You must be thinking, why would someone want to buy a louvered door if they need any privacy? Well, that’s not for me to answer, all I can do is try to give you some advice on how to soundproof louvered doors.
Of course, you won’t be as successful in soundproofing a louvered door as merely installing a solid core door in its place, but there are some ways you can reduce the amount of noise coming in from the other side of this type of door.
Louvered doors are a fantastic attribute for nearly any kind of inner space because they give the component of privacy required from a door, but still, allow it plenty of light as well as proper airflow.
The trouble is that these functions are the full reverse of what you desire from a soundproof door. Among the vital concepts of any soundproofing project is that the more mass you have, the better the sound reduction will be.
So what can you do to soundproof louvered doors? The primary step is to identify the resource of the noise you intend to shut out, along with your budget for the task. How much money you’re willing to invest will most definitely have an impact on what you can do.
5 Tips For Soundproofing Louvre Doors
Here are our five tips for soundproofing louver interior doors. Of course, I could just tell you to remove the door and replace it with a solid core door, but that’s not why you’re here. You’re here to find out how to soundproof your existing louver door.
There are specific ways to make the noise transfer from a louver door less intrusive, but you will definitely still have some noise bleed through.
1. Soundproof Curtains
One sure way to reduce the amount of noise that would be flowing through the door is by installing a set of soundproof curtains. If you do not want to block the door from the inside of the room, then you can hang them on the outside.
I would hang them on the inside of the room, however, because you will most likely be wanting a reduction of noise transfer at night when you’re trying to sleep. This way you can simply leave the curtains open during the daytime and close them up when you’re going to bed.
Noise reduction curtains are made of a different material than regular curtains giving them the ability to not only reduce the amount of noise passing through them, but most of them can completely block light. Blocking light might be one great advantage when using curtains to soundproof louver doors since you won’t have light coming into the room while you’re trying to sleep.
The soundproofing curtains I recommend are the Nicetown Full Shading Curtains (Amazon Link). The reason I like these curtains is that they do a great job at not only sound reduction but are perfect for blocking light.
2. Cover the Holes Permanently
This would only apply for someone that would want to have louver doors in a room where the other side of the door is not in view. I say this because the look of the side of the louver door that you will be blocking might not look as good as a traditional door.
This could very well work for people that would have a louver door for a closet that would inhabit an air exchanger unit that they would want to soundproof. Of even use louver door to close off a furnace room in a small home where a sizeable solid door would look out of place.
There are several ways you can go about blocking the louver door on one side. I will go from easiest to hardest for you to accomplish on the DIY.
- Mass Loaded Vinyl; Mass loaded vinyl (MLV) is a thin material that is very dense and does a great job at blocking sound. MLV comes in a roll and is very flexible, so much so that I’ve used this material to soundproof water pipes by completely wrapping the pipes from one end to the other. All you need to do is cut the MLV the size of where the actual lats of the louver door are located and cover them completely.
- 5/8″ Drywall; Another way to block the gaps on a louver door is by cutting a piece of 5/8″ drywall to cover the section of the louver door that lets noise and light in. Like I said prior, these tips for covering the louver door is only if you can’t see the side of the door that is being covered because it won’t look that great.
Adding mass to a louver door in this fashion will surely have a significant influence on the amount of noise pollution invading the room, but will certainly not soundproof it completely.
Aside from this option not looking the greatest on one side of a louver door, the advantage of this option is that the products to achieve this type of soundproofing is relatively cheap and easy to apply. It will certainly not soundproof the door entirely, but you would notice a considerable difference if you’re attempting to block out noise.
3. Soundproof Around the Louver Door
To achieve a better soundproof door, you will need to not only soundproof the lattes of the louver door but also around the door and door frame. You can find a complete guide on how to soundproof around a door by following this link. I will, however, give you a few quick tips on the easiest and also cheapest ways you can go about it.
- Green Glue; The fastest and cheapest way to soundproof around the door casing is by using green glue noise proofing sealant. This type of sealant is explicitly made to absorb and also block sound and will remain pliable years after it’s been applied, so it doesn’t crack due to aging.
- Weather Strip; There are so many different types of weather stripping on the market that it can make it a bit difficult knowing which ones would be best to soundproof a door. The one I recommend is a self-adhesive weatherstrip that you can easily buy through Amazon and will only set you back ten bucks! All you need to do is clean the surface, let the surface around the door casing dry and then apply the weather strip. You will need to place the weatherstrip on the area where the door closes. Watch the video below to know exactly where to apply this product.
- Door Sweep; There is no point in soundproofing a door if there’s going to be a gap on the bottom letting noise through. The fastest way to seal this gap is to apply a door sweep. You can find the appropriate door sweep for this type of soundproofing project by following this link. There are many types of door sweeps, but only a selected few does a great job in soundproofing a door. You need to make sure you buy the right one by following this link (Weatherstrip and door sweep combo kit from Amazon).
- Door Seal Kit; There is also a specific door seal kit that you can purchase and install that will do a great job in soundproofing around the door. Here is a complete guide on how to install this type of door seal kit.
4. Soundproof Blanket
Soundproof Blankets are specifically made to block and absorb sound and would work very well in soundproofing a louver door. One reason why these blankets work well is that you can buy them to fit the door perfectly without leaving air gaps on the sides of the door letting noise through.
These types of blankets are thicker than soundproof curtains and have a fiberglass middle to help block noise. They can be quite expensive, but there are other less costly alternatives. A cheaper option to Soundproof blankets is moving blankets. Of course, moving blankets won’t look as professional as a soundproof blanket the size of the door, but it is something to consider at a fraction of the price.
5. Acoustic Foam
Simply hanging acoustic foam on a louver door will not be enough since these types of material are better at absorbing sound than actually blocking noise.
There is a product I tried not long ago that will not only absorb sound but will also help block it. BXI Soundproofing Foam double insulation is a 2 in 1 product with one absorption layer & one soundproofing layer for double acoustic insulation. Average Transmission Loss: 24dB. Absorption Coefficient:0.74. NRC: 0.75.
All you need to do is unroll this product and apply it on the hidden side of the louver door, and you’re done!
Conclusion
Of course, if none of these soundproofing methods work for you then swapping the louver door for a solid core door would be your best bet. You came here to avoid this option, so I hope you found an alternative because louver doors inside a home do look beautiful and add some much-needed architecture, especially in modern homes.
Let us know in the comment section below if you used any of our suggestions or if you have a suggestion of your own that you would want to share with us! We’d love to hear from you!