Have you ever sat in your office and listened to the world around you? If you’re in a good sound environment, you should only hear the hum of your computer and the subtle vibrations of the air vents. You might hear much more than that if you’re in an office without proper soundproofing.
In healthcare, education, government, and corporate settings, it’s not just about managing noise, but also ensuring that private or confidential discussions stay that way. My wife works in HR, so I can appreciate this first hand. During the pandemic she was frequently taking calls in the basement or upstairs with the door closed!
Fortunately, there are unique and affordable ways to transform your workspace into a soundproof oasis.
Understanding Soundproofing Versus Sound Absorption
There’s often confusion between soundproofing and sound absorption. If you want to soundproof your office, you need to know the difference. Soundproofing is the art of preventing external noise from entering your space. It’s all about blocking sound.
Sound absorption is all about managing sound. Sound absorbing panels, for instance, absorb a certain amount of sound that touches them, which reduces echoes and improves sound clarity. This is especially important in rooms with a lot of excess noise, like restaurants and schools.
Why Offices Need Acoustical Solutions
Think of the perfect office space. It’s not just a bunch of desks and computers situated strategically. It’s a well-balanced sound environment where you can get on a phone call without getting distracted or have a meeting about something sensitive without worrying about being overheard.
Offices almost require acoustic treatments because sound clarity and privacy in an office space are incredibly important. Here’s why:
Private Meetings
This is where key decisions, critical negotiations, or brainstorming takes place, and should be an environment where each word is heard and not leaked to the outside.
Private Calls
When discussing business strategies or sealing deals over the phone, you probably prefer a bit of guaranteed privacy. Soundproofing gives you just that. Plus, it’s a lot more difficult to have a comfortable conversation over the phone if you know that everyone around you can hear what you’re saying.
Conversations with Human Resources
HR (Human Resources) is often the confidential backbone of a company, and is responsible for addressing personal matters and sensitive company data. It’s imperative that conversations that take place between HR professionals and other employees must be kept private, and the only way to do that is to create soundproof spaces.
Enhancing Focus
Noise isn’t just a distraction. It affects productivity and can lead to increased stress levels over time. To create a productive and stress-free environment, you should focus on providing a soundproof space.
How Has Covid-19 Impacted the Need for Acoustical Solutions?
The COVID-19 pandemic changed many work paradigms, and underscored the need for optimal acoustic environments. As offices have transformed with endless video calls and remote meetings, office managers and business owners must contend with a new audio landscape.
Reverberating microphones, the subtle hum of multiple ongoing calls, and ambient white noise in an office background can create a symphony of distractions, and when you add to that muffled voices behind face masks and low-quality headsets like earbuds, the situation becomes a lot more challenging. That’s why sound environments inside offices are more important than ever.
5 Areas You Should Acoustically Treat to Soundproof Your Office
Are you looking for ways to soundproof your office space but don’t know how to get started? Fortunately, it’s simpler than you’d think. Here are the key areas in your office that may require acoustic treatments to create a soundproof environment.
1. Doorways
An office’s acoustical journey begins at its doorways, and there’s no better solution than our PrivacyShield® Soundproofing Door Seal Kit. Our comprehensive set includes jamb seals, threshold seals, and an automatic door bottom to ensure your doors are perfectly sealed.
Acoustic Door Seal Kit – 485-2 (not to scale)
Remember that a 1% opening will allow up to 50% of sound to travel through. So, when you’re soundproofing your doors, you have to make sure they’re completely sealed, or there’s almost no point.
2. Ceiling Tiles
Your ceiling tiles do more than just hold up lighting fixtures and separate your space from all the wires and pipes above your ceiling. If you use our PrivacyShield® Ceiling Tile Barriers, you can effortlessly upgrade your existing ceiling tiles into something completely soundproof.
PrivacyShield® Ceiling Tile Barrier 2’x2′
By placing these barrier backers above your existing ceiling tiles, you can reduce sound transmission and block outside noise from coming in, which is much more cost-effective than constructing full partition walls.
3. Light Fixtures
Sound leaks are often subtle and overlooked, especially when they come through spaces like your light fixtures. If you use our PrivacyShield® Light Hood, you get soundproofing that doesn’t impact the visual aesthetics of your ceiling.
PrivacyShield® Light Hood 2′ x 2′
Our Light Hoods fit directly over lighting fixtures above suspended ceilings like a cap, to block sound transmission and maintain airflow, to help ensure optimal functionality without compromising your acoustics.
4. Air Vents
HVAC systems aren’t just about maintaining temperature – they also carry a lot of exterior sound, which can wreak havoc on your sound environment, but with our PrivacyShield® Plenum Return Silencer G2, you’ll never have to worry about sound transmission through your HVAC