Soundproofing entry doors do-it-yourself in the house

If your front door does not save you from the noise coming from the street or from the entrance, it’s not the best way to come to terms with the situation. Sound insulation of the entrance door can be carried out not only at the stage of its production, but also after installation.

The easiest way to do this is to install soundproofed entrance doors. But how to find out when buying how well they will cope with this feature?

Signs of a good door

Sound insulation parameters depend on factors such as strength, direction, sound fluctuations. In order to minimize the penetration of noise (see Entrance Door Noise) through the door, it must be made of a multi-layer construction. A door from a homogeneous array poorly absorbs sounds, on the contrary, it resonates and strengthens.

Therefore, the soundproofed entrance door is a hollow construction with internal filler, which should also serve as insulation.

What materials are used for this modern manufacturers of doors:

• Mineral wool. Its advantages include a high degree of fire safety, the disadvantages - subsidence over time. To prevent this from happening, the door frame is reinforced with stiffening ribs, which in turn make the structure heavier.

• Styrofoam. One of the easiest and most affordable materials, keeping the shape perfectly. This provided him with special popularity in the production of entrance doors, even despite its flammability and emission of harmful substances during combustion.
• Polyurethane foam. Like mineral wool, it is valued for its high fireproof properties, but it differs favorably from it in that it fits snugly to the surface and does not lose its shape. If you like to go hiking, you are probably familiar with this material - tourist rugs are made from it (the so-called “foam”).
• Corrugated board. Often found in cheap Chinese-made doors. If one of the main qualities that your front door should have is sound insulation, then buying such a product is not recommended.

The second mandatory element that has soundproofed entrance doors is a gasket made of silicone or foamed rubber (see Door sealing - protection against drafts), glued around the perimeter of the box or inserted into a special groove. On the door with two porches, such a seal should be installed on both circuits.

Soundproof entrance doors with magnetic seals have proven themselves very well. When properly installed, it provides a tight, without a single gap, fit metal door to the box.

Self soundproofing door

If the ready soundproof entrance doors do not fit into your budget or if there is a desire to independently upgrade an existing door, you can do it in one of the ways suggested below. Soundproofing the front door with your own hands will be the most complete, if not limited to one option, and use their combination.

Together with high-quality sound insulation, you can simultaneously achieve good door insulation and eliminate drafts:

1. Upholstery door. Full information on how to upholster the front door, and you will find on this resource. I just want to clarify that izolon is considered the best sound absorbing material for exterior door trim. But depending on your financial capabilities, you can choose other materials: sintepon, foam rubber and even an old blanket.

Note! Since most of the sounds penetrate into the apartment through the cracks, when upholstering the doors, special attention should be paid to creating laps on them in the form of rollers that cover the gaps between the canvas and the box.

1. Отличный способ сделать soundproof entrance doors – установить уплотнители по периметру двери. The easiest way to buy a self-adhesive seal, the installation of which does not present any difficulties.

1. If the layout of the entrance group allows, sound insulation of the entrance doors can be carried out by arranging a vestibule between two entrance doors. Putting the second door (see How to put the front door - tips experienced) in front of or behind the existing one, you will achieve maximum results, since the air gap between the doors will become an excellent insulator that will limit the penetration of not only extraneous noise into the house, but also smells and drafts .

1. The hardest thing to eliminate the gap between the door leaf and the threshold. This problem can be solved by installing the guillotine threshold in the lower end of the entrance door. It will fit tightly to the floor when the door is closed, and automatically go up when you need to open the door.