How to Soundproof a Bathroom: 5 Easy Tips
The bathroom and toilet room are definitely one of those areas we wish no sound could come out of. I definitely don’t want others to hear me doing my own thing, and I don’t want to hear others either.
Soundproofing a bathroom door is a simple process, similar to soundproofing any other interior door. There are more and less expensive options, depending on whether you want to simply deaden the sounds or complete soundproofing.
Here are the 10 essential tips you should know in order to do it successfully:
1. Reinforce the door with thick material
I’m pretty sure that your bathroom doesn’t have a lot of windows, and even if it does they’re probably not positioned in such a way that others would be prone to hearing noises coming out of your bathroom.
But if you do have a window that needs to be soundproofed, I covered that topic in this article.
The main culprit of noise leaving the bathroom however is the door. Doors in houses and apartments nowadays are pretty hollow.
The basic way to soundproof anything is to increase its density. So if your doors are made of cheap, light wood, that’s the main problem you should address.
There are a couple of methods you can use to reinforce a door.
One thing you could do is buy a new door that is more dense. The problem however is that not all doors are of the same size. In most cases you’d need to place a custom order.
Places like Home Depot may create a custom door, but it can be rather expensive and the price varies depending on the size. So I suggest using one or a couple of the following methods instead:
2. Tack a Soundproofing Blanket on the door
The second option is to buy a soundproofing blanket. It’s a quilted fiberglass panel that hangs in front of the door or is attached to the door and absorbs the sound before it leaves the door.
The main problem with these is that they do not look very pretty. If you’re someone who cares about the way their bathroom looks, this might not be a good option for you. But if you don’t care too much, it’s a solid choice.
A more affordable option are thick moving blankets like this one. That’s also the thickest one on the market, so I suggest using that one to get the best noise-blocking you can. Simply tack the blanket on the door and you’re good to go!
3. Reinforce The Door With Extra Wood
The first step is to buy a piece of wood that is of the same size as your door. Before you do this, you should carefully measure your door. Then head over to Home Depot or a lumberyard and buy some wood.
I recommend that you use MDF wood. MDF wood is really thick and smooth, and it’s easy to paint.
The other item you’ll need is the Noiseproofing Glue Compound. It has a jello-like consistency and it’s incredibly powerful at blocking both lower and higher sound frequencies.
All you need to do is administer this glue either to the door or the new piece of wood. It should be in-between them. Then tightly screw the wood to the door.
4. Cover the door frame gaps
This is another very important soundproofing method. You need to make sure that the little cracks around the molding are also taken care of.
To get rid of those, apply Soundproofing Rubber to the gaps between the door frame and wall framing. This step is very cheap and also very effective at reducing noise.
After you apply this rubber, you should fill any gaps around the door frame with acoustical caulk. I suggest using green glue acoustic caulk because it’s really the best product on the market.
5. Cover the bottom gap
This is the final step to ensure no sounds can leave your bathroom.
You might not have heard about a door sweep up until this point. I’m pretty sure it’s something that 99% of the population has never heard about even though they see it every day . But it’s important if you want to soundproof a door!
A door sweep is used to seal the gap between the door and the floor. Usually, front doors have a door sweep while inside doors don’t. There’s no reason why inside doors shouldn’t have it, especially if you want to soundproof the room.
I recommend using this silicone door sweep because it’s very affordable and easy to install. It’s self-adhesive so you can just stick it on the bottom of the door without having to use any tools. Just cut it to match the width of your door with a knife before doing so.
Another option is installing an Automatic Door Bottom. These work great because they drop a seal when the door is closed and automatically raise it when the door opens. This can come in handy if you have an uneven floor because in that case regular door sweeps can drag on the floor and make it difficult to open and close the door.
If your floor is not severely uneven, both options will work just fine.
Conclusion
I’ve layed out for you a very simple step-by-step-guide to soundproofing your bathroom door, or any other inside door for that matter.
You can make this project cost less than $100 or up to $300-$500. It depends on how you want the door to look and how effectively you want to soundproof it.
For full soundproofing I advise that you follow all of these steps, and go with the products within them that you feel most comfortable with. It’s a really simple project that takes less than an hour to get done, even if you’re not a handyman sort of guy or gal.
I hope this article will help you keep those bathroom noises away from the ears of your housemates and guests, and turn your bathroom into a place of ultimate relaxation.
