How to Soundproof Your Garage

Your garage isn’t solely a place to park your car, it can also double as a workshop, a gym, or for band practice. Any of these purposes will create noise that can travel beyond the walls of the garage — not good for you, not good for your neighbors.

Here are some tips on how to keep the peace and soundproof your garage.

Garage Door

Due to their large size, garage doors are the worst culprit for noise transfer, especially if they are uninsulated. If you are not ready to upgrade to insulated garage doors, there are several products on the market designed to create a sound barrier. Try a garage door insulation blanket, sealing the gaps around the door with weather stripping, or a garage door insulation kit.

Floor

The garage floor is often overlooked for soundproofing. Sound waves transmit easily through concrete, so you need a way to block them. A sturdy indoor/outdoor carpet, sound deadening vinyl flooring, or interlocking rubber tiles will help. Be sure the flooring is easily moved, or weatherproof and durable, if you plan to park your car in the garage when not using it for other activities.

Ceiling

There are many ways to soundproof your garage ceiling, ranging from tacking up a blanket to installing a drop ceiling. Acoustic tiles can be installed on the ceiling or walls and come in a variety of options — sound absorbing, sound blocking, and sound diffusing. Adding additional insulation will deaden sound and will help regulate the overall temperature in your garage. If you’re short on time or DIY skills, tacking up a blanket, acoustic or otherwise, is the simplest way to go.

Walls

All that noise you’re drumming up (see what we did there?) is traveling right through your garage drywall. Creating a barrier to prevent it from seeping out can be a challenge. If you are considering a whole garage makeover, you can build double walls with staggered studs filled with sound-deadening insulation. If that’s not on your to-do list this year, try acoustic tiles, sound isolation clips, or resilient channels.

Windows

Unless you are using your garage as a home office, you probably don’t need to see out the windows. You can use foam insulation, acoustic plugs, weather stripping, or thick curtains to diminish the amount of sound that escapes. If you’re handy, there are loads of online sites that will provide DIY instructions for making window plugs.

Depending on the use, you may implement one or more (maybe even all!) of these methods for soundproofing your garage. There is a solution for every budget to transform your garage into a usable space.

At Champion Overhead Door, we are always interested in new and inventive ways to use a garage. Have something you’d like to share? Leave comments below!