Reducing sound transmission through interior doors
Hey All, I’m (still) working on our door order and I was hoping for some input related to reducing sound transmission through doors in select room. I will be using cavity insulation in most interior wall (minus our pantry room and kitchen to living room walls). However, in doing some research related to a very small home theater, I found that apparently a lot of sound comes through the air gaps around the door jams and under. So, I got to thinking about how that would affect other rooms in the house as well. We will have polished concrete floors throughout the house (perhaps with the exception of the theater room) so I will have to find a solution for sound under the door.
I thought about using an exterior, pre-hung door with weather seals in the theater room (don’t know if the wife will sign off on that). For reducing sound through the door we are going with ‘solid core’ Simpson three panel doors. But the panel between the stiles is a bit thin to fit between the rails/stiles. The sales guys suggested maybe going with a 1-3/4″ thick door on certain rooms.
Any suggestions for a good way to deal with sound through doors?
What rooms (master bedroom, laundry, theater, mech room, etc.)?
Floor plan atch’d.
Thanks
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Replies
An insulated door would help to reduce sound transmission. Most exterior doors have insulation. I don't know if they sell many interior doors that are insulated but you could shop around and see. The installation will also be important. Most interior doors aren't insulated between the door frame and the wall framing but exterior doors are typically packed with fiberglass, mineral wool, or spray foam insulation between the door frame and the wall framing. This would help to reduce the sound some as well if you fill that gap with insulation. Weather stripping would help. You could install a door sweep or door threshold that has weather stripping or creates a tight fit. If the door ends exactly at the carpet, and depending on the carpet thickness and the gap below the door it is possible the carpet could fill this gap as well (this may not work since the door would likely swing into the room though). Good luck.