When You Want Your House to SHUT UP

After a long day at work, wouldn’t you love to get home to the sound of – nothing?

Now that we have talking appliances, musical cell phones, and chattering GPS devices navigating us around, many of us savor quiet times most of all. The problem is, most homes are not built for quiet.

There are dozens of noise-deadening products, such as wallboard and structural insulated panel construction, triple-paned glass, and noise distracting features to consider, like gurgling fountains and serenity-inducing pools, tubs and spas.

Noise-abating products can be most cost-effective during a home's construction, although production homebuilders do not routinely exceed the local codes required for energy efficiency in interior walls to include any kind of noise abatement materials.

Only about 30 percent of homebuilders offer sound attenuating blankets in interior walls as standard, pre-priced options for their homebuyers, but many homebuyers want it and are willing to pay extra.

Lining interior walls with a 3 ½ inch noise abatement blanket, made of fiberglass or rock wool will do just as good a job as the thicker varieties, making them a great value.

Appliances in your home have a variety of moving parts, all capable of making noise. Washing machines, dryers, and lots of other appliances vibrate. Placed directly on the floor, the floor serves as a great amplifier. Adding cork or rubber pads to the contact points between the appliances and the floor can do wonders to muffle this noise. Additionally, you can decrease the vibrations significantly by adjusting their leg levelers so that they're evenly balanced. Moving refrigerators, washing machines and dryers farther away from walls will prevent the walls from picking up the sound as well.

Window-style air conditioners are notorious for robbing a house or a room of its serenity. Central air conditioning, of course, allows you to shut your windows and better seal your home against noise. Bathroom fans, dishwashers and even cooking vents can add to your homes’ clamor. When replacing them, check the noise rating levels on the new product’s specification list and select the ones with the lowest “sone” levels. If you don't see a rating, ask to listen to the one in the showroom. Even garage door openers are now available in “whisper drive” models.

You can take steps to attenuate noise in your home, but not without some analysis and expense, according to Soundproofing.com. They remind us that up to 25% of a room needs absorbent materials to reduce noise in the form of furniture and carpeting.

Soundboard can be installed between ceiling rafters with recycled padding for an overlay, or inexpensive acoustical ceiling panels can be used. If floor squeaks drive you crazy, you can install triangular wood strips between the flooring and joists. Windows can be sound-blocked with the addition of double or triple panes of glass, changing to vinyl window frames, applying shutters or even hanging heavy curtains or drapery .

For more information on soundproofing, visit the EPA web site at Soundproofing.org and look up their newly revised manual "Quieting in the Home" (previously reprinted by the EPA from "Quieting: A Practical Guide to Noise Control").