How To Soundproof a Garage

There’s no end of reasons why more and more people soundproof a garage these days. Why so? Because the days are long gone of garages solely being used to put a roof over your car. 

Now, garages are doubling up as DIY workshops, wo/man caves, home cinemas, mini gyms, rehearsal rooms and WFH offices. So, if soundproofing a garage hasn’t been on your radar before now, you might want to think again…

Why Soundproof a Garage?

Great quality spaces are like gold dust these days. So, there are multiple reasons why you might choose to soundproof a garage for your personal use or to rent. 

But truthfully, garages are often hollow spaces consisting of hard surfaces. This makes them clatter zones! They’re prime culprits for sound bouncing off the walls, floor and ceiling. And regular garage doors rarely provide a sound barrier to stop music, other noises and echoes from seeping out into the wider world. 

What are The Advantages of Soundproofing a Garage?

Noise disruption is annoying at best and soul-destroying at worst! So, deciding to soundproof a garage is proactively safeguarding your own status quo - and that of the people around you. Soundproofing a garage achieves this noble cause by keeping your noise in and external noise out. 

In turn, you remain on the right side of your fellow occupants, neighbours, community and the law. Job well done, because you don’t want persistent noise disturbance to become a breach of the peace or even a criminal offence. 

Is it a Big Job to Soundproof a Garage?

The size of the job is relative to your needs, wants and requirements. 

There is a number of simple and cost-effective ways to soundproof a garage. But it depends on various factors, such as:

• The size of your garage
• What your garage is used for, or what it’s going to be used for
• The level of soundproofing you want to achieve

What are the Cheapest and Easiest Ways to Soundproof a Garage?

The good news is that you can soundproof a garage without it costing the earth or being a Hurculean task. ‘Entry level’ but effective methods include – 

• Floor matting
• Acoustic blankets and sheets
• Sealing windows
• Resilient channels and sound insulation clips

Let’s thrash through them one by one.

Putting Matting Down on Garage Floors

Sounds elementary, right? But humble matting (especially rubber) prevents sound from bouncing off garage floors by reducing reverb potential. 

Top tip coming at you - How about assigning a sustainable new mission to any old carpet you’ve got hanging around? It doesn’t technically soundproof a garage, but it soaks up lo-fi noise effectively enough.

Using Acoustic Blankets and Sheets

With up to 50% sound absorbing levels, moving blankets and sheets of soundproof material can be used to soundproof a garage door with aplomb. 

In addition, it’s a walk in the park to suspend acoustic blankets and sheets from garage ceilings. It’s a makeshift, speedier and less financially demanding way to build a ‘room in a room’ effect, by draping them to create a completely cocooned space. 

Sealing Windows

Bricking up windows is a powerhouse sound barrier, though it might not be an option to block out natural daylight. In which case, try sealing windows with soundproof foam panels. They’re a nifty alternative, without plunging your garage into eternal night. There are lots of other affordable ways to insulate windows which also help with noise reduction.

Resilient Channels and Sound Isolation Clips

“What the heck are these babies?” you cry. Great question! 

In the absence of an entire white paper on resilient channels and sound isolation clips, let’s keep it short and sweet.  

They’re both types of metal bars that disrupt the relationship between your brickwork and the wooden framing it’s built around. When a disconnect or a ‘decoupling’ as it’s known in the industry is caused, it results in blocked sound. In a very simplistic nutshell, this is what resilient channels and sound isolation clips do.

What About More Sophisticated Solutions?

The ways above are often just the job for most normal soundproofing purposes. But they might not do the trick for heavier-duty stuff, like the thumping tubs of band practice or state-of-the-art home cinema acoustics. 

You need real workhorses to do the serious grafting, such as:

• Solid core doors
• Doubling down on drywalling
• Constructing a room in a room

Let’s take a look at what these terms actually mean behind the building sector speak. 

Solid Core Doors

Think of solid core doors or a layer of mass-loaded vinyl like earplugs for garages. They can have a vault-like impact. But, as you’d expect of this level of garage soundproofing big hitters, they’ve got eye-watering price tags to match. 

Doubling Down on Drywalling

Adding layers of drywalling for improved soundproofing. It’s literally a case of multiplying the density of your garage walls to block sound more efficiently.

Constructing a Room in a Room

This method really is the mother of all garage soundproofing methods. In short, if you need to soundproof a garage to the max, this is the leading-edge way to do it. But its cost, complexity and the fact that it’s a dirty job (but someone’s gotta do it!) rule it out for some people.

In short, room in a room construction involves stripping out any existing drywalling and building a second wooden frame, independently and unconnected to your existing wooden frame. In layman’s terms, it’s perhaps easier to visualise a wall in a wall, rather than a room in a room. Or that two walls are better than one. 

Remember, with this method you will lose a little space. Adding an additional inner wall can knock a foot or even more off your floor space.  

Conclusion

Bingo! If you didn’t know how to soundproof a garage before, you’ve got a pretty good idea now. So, if you own a garage, rent a garage, are hoping to rent a garage, or you can’t wait to be an authentic bona fide garage band… Hello, we’re here!

At Stashbee, it’s never been this hassle-free to put your garage on the rental market or rent a garage in the area you want and to the spec you need.