Hello,
I recently swapped my semi broken hollow core room door for a solid core homemade one to improve sound insulation, but the problem is that it doesn’t seem to work that well and i’m failing to see the problem, because around my room is only around brick wall so you can’t heat anything through them, but through the door its really not a big difference from my old busted hollow core one ….
Here are some pics, i have thought it might have been because that the heater bent the door frame making it impossible to close or something that have to do with humidity (because the house is quite humid), but its really annoying because i’m hearing everything that happen through the house
Thanks!
Replies
A solid door will help with sound attenuation. However, you must provide a soft rubber gasket all round it to help prevent it from transferring sound to the surrounding walls. Also, the typical interior wall construction will not attenuate sound very well. So, you may be still getting sound transmission through it. Also, sound will transmit through gaps around the door. It must be sealed by the gasket.
Thanks for the quick reply
The door lead directly to the main corridor resulting in hearing pretty much everything thats going, much louder than in the adjacent bedroom which has a hollow core door rather than my solid one
Any idea on how to work the rubber gasket? Main problem is:
In the fifth picture , we can see that the upper part of the door is closed perfectly
In the second picture, we can see that the lower part of is not closed resulting in a huge gap, and i believe thats the biggest problem and i don't have any idea of workaround it while keeping it everyday since i use the door about 10-15 time a day
I think you should also post this at Fine Homebuilding, there's a link at the bottom of this page.
Use something like this:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/M-D-Building-Products-17-ft-Black-Small-Rubber-Auto-Marine-Weatherseal-for-All-Climates-01025/202066509
Loosen the door stops and adjust them for an even fit all around.
There won't be much difference between a hollow core door and a solid core and a solid core could be even worse for the transmission of sound. The hollow core door is softer and has an internal grid and air spaces. Knock on each door. The solid core will most likely have a louder knock or at least a higher pitch -which to your ears will seem "louder." The problem might not be the door. The problem could be the hallway. Hallways are often noisy because they are empty. There's an echo because there is nothing there to break up the soundwaves. A solid core flush door can increase the bounce. A carpet, a book shelf with books, pictures on the walls. Start a tapestry collection!
You probably need to rehang the door and possibly the jamb as well if you can't get it to close properly by adjusting it in place.
I don't think there is a huge echo, because there is already a bunch of things + i don't hear anything (close) in the adjacent bedroom, same for another one that gives to the hallway + wc and both of their frame fit perfectly the door compared to mine which i think is the problem
Where sound attenuation is the goal, mass is your best friend.
Yes and no. A heavier object will vibrate less and will PRODUCE less sound than a similar but lighter object. A massive cast iron machine as compared to a machine with a body made of sheet metal or maybe better, a guitar with an over thick top compared to a guitar with a thinner top because of how a guitar works . It's not the door that is making the sound. The sound is being produced someplace else and the heavy door( and did he say brick walls ?) will reflect noise rather than absorb it, the hallway acts like a sound chamber. I would think that a two pound door made of maybe egg cartons would do more to quiet things down than a massive 90 lb slab of wood.
Sound won't travel through a vacuum,no mass. I live by the coast and there is a fog horn and it's miles away. When it's foggy you can hear the fog horn but only when its foggy. I used to think that when the fog came in they turned it on until I saw it. It's a pipe on a bouy and it rides the swell. Air is pushed through the pipe as the bouy rides up and down the swell, its a big flute. It's always on! On a clear day you have to be close to it to hear it. When it's foggy, more mass, the sound carries a great distance.
In this situation i'm pretty sure its the open space around the bad frame that let the sound in probably, because in the adjacent bedroom with a hollow door, you hear TWICE as less voices there :/ and its just in the opposite side
Would rubber band sticked works perfectly? Because i don't think i can redo the whole frame, like right now when i close the lower part of the frame never fits doors as if they were going to "escape" (i don't know how to put it) and they were retained
You don't need to redo the whole frame. Just the doors stop which is a rectangular shaped strip about 1/4" x 1" around 3 sides of the door. It is usually just nailed on with small nails, but multiple coats of paint could be "gluing" it on as well. You will need to remove and reposition it to make room for a gasket anyway. You might just as well make it fit the door as you go. If you want to attenuate more of the sound, you also need to close off and gasket the lower edge of the door. Lots of sound can be transmitted through such openings.