How To Soundproof a Condo Door? {5 Proven Ways}

Living in a condo has its advantages as compared to living in an apartment, like having useful facilities and having more control over making modifications.

But there’s a common problem in condos and that you may have noticed and that’s- too much noise. I know its taste as I had already been in a condo for more than a year and a half at this point.

Noisy neighbors, people talking in the hall, the traffic outside or even the rumble of the elevator are literally the noise hub in a condo. But there is a practical solution to deal with it and that is to soundproof your condo door.

The door is your first line of defense against unwanted noise from the neighboring units as well as the outside world.

So in this post, I am about to give you the 5 super effective ways to soundproof a condo door. Here we go…

5 Effective Ways to Soundproof a Condo Door

1: Seal all the gaps your door has

This is crucial and is the first step you should take when soundproofing any door, whether it is a pocket door, sliding glass door or any door basically.

These gaps are not only the gap, it is the entry point for noise. Through these gaps sound can easily pass without any struggle. So pay attention to the gaps your condo door has and block them as properly as you can. 

In a door, the common areas for gaps are the perimeter where the door meets the frame, top, sides, and bottom of the door frame.

I’ve soundproofed more than 100 doors, and what I’ve noticed is that most doors have gaps, especially around the edges where they meet the frame; this is a very common issue. 

So go and look at this area. If you notice gaps, seal them by installing the EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer) rubber weatherstrips around your condo door’s perimeter.

These types of weatherstrips tend to be more durable and effective at creating a tight seal. For sealing gaps at the bottom of the door, install a door sweep or a threshold strip. I recently used a door sweep to soundproofing a bifold door and I notice a noise reduction of 6 dB, this is noticeable!

I would recommend a threshold strip. For small cracks or gaps, you can use caulk or sealant to fill them in. If your condo door has a glass pane, check the seal around the glass and make sure it’s secure and not allowing sound to enter.

Related: How to soundproof French doors?

2: Old Tire Mat

The concept behind using old tire mats for soundproofing a condo door lies in the acoustic properties of rubber.

According to Rubcrop.com, rubber is an effective sound treatment. Rubber tires are super dense and are known for their ability to absorb and dampen sound energy.

By attaching the tire mat to your condo door, you will be able to block sound vibrations and reduce noise by 19 to 25 dB or even more, but its effectiveness depends on the structure and design of the mat.

Related: How much does it cost to soundproof a door?

Is it recommended to make a mat with old tires yourself?

Now, creating old tire mats for soundproofing can be a DIY task, but it requires careful consideration and safety precautions. Here’s what you should keep in mind

• Cutting tires can be physically demanding and potentially hazardous due to sharp edges and dust as well. 
• Also, you’ll need a reciprocating saw or just a saw for cutting through tire rubber. 
• Properly attaching the mats to the door, ensuring a secure fit without gaps or seams is super important and needs to be considered too.

If you’re comfortable with these considerations and have the necessary tools, making old tire mats yourself can be a viable DIY option. Here is how you can go about creating a mat with old tires.

How to create and attach a tire mat to a condo door to make it soundproof?

Materials You’ll Need:

• Old tires (preferably truck or heavy-duty vehicle tires)
• Reciprocating saw
• Measuring tape
• Marker or chalk
• Safety gloves and goggles
• Adhesive (acoustic adhesive or construction adhesive)
• Screws and washers (for additional securing)

Step 1: Safety First:

First of all, wear safety gloves and goggles to protect yourself from sharp edges and debris while working with the tires.

Step 2: Select and Prepare the Tires: 

Choose old tires that are clean and free of contaminants. And if possible, choose the appropriate size tires to cover the door’s surface. 

By the way, if you have small size tires then don’t you can do it. But before moving further, clean the tires thoroughly with soap and water to remove any dirt or grime.

Step 3: Mark and Cut: 

Use a marker or chalk to mark the tire’s surface for cutting. You can cut the tire into strips or sections to create a mat. Now, using a reciprocating saw, start cutting the tire by following the marked lines while wearing appropriate safety gear. 

Step 4: Shape the Mat: 

Cut the tire sections according to your desired shape and size for the door. You may want to create multiple sections to cover the entire door, overlapping them slightly for complete coverage

Attaching the Tire Mat to the Door:

• Ensure the door’s surface is clean and free of dust or debris. This will help the adhesive bond effectively. 
• Use heavy-duty acoustic adhesive or construction adhesive to apply a generous amount to the back of each tire section. Ensure even coverage. 
• Now, carefully press the adhesive-coated side of each tire section onto the door’s surface. And ensure they are evenly spaced and are properly aligned. 
• For added stability, use screws and washers to secure the tire sections to the door. (If possible, try attaching a plywood sheet on the door above the tire mat before screwing.) Drill holes through the tire and door, then attach the sections with screws and washers. That’s it.

If you’re not interested in doing the work yourself, you might want to consider hiring skilled craftsmen who specialize in working with materials for this purpose and obviously this option will be a little expensive.

Related: How to make a Louvered door soundproof?

