It is nearly impossible to make a room in a home completely soundproof but you can come very close. It depends on just how far you want to go and how deep your pockets are. I guess that also boils down to your desired intentions and reasons for soundproofing a home office. Off the top of my head, I can come up with a few excellent ideas why you should soundproof.
There are multiple ways to soundproof a home office. Some ways will be determined by the desired outcome and other ways will be determined by the office space you have to work with. We will go into this further throughout this article. I will offer you some, how-to’s, as well as give you an idea of the cost of these projects. Some insulating and soundproofing methods will be much more expensive than others.
Top Reasons for Wanting to Soundproof your Home Office
- If you shoot videos in your home office, possibly for YouTube or other reasons, you will want to have a quiet work space for this. Any outside noise can ruin a great video. If your home is near a busy street, you might get vehicle noises or if you have younger children screaming and crying might be a problem.
- If part of your work routine is being on the phone with conference calls, having outside noises can disrupt a call. Especially if you are skyping, then there you are right, in plain view with annoying noises in the background. This could potentially leave a negative impression with some clients and we know that is not what you want happening. Let’s face it, family makes noise at home and if it isn’t conducive to you doing business in your home office, then you know what you need to do.
- We just touched on this a couple times, which is maybe you have young children. This can work in the reverse, in that you do not want to be disturbing children in the home, especially if they are trying to sleep and you are trying to get work accomplished. Soundproofing your home office will not only keep sounds out from outside sources but keep the sounds you make inside the office. Other family members might also appreciate not being able to hear you on the phone while watching a movie etc.
- Some people just enjoy the ambience of a room that has been soundproofed. The deadened sound can be a beautiful place to be. Sometimes that’s the only reason you might need to do some soundproofing. If you get sidetracked easily while thinking, then increased silence is definitely for you. Time to soundproof.
- This is maybe a fantastic reason you haven’t thought of. Soundproofing a home office, depending on which route you take, can improve the R value of your home for that room. What is R value you ask? If you have ever worked with insulation in any shape or form, you know that insulation is measured in R value. R value is the measurement of how well any type of barrier such as insulation or other objects such as walls, floors and ceilings slow down or stop the conductive flow of heat transfer. Meaning how well the barrier stops heat from passing through the object. This applies to cold as well. Long story short, if you add insulation for soundproofing, you will benefit from increased R value in your home office.
Those are all some great reasons to start doing some soundproofing in your home office. From comfort factor to business productivity, I think you will agree that it is important to do some level of soundproofing, if any of the points above sounded like your situation.
Next up, I am going to discuss your different options and how you would go about tackling the projects. Even if you plan on hiring someone to do the work for you, it is important that you understand the project at hand, so you know what you are paying for. Let’s get started.
How to Soundproof Your Home Office
I will now go over ways to soundproof your home office. I will give you a rough estimate of what I feel the materials will cost you and provide recommendations for supplies, if I can. With the options provided below, you need to decide which one will best suit your situation for your soundproofing needs and money available to spend. Please do your own research though with building supply companies like Home Depot or Amazon, to find out what the costs will be in your area as costs can differ from region to region. I will also keep it simple, as there is no need in complicating a simple process if you don’t have to. In no specific order, here we go.
Acoustic Panels to Soundproof Your Home Office
Acoustical panels are used in sound studios as well as on movie sets. Why? Because they absorb sound. Acoustic panels can be found at most retailers, especially on Amazon. You can purchase packs of 12 or more. Most of the cheaper varieties of acoustic panels are foam and just might be the perfect choice for you. Considering the cost of these panels are as low as $25 or so dollars for a small pack, it is definitely economical to try.
If you end up not using them in your office, you could maybe find a place for them in a home theater room.
Homemade acoustic panels for soundproofing a home office is a really nice option, especially if you are a do it yourself kind of person. The thing with premade panels is they aren’t quite as thick or cover as much surface area as you might want to. With homemade panels, you can make them almost as big as you want.
You can use a rigid insulation board that is made up of compressed Styrofoam or you could up your game and purchase rigid fiberglass boards. These boards will absorb sound much better than the regular rigid panels, in my opinion. They are quite a bit more money but if you have the cash, then spend it!
- To make these panels nice enough to hang on your wall, you will most likely want to cover them in a fabric of your choice. Just wrap the fabric tight and using tuck tape or a similar product tape the fabric on the backside to secure in place.
