# How To Sound-Proof Apartment Bedroom **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2004, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-sound-proof-apartment-bedroom/249623 "2004-06-10T12:17:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Certainly\_If\_You\_Please](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Certainly\_If\_You\_Please](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Certainly_If_You_Please)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-sound-proof-apartment-bedroom/249623/1 "2004-06-10T12:17:37Z")
I live in an apartment complex and share a wall with a neighbor. She is pregnant and going to have her baby soon. Having a son of my own, I know that I’m going to wake up with her whenever her baby wakes up crying done the night. Are there any low-cost ways I can sound-proof the wall we share? Like maybe cover it with some kind of material? What if I just hung a large rug on the wall. I heard balsa wood would work, but it seems like it’d be expensive to cover the whole wall. Moving is out of the question, by the way. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-sound-proof-apartment-bedroom/249623/2 "2004-06-10T12:54:58Z")
Thick cork panels. Like the kind you use as bulletin boards, but _thick_. Cover the wall with them. Attach with wire brad nails. It should dampen any sound, & you can pin photos of friends & family to it. Can’t paint it, though. ---
**Author:** ![All\_That\_And](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@All\_That\_And](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/All_That_And)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-sound-proof-apartment-bedroom/249623/3 "2004-06-10T13:28:57Z")
It will take a good deal of cash to sound proof your wall, It will cost you less than $5 to get a pair of ear plugs to use while you sleep. ---
**Author:** ![galen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecc23a/32.png) [@galen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-sound-proof-apartment-bedroom/249623/4 "2004-06-10T14:18:44Z")
Mass. You need _mass_ . Cork is low mass. Lead sheet is best, but a product called mass loaded vinyl is almost as good. I researched this once. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Cloud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@Little\_Cloud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Cloud)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-sound-proof-apartment-bedroom/249623/5 "2004-06-10T15:18:57Z")
Unless you have money to burn, I would hold off. My last two sons rarely cried. When they woke at night they just made this, “eh-eh” sound and since the bassinette was right next to the bed I would pull them right into bed and feed them. Both were sleeping through the night by ten weeks of age. No neighbor could have been disturbed. (My first son was quite another matter.) Anyhow, maybe you’ll get lucky with a quiet baby or a baby that sleeps through the night quickly. You might just want to move your bed to the living room for a few weeks or seek an inexpensive temporary solution. I had a cork ceiling in one apartment and it off-gassed fumes for a very long time and was quite expensive. Here’s hoping your neighbor is blessed with a healthy, quiet good sleeper. ---
**Author:** ![Bongmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Bongmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bongmaster)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-sound-proof-apartment-bedroom/249623/6 "2004-06-10T19:53:33Z")
Unless you are prepared to spend lots of time and money you probably won’t be too satisfied with the results. You’re going to have to cover your walls with a dense material but that won’t really do it alone. In my old apartment sound traveled through the walls, the floor, ceiling, pipes, vents, and just about anywhere else you could imagine. I also had obnoxious neighbors who would play loud, repeatitive music at all hours. The only solution that worked for me was moving out. If you figure this out please let us know, there are lots of people who would love to sound proof their apartment so they don’t have to confront the neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![FX45\_4Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4bbf92/32.png) [@FX45\_4Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FX45_4Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-sound-proof-apartment-bedroom/249623/7 "2004-06-10T20:32:24Z")
Spend your money on [Noise cancelling headphones](http://www.thetravelinsider.info/7dec2001.htm) and [sleep inducing CDs](http://store.yahoo.com/solitudes/cdg150.html)… and all will be well… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-sound-proof-apartment-bedroom/249623/8 "2004-06-10T23:09:38Z")
> [@Little Cloud](#): > > I had a cork ceiling in one apartment and it off-gassed fumes for a very long time and was quite expensive. That’d be the adhesive, not the cork itsself. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![shimmery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@shimmery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shimmery)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-sound-proof-apartment-bedroom/249623/9 "2004-06-10T23:32:39Z")
> [@FX45 4Ever](#): > > Spend your money on [Noise cancelling headphones](http://www.thetravelinsider.info/7dec2001.htm) and [sleep inducing CDs](http://store.yahoo.com/solitudes/cdg150.html)… and all will be well… 😃 I second this - my bedroom is next to the very noisy kitchen (my brothers stay up until all hours, and then my parents wake up early for work), so my dad got me a white-noise machine from the Sharper Image (similar to [this one](http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/productview.jhtml?pid=40598900&pcatid=4&catid=38055900&catpage=1) - I’m sure you could find a much cheaper one elsewhere, though).