How to Soundproof Your Flat In Thrissur For A Peaceful Living

Living in a flat offers a number of comforts and conveniences as compared to a large house. The compact size makes cleaning and maintenance much easier with the size of families shrinking, and greater urbanization, living in flats makes a lot more sense today.

While living in Flats in Thrissur has innumerable benefits, it has a few drawbacks too, especially when you live in a busy part of the city, like close to the centre, or downtown. The biggest drawbacks are air pollution and sound pollution and these are almost unavoidable in cities, even if it is a family friendly neighbourhood that you are living in.

We all know what air pollution is,  it’s the presence of harmful gases, dust, and other toxins in the air which can enter our bodies and impact our health. It can cause respiratory issues, irritate our eyes, nasal passage, etc. However, many of us sadly remain unaware about noise pollution.

What is noise pollution?

Noise pollution is when the sound levels in the area around you reach painful or unbearable levels. The acceptable level of sound is considered to be around 70 decibels, give or take a few. Anything above it is noise in some urban areas, sound levels can cross 90 decibels and even over 100, especially if they are close to the airport or train station or other sources of loud sounds.

How Does Noise Pollution Affect?

Noise pollution can negatively impact our mental and physical health and wellbeing. Here are the different ways it can harm us:

• Prolonged exposure to loud noise can temporarily or permanently destroy your hearing, or reduce it significantly
• It can make people prone to talking loudly at all times
• Constantly hearing loud sounds can be very stressful and make you irritable and fidgety. This can reduce your ability to focus on tasks and reduce your productivity.
• Continued stress can give rise to physical health issues like hypertension or high blood pressure, and mental health problems like anxiety, or even extreme sensitivity to sound.

The builders in Thrissur are aware of these dangers, which is why they try to choose low traffic areas for their projects, and design the flats to reduce sound coming in. Despite their best efforts, you can still have a great deal of sound entering your flat. The only option left is for you to physically stop that noise from entering your space.

Here are some tips on how to soundproof your flat:

Use Blackout Curtains

Blackout curtains are curtains made from very thick and dense fabric. These curtains help to keep out both sound and light from entering the flat, creating a comfortable and pleasant atmosphere inside. The most commonly used materials are velvet, foam-backed fabric, ultra-thick cotton, multi-layer polyester, and so on. You can also add a layer of lining to the curtain for greater sound blocking.

Seal the Gaps in Your Doors and Windows

It is possible that there are some gaps in the doors and windows even after you close them this will allow the air and sound outside to come in. It is important to seal these gaps properly to prevent the loss of cooled air, and the entry of hot air and loud sounds. Silicone gel, foam, or rubber sheeting can be used to seal these gaps. 

Acoustic Glass

Acoustic glass is glass that is laminated or glazed, or has special layers that are pressed between two sheets of glass. By installing this glass in your windows and keeping the windows shut, you can effectively reduce the amount of sound that comes inside your home.

Use Weatherstrips

To further enhance the sound insulation capability of your windows, you can install weatherstrips in the window frames.

Furniture Placement

Strategic placement of furniture, like bookshelves, vertical pull-out shelves, and other heavy cupboards, can help in covering specific areas of your flat where air and sound flows through easily. Tube heavy wooden furniture will absorb a good portion of the sound entering your apartment.

Soundproofing your Walls

Your windows are not the only source of sound entry. Your walls can carry sound from neighbouring flats. If they play the TV or music at loud volumes, you can be sure that it will enter your flat too, and disturb you. You can easily soundproof your walls by following these methods:

• Installing acoustic foam panels on the walls
• Placing fibreglass sheets on the walls, these can be painted to match your decor
• Using cork sheets: this is a sustainable material that will not harm the environment. Moreover, it is great to use in humid places as it absorbs moisture in the air.

If you want to preserve the aesthetic beauty of the flat, you can include these materials in the masonry and plaster over them so that they are not seen externally. These soundproofing methods are also handy when you’re looking for ideas for setting up home theatre in your flat.

Soundproofing Floors

Thin acoustic foam panels under the tiling and thick carpets on top, will enable maximum absorption of sound coming from the flats below you.

Conclusion 

You have seen how to soundproof your flat and it is quite simple. Check with your builder, especially if you are booking it at launch, to find out the steps they take to reduce entry of noise into the flats.

HiLife Builders is one of the leading builders of Thrissur, delivering elegant, affordable, and comfortable flats in the best residential areas of the city. Check out our prestigious projects today.