3: Use UMIACOUSTICS Acoustic Panels

Attaching acoustic panels to soundproof a door is a well-known and effective solution, and you’ve probably come across this idea before many times.

Using regular acoustic panels for soundproofing in your own home is a good idea as there are very few noise concerns. But for soundproofing a condo door, regular acoustic panels might not provide the result you are looking for.

That’s where UMIACOUSTICS Acoustic Panels come in. A few weeks ago, I bought some of these panels and checked their noise reduction capacities, and I found these panels reduced noise by more than 11 dB compared to the noise reduction I get while using typical acoustic panels. 

Furthermore, according to acousticalsfurfaces.com, NRC (Noise Reduction Coefficient) rating of anything more than 0.7 is considered good.

However, these UMIACOUSTICS acoustic panels have an NRC rating of 0.95 which is the industry standard and that means these panels go above and beyond in providing outstanding sound absorption.

However, they are also more expensive compared to other acoustic panels. Anyway, to soundproof a condo door with UMIACOUSTICS acoustic panels, just purchase a few of them according to your condo door size and attach them directly to the door. It is super easy to read since they are self-adhesive. 

4: Install wood wall diffusion panel on your condo door

When it comes to soundproofing a condo door to reduce the noise effectively, installing wood diffusion panels on your door is a highly effective way for soundproofing hollow core doors.

Wood wall diffusion panels are a kind of panels that are specifically designed to be installed on a wall to scatter sound waves to reduce their reflections.

However, you can easily use it on your condo door and significantly reduce noise coming through it. It is made from MDF and acoustic polyester felt with a wood veneer. This can easily reduce mid to high-frequency sound by 15 dB or even more.

To use wood wall diffusion panels to make your condo door soundproof, purchase these types of panels from your nearby hardware store or from Amazon. Once you have it, attach it to your condo door on the interior side by screwing them. 

However, you are still not satisfied with the noise reduction you get by installing a wood wall diffusion panel on the interior side of your condo door, then consider installing another panel on the exterior side to cut down noise even further. 

But, before that make sure that your condo door is capable of the door of these panels on both sides. As wood panels tend to be really heavy, in fact, I have one which is 47.2×15.7 inch and weighs 17.6 LB that I have installed on my hollow barn door to make it soundproof.

And according to Viktor (a home improvement expert), an interior door can hold between 45 to 100 pounds. However, condo doors are often less sturdy.

So confirm it if you are going to attach wood wall diffusion panels on the both sides of your condo door. You can also use this thing to noise-proof a bathroom door.

Related: How to effectively soundproof an interior door?

5: Install an MLV curtain

If you are in the hunt for a non-permanent yet effective solution that is capable of reducing the sound by more than 25 dB then using an MLV curtain is a perfect solution for your condo door.

An MLV curtain is a curtain specially designed to incorporate Mass-Loaded Vinyl. MLV is an excellent soundproofing material and is extremely effective at blocking sound and reducing noise transmission.

By adding MLV to a curtain, you create a portable and cost-effective soundproofing solution for garage door and condo doors, that you can hang and remove whenever you want.

Creating an MLV curtain is a DIY thing and you should do it yourself. To help you create a DIY MLV curtain, here’s a step-by-step guide:

How to create an MLV Curtain?

What You’ll Need:

• A 3-layer curtain (necessary)
• Mass-Loaded Vinyl (MLV) sheet, cut to the size of your curtain.
• Sewing machine and thread
• Measuring tape and scissors

Steps:

1. Measure the dimensions of your curtain, and then cut the MLV sheet to the same size.
2. Carefully open up the 3-layer curtain to access the middle layer. This layer is typically foam or another sound-absorbing material.
3. Remove the middle layer and replace it with the cut MLV sheet and make sure it covers the entire area previously occupied by the middle layer.
4. Now, using a sewing machine, sew the curtains back together. Make sure to use heavy-duty thread for sewing. As the MLV sheet may cause problems while sewing with regular thread.
5. Your MLV curtain is now ready. Hang the MLV curtain on your condo door using the curtain rod as usual.

If you don’t want to do this work then just purchase a soundproofing curtain and hang it over your condo door. This can be effective, but the MLV curtain will be way more effective. The choice is yours, but I would recommend you for the MLV curtain. 

Conclusion

Soundproofing a condo door can be a real pain as it requires some of what I call out-of-the-box techniques to really reduce the noise.

As there is tons of noise in a condo and using generic soundproofing methods such as using foam panels won’t be that much effective.

In fact, I have already tested all those generic advice that I hear all the time, but I didn’t get the peace I was looking for.

For this reason, I brainstormed and researched and came up with some super effective techniques for blocking sound out of the condo door and these methods really helped me.

All of these techniques are extremely effective, you can go with the method that suits you and your needs best.

From the above condo door soundproofing techniques, I found that using an old tire mat is the most effective. Attaching wood wall diffusion panels on both sides of the condo door will also create an extremely powerful barrier against noise from other units or outside.

And that’s all for this post: How to soundproof a condo door?