Some people have made their garages hobby places such that they would always be doing one or two things in the garage – it could the normal metalwork job or another unrelated task like band practice.
If you are in that group, then you realize that you will definitely need to soundproof your garage door due to many reasons. Obviously, you don’t want the regular high-frequency noise characteristic of places like that to cause damages to your household and the neighbors.
And if you have given your teenagers the go-ahead to use the garage as a practice venue for their hits and rocks, then soundproofing is a must.
There are many ways on how to soundproof a garage door, some of which are really cheap to implement. I’ll get you there sooner than later.
Understanding Your Garage Door.
As usual, doors (and windows) are the weakest spots on any room or home. In a garage, this is not an exception.
The unique thing about these doors is the fact that they are often wider than the regular ones. This can pose a challenge if you don’t prepare yourself with enough materials for the job.
Garage doors come in different designs. They are also crafted from varying materials and all this information must be properly known to you if you want to successfully implement your project.
You need to understand which type or design you are handling – is it the roll-up or slide open, double swing-out doors or hinged doors that swing up? Figuring out this will come in handy when you want to start laying your materials on the doors.
Thus, each door type has its good side and the ugly side. Which must be known by you beforehand.
For example, I must remind you that if your garage has a roll-up design, then you will have to work extra hard since soundproofing such a door is not easy.
Anyway, don’t worry because of that. I have prepared some great tips for garage door sound insulation which should help you navigate just about any difficulty.
Why Should You Consider Soundproofing Your Garage Door?
It is straightforward that the primary goal of soundproofing a garage door is to dampen or reduce noise going out of it. But, you also want to block sound waves from the outside from reaching your garage.
Soundproofing your door will give you the peace you need from your neighbors. If you don’t disturb them with loud noises, there would be no time for avoiding and despising each other.
You end up a respected person in your neighborhood because everyone thinks you care about them. This can build greater relationships overtime which is a good thing among people living within the same community.
This is not just about your neighbors; even your household benefits. In fact, they should be a priority why you are soundproofing your garage.
You don’t want the children and other members of the home to start developing some hearing problems. You probably know that overexposure to this noise can have great risks.
You want your family to enjoy their conversations, concentrate on the studies and rest and sleep peacefully (in the case of toddlers).
And if you wish to have some band practice from your garage, or perhaps your teenagers organized for such thing, a properly soundproofed garage would do you the favors.
That said, let me get you to the place you want…
7 Easy Steps on How to Soundproof a Garage Door.
1. Ensure All Gaps Are Covered
First off, you want to keep tabs on any possible gaps, spaces, vents and other small openings on the door. You may think that these are too tiny to cause any significant impact but lo! you don’t assume like that.
When you are soundproofing a garage door, you want to ensure that these gaps are sealed off first. If light can go through those spaces, then be 100% assured that noise will do pass.
After doing this, you will be amazed at how much noise you were able to reduce.
So, you will need materials like the weather-stripping tape to help seal or cover these gaps and cracks. And particularly the specially garage-designed M-D Building Products Weatherstrip Tape found on Amazon.
This material has the advantage of easy installation, it is strong and also durable to keep off the noise for extended periods of time.
2. Use Soundproof Acoustic Blankets
The next step you want to get a spot on is the use of soundproof acoustic blankets. This is a great way of noise reduction.
These blankets are normally designed for the sound dampening purpose. That’s why they are crafted from the quilted fiberglass and such other materials that are effective sound waves absorbers.
Before you install them, you may need to cut them for resizing and reshaping. Then, you will now affix to the door using suitable adhesives.
The alternative to these sheets is the ever cheaper option, moving blankets. You can get these ones on Amazon and they would still do a good job. Although you will need to combine with other methods to make them more useful.
Many people haven’t come to appreciate the value of the moving blankets as a reliable strategy to stop noise in a garage. So don’t be one of them.
Try out these Cheap Moving Blankets and see your noise problems being cut down drastically.
3. Use the Mass Loaded Vinyl
Another great way to make sure your garage is not becoming the nuisance of noise is soundproofing garage door using this mass loaded vinyl. This is a very effective method that most people have come to appreciate and are super heavy.
It is easy to use this material when soundproofing your door. You will need to cut the vinyl to the sizes that fit seamlessly on your door.
Using a recommended adhesive or screws if you like, install the vinyl directly on the door. If you think the results are not adding up to your expectation, consider placing more layers of the mass loaded vinyl to thicken the barrier.
4. Install Noise-Blocking Curtains
The noise-blocking curtains can sound a bad idea given their thickness and weight. But if you get the right curtains, with enough thickness, the noise coming from the garage door will be greatly reduced.
All you need to install these curtains are a stable and strong rod which is placed above the garage door. Then, the grommeted curtains would be a good fit because they are easier to hang.
Make sure that your curtains are long enough to hang right from the top to the bottom of the door. You can add more layers of the curtains as long as you want to make them more effective.
To be honest, they are one of the cheap ways you want to learn on how to soundproof a garage door. In fact, you can try these curtains by Nicetown – they present an elegant design and are easy to install.
One thing you must understand is that they work like moving blankets. Therefore, don’t expect much in terms of sound blocking.
5. Try Placing Soundproofing Foam and Fiberglass Panels
You can try installing the soundproof foam or fiberglass panels to ensure that sound doesn’t filter through the door. Needless to say that these materials come with awesome acoustic properties, especially the fiberglass panels.
During installation, you just need suitable adhesive agents to stick these panels on the door. The other option for you is to nail them on the door.
This BLQZR Red Fiberglass Acoustic Home Studio Soundproof Panel is great at both noise-cancelation and thermal insulation. They also come with moisture-proof and shockproof properties.
6. Better Option – Buy Insulated Garage Door
A soundproof garage door with sound and thermal insulation properties is the other better option you want to try out. This door, again, like most other methods, won’t give you the expected 100 percent noise reduction but they come with a thickness that forms a stronger barrier to noise and heat.
You can definitely get cheaper doors but some are very expensive to the tune of a thousand dollars. This price, however, is dependent on the quality and its size.
To install the new soundproof door, you are going to need to remove the current one. You may need a professional for this job – just keep in mind that you don’t want to mess up the whole project.
Bonus Point – Soundproofing a Roll-up Garage Door
With this type of doors, you may experience some challenges soundproofing them. You cannot simply attach the insulation materials on them.
This is due to their mode of opening and closing.
Nevertheless, you will need to install a professional soundproof blanket, curtains or fiberglass. Try to hang them in front of the door.
Pick the best noise-blocking materials while doing this for efficiency.
Final Thoughts
Soundproofing the garage door is a really important move I must remind you to take. This has to come immediately.
I understand there are some doors which are difficult to soundproof (examples the roll-on doors) but the guide takes you through every step you need to finish this.
One thing I want you to do is to try to soundproof the whole garage if all the methods you have tried are not bearing the kind of fruits you want. Otherwise, learning how to soundproof a garage door is not something difficult and should give you the easy time.