- To make the panels look even better, you could pick up some pine lumber (1” x 3”) and make a frame. After you miter it, why not paint it the same color as the walls or the fabric to really spruce it up. If you end up using a wood frame, it will be much easier to hang the panel on the wall. I like this homemade option because you can double up the panels to have them extra thick and you can make multiple sizes.
- The cost of rigid panels depending on size thickness and whether you go with a fiberglass or Styrofoam, can range anywhere between $20 and $180. You have to also consider the cost of fabric, tuck tape and wood, if you want to build frames as well.
Acoustical Curtains to Soundproof Your Home Office
Did you know you can purchase acoustic curtains? Well, the answer is yes, you sure can. Acoustic curtains are typically also blackout drapes, so they will kill two birds with one stone, so to speak!
If you want to get creative after hanging these curtains over your windows, how about hanging them on the wall as well? Lots of people do this as a style choice. You can do it as a way to improve your home office’s soundproofing. Go one step further and hang these types of curtains over a door in the room. If you do that, make sure to use a long enough curtain rod that you can open the curtain up enough so it isn’t in the way when you want to open the door.
Up next, let’s knock off a few easy wins to get that office of yours as soundproof as possible.
Soundproofing a Home Office with New Windows
If you weren’t aware, you will be now. Newer windows will not only provide you with better R value, but will also provide you with better soundproofing from outside sources.
Triple pane windows have been out for many years already however, there are still countless numbers of double pane windows still in use. Even if you weren’t wanting soundproofing for an office, by replacing your windows throughout your home, you will instantly experience a quieter environment.
Install a Solid Core Door to Soundproof a Home Office
The vast majority of home interior doors are hollow. They feel somewhat solid, but they aren’t. If you really want to up your home office soundproofing game, I would recommend considering installing a solid interior door. This type of door will instantly help quite your home office.
Depending on your skill level, you could change out your interior door yourself. Otherwise, hiring someone will be necessary. For the cost of this project, you can expect to pay $150 or more for a solid core interior door as well if you hire this job out, it could cost you up to $250 to have it installed. This all depends on your region and what your local handymen charge. Maybe you have a family member who can help you with this?
Installing Panels on the Ceiling to Soundproof a Home Office
Earlier in this article, we talked about acoustical panels for the walls in your office. With the same idea in mind, you could attach panels on the ceiling. I am not sure you would want to use the same type of acoustical panels as you would for a wall, however.
There are panels made specifically for ceiling that are very stylish. They come in various sizes and it would be an easy weekend project for the do-it-yourselfer. If you do go this route, to get the most soundproofing possible, why not install another layer of drywall on the ceiling? You wouldn’t have to mud and tape the drywall because you would be covering it with ceiling panels.
Check out Amazon or home building suppliers like Home Depot or Lowes to see what kind of panels you can buy. I think you will be surprised at how reasonably priced they are. If you order some for your entire ceiling, make sure to order about a ¼ extra of the panels to cover any errors that may occur. Something else to install instead of the drywall is 1/4” rigid insulation panels. If you have to tear everything down, the insulation would be a lot easier to work with vs sheets of drywall.
Top up Attic Insulation to Soundproof a Home Office
If you have an attic above your home office, another possibility is to have cellulose insulation blown into the attic. There is a good chance your attic insulation should be topped up anyways.
By doing this, you can improve the feel of your whole home in just a couple of hours. Topping up attic insulation improves R vale of a home and helps to deaden sound. I did it once in a small house I owned and it only cost me around $400 for about 700 square feet of attic space to be topped up. That was 12 or so years ago, so you will need to do your own research but overall I don’t think it is very expensive.
Install Carpeting in a Home Office to Soundproof
Whether you purchase some throw rugs or have a thick plush carpet installed in your home, office having carpet helps soundproof an area like a home office. You not only get the carpet but the underlay underneath that helps to absorb sound. Think it doesn’t work? If you have a room with hardwood floors, throw down a few throw rugs and see how they take the echo and hollow feel out of the room.
With the whole room carpeted it helps even more. The cost for this project will depend entirely on what you, as far as throw rugs or full blown carpeting and of course, what you can afford to spend as carpet comes in such a wide range of pricing.
If you go this route, why not consider installing extra sub floor for even more soundproofing?
Soundproofing a Home Office with Room Dividers
This is probably not on many soundproofing idea lists but it should be. I am not just talking about the small plastic or thin wood room dividers you buy at Walmart.
How about making a few room dividers using rigid insulation wrapped in your choice of fabric and then framed. The frame can be made out of pine or whatever wood you can get your hands on. Make 3 or more panels and attach them using cabinet hinges and you have some custom dividers now.
For the cost of this project, considering rigid insulation, fabric and wood plus miscellaneous supplies, you could probably build 2 or more dividers for $150. You are only limited to how creative you are. Strategically placed, these dividers can help soundproof a home office adding some unique ambience created by you. Unless, of course, you purchased them from a retailer. Never the less, they will add some really nice ambiance to the room.
Can you Soundproof Existing Walls?
The short answer is yes.
Even though the walls are finished, you can still insulate existing walls. It’s going to take you some work and money but it can be done in a way that won’t be noticeable when the job is complete.
Soundproof an existing wall in your home office by spraying expandable insulation into the wall or cut out the drywall on the wall and insulated using batts of insulation. Both of these jobs can be done over a weekend, if you plan ahead and have the whole weekend to work on it. Let’s take a look at both suggestions to see if they are of interest to you.
- Spraying spray insulation into the wall to soundproof. This option will be much less work than the next one however it might not be quite as good. I will explain why. First, let’s talk about how to accomplish this. You can purchase a spray foam kit at places like Home Depot or you can purchase many cans of door and window spray insulation. Here’s what to do.
- Locate where the studs are on the wall you will insulate and find the middle of each wall cavity (the distance between each wood stud). Mark the middle and drill a hole approximately ½” in diameter about 2’ up from the floor and then ever 2’ until you’re at the ceiling. So for example you would have a hole at 2’ then at 4’ then at 6’ etc.
- The next thing to do is to spray the spray insulation into the hole. Make sure to point the hose downward, as you want to fill the wall cavity up from the bottom to the top. Let gravity work its magic.
- As you progress to the next hole, you will want to place some tuck tape or other type of very strong tape over the hole as you don’t want the insulation to expand outward.
- Once you have sprayed into each and every hole, let the insulation setup for a couple hours before pulling the tape off.
- After the tape is off, go ahead and start repairing the holes by mudding them with drywall mud. Use drywall tape as well to ensure the patch is very strong.
- Typically 2 to 3 coats of mud are enough so if you started this job on a Friday night, you could have 3 coats done by Sunday during the day and potentially touching them up with paint of Sunday night.
The cost for this job per wall that measures about 8’ to 10’ wide by 8’ high is about $120 for multiple cans of spray insulation, drywall tape, drywall mud and paint. You will probably need 8 or more cans of spray and that will be your biggest cost here. Now the only thing I don’t like about this job is you can’t see inside the wall to know if the entire cavity between the studs is filled up. Mind you, even if not all of the cavities are full of insulation, it is still quite a bit better than if you hadn’t done this. I would say pick this option, if you are not skilled at mudding walls or if you can’t hire someone else to do the job for you. Which brings us to our second option. Tear out drywall.
- For our second option and my favorite, regardless of the amount of work it is to actually cut out drywall and installing batts of insulation. Here’s how to do it.
- You will need drywall, drywall screws batt insulation, drywall mud, drywall tape, drywall knives, utility knife and a sponge drywall sanding tool for this job.
- Pick the wall you will insulate and mark a horizontal line across the top of the wall about 6” to 8” below the ceiling and using a utility knife or if you have a Roto-Zip or can borrow one use that instead.
- Also mark about 6” above the baseboard cutting that horizontally as well.
- Now cut down the inside corners vertically and pull off the drywall.
- Take your batts of insulation and fill the cavity between each stud, pushing the insulation up into the top and bottom of the wall. Do your best to fill all of the spaces up without the insulation pushing outward causing you issues when you try to install the new drywall.
- Now cut and install your drywall horizontally.
- Next, tape and mud all of the seams. It is at this point you will see why we cut the drywall away from the ceiling and the baseboards. It just makes it easier to tape and mud now without affecting ceilings and floors.
- As with the first example, you will want to give 2 to 3 coats of mud. This will depend on your skill level. I usually apply 2 coats of mud but sometimes 3 is what works best.
- After mudding and sanding is done, then it is time to paint the wall.
- And that’s it, you’re done! This process, even though a much bigger task than the first one, can also be done in a weekend ,if you start on Friday night and have the drywall back up and first coat of tape and mud on that night. Also, if it’s just 1 wall you are working on.
The cost of ripping out drywall and using batt insulation, if you were to do it yourself, I would say might cost approximately $125 per wall measuring about 8’ to 10’ wide by 8’ high. That price should include insulation, drywall, mud, tape, etc.
Using batts of insulation vs spraying in foam insulation blind will yield the best results for soundproofing your home office, in my mind. However, the first option is an excellent idea also.