also has a great energy-saving value. Because of this, although pricier than some other modifications, insulation should be first on your list of priorities.
Weak Spots
Now, let’s examine an issue that is practically the same for all homes. You can have the thickest carpet, high-quality insulation, and who knows what more, but if your doors and windows are of low quality, it will be as if you did nothing at all. So, you should be best advised to invest in a quality door and improve not only your privacy but your safety, as well. On the other front, if you buy quality double-glazed windows, this will reduce the noises coming in and out of your apartment, in addition to making your home more energy-efficient.
All in all, where there’s a will, there is always a way. Some people will claim that this is simply too much work or too hard on the budget, but the truth is that you simply cannot put a price tag on your peace and privacy.