Easy Ways to Reduce Noise Pollution at your house

Noise pollution is a problem that can adversely affect just about anyone. Studies have shown that noise has direct links with the health problem such as stress related illness, high blood pressure, sleep disruption and so that lost productivity.

Noise can occur inside or be the product of noisy situations outside of the home. Eventually these persistent and escalating sources of sound can often be considered an annoyance and try a homeowner’s patience.

But individuals can take various steps to protect themselves from the noise pollution.

Reduce the human scope of noise:

Take the first steps to reduce the noise pollution is by reducing the amount of noise pollution generated by people inside the house.

If videogame is the problem, encourage children to wear headphones so the entire house won’t be the victim to the sounds generated by the game.

If the television sound is loud then close the door of the room to block the sound but if the television is located in the hall or kitchen or somewhere at the open place of the house , set the limits on the volume of the television.

 Create a habit to the children to speak in low voice.                                    

Hardwood floor vs. Carpet or rugs:

If you have hardwood flooring around the house, put area rugs with a thick padding material underneath. Area rugs can help some to muffle the sound but carpeting is the best method of sound insulation. Hardwood flooring has many benefits including beauty but the disadvantage is that it could reflect sound waves and cause them to echo around the house, where as carpet with good padding underneath absorbs sounds including footfalls on floor above.

Use sound absorbing furniture and material at home:

Hanging pictures on the wall is another option to reduce noise pollution at home. Hanging pictures specially made with cloth or canvas absorbs sound and so that prevent it from bouncing back of bare walls.

Special soundproof wall-hangings, ceiling panels and room dividers, all of which are made of materials that are specifically designed to block out sound, are available at specialty shops.

Drapery, made by heavy thick fabric material, also helps to reduce noise by absorbing the sound of any noise.

Place felt cushions under chair and table legs to prevent them from noisily scraping across the floor.

Make sure that your headboard is not touching your bed room wall.

Place ½-inch-thick rubber or cork pads under the legs or corners of large, heavy appliances to stop vibrations from transferring to the floor.

Keep appliances at least 2 inches away from walls.

Place rubber pads under small appliances and dish racks, on countertops near the stove, and in sink basins to reduce the clanking of dishes and utensils on hard surfaces.

Put stereo speakers on stands or place rubber vibration isolator mats (available from office supply, computer or audio equipment stores) beneath speakers and computer printers.

Install rubber or cork tile on the backs and shelves of cabinets.

Do some changes inside your home:

If are planning to do some renovation on your house, check if your drywall has flush with the floor surface. Remove the base board and check if your drywall has flush installed where it ends and join the floor surface. If your drywall and floor surface has a gap in between, use spray foam insulation in that area and then replace back the moulding or base board. Those gaps help the sounds to escape.

Apply the same technique around the electrical outlets.

Put extra insulation in the attic if you want to reduce any noise including weather related noise from outside.

Cottage cheese or popcorn style ceiling is also marvelous at reducing sounds, people don’t like them anymore present days though.

Some people install sound –stopping wallboard over existing drywall to reduce noise pollution because additional installment prevents the echo of sound.

There is something called Acoustic-Coat Sound Reduction Paint, which is very expensive but claims to have certain sound absorbing fillers and resins that help in reducing  noise and so quite the sound in the room, however Be careful, Acoustic-Coat is about three times more expensive than regular interior latex paint.

If you have any plastic pipe under the sink or wash basin, heavily insulate plastic pipes to minimize the noise of gurgling and sloshing.

Install water hammer arresters to absorb the shock of copper pipes clunking when the washing machine or dishwasher valves quickly shut off the water supply. Whole-system hammer arresters can be soldered into the water line; individual appliance arresters simply screw on.

Tune up the furnace: Lubricate the blower.

How to reduce the noise pollution which is coming from outside:

If it possible installs triple paned windows which reduce sounds and save energy as well. If you are not able to change whole window then changing the window frame could be good option for you. If you have wood, fiber glass or vinyl window frames, change them to metal frames. Metal frames transmit sound better.

Install flexible rubber threshold door sweeps to seal the space between door and floor. Door sweeps prevent sounds and drafts from coming out side.

Install storm doors.

Plant bushes and hedges as a boundary wall around your house. For noise that is generated outdoors, a line of thick bushes works as a sound bluff by making the sound dull.