Quieting a noisy house, starting with the leaks

Most noise that travels between rooms, or into the house from outside, comes through an air leak, such as a crack, a hole or a gap. Even a hairline crack lets a lot of noise through.

What you need

• A flashlight
• Someone to help with the listening tests
• Caulk, and gaskets or weather stripping for doors and windows

Steps

1. 1

   Look for the leaks

   Check around pipes and ducts where they pass through walls, plumbing fixtures, vent grilles, cabinets mounted back to back, and doors. Look at the ceiling edges and the corners of the walls for settling cracks. The gap most often missed is behind the trim around doors and windows, where the opening cut for the unit is usually much bigger than the unit and rarely sealed well. For outside noise, check the gaskets and weather stripping on the windows and exterior doors.

   20 min

2. 2

   Listen for where the noise comes in

   Cup your hands behind your ears and turn your head slowly from side to side. The direction where the noise gets louder leads to where it enters the room. For a very high-pitched sound, cover one ear and listen with the other.

   10 min

3. 3

   Do a talk test

   Have someone talk on the other side of the wall. If you hear the words clearly, there's an air leak. If you hear the voice but can't make out the words, the sound is probably traveling through the wall itself.

   10 min

4. 4

   Do the ear-to-the-wall test

   Plug one ear and press the other against the wall, then pull away. If the sound is louder against the wall, it's traveling through the structure. If it's no softer when you pull away, it's coming through a leak.

   5 min

5. 5

   Seal the gaps

   Caulk the openings where water and gas pipes, electrical cables and refrigerant lines pass through the walls. Caulk or gasket the windows so they seal tight.

   30 min

6. 6

   Seal the doors and the small openings

   Give the exterior doors soft gaskets and threshold seals, sliding doors included. Cover the mail slot and close the fireplace damper. Fit hinged covers on the dryer vent and on any exhaust outlet you can reach from the ground, and have a pro fit the ones higher up.

   15 min

7. 7

   Repeat the talk test

   Have the same person talk on the other side of the wall again. Words that came through clearly before should now be muffled.

   5 min

Absorbing sound and blocking it

Sound absorbers, such as acoustic tile, carpet and drapes, soak up noise made inside a room and cut the echo, but they're light and porous, so noise passes straight through them. A heavy wall, such as brick, absorbs little but blocks a lot. Lining one room with soft material to keep noise out of the next one doesn't work.

Inside a room, carpet, drapes and upholstered furniture absorb sound and keep it from building up. Footsteps and other impact noise through a floor are a different problem: on a concrete floor, a thick carpet over felt or rubber padding is enough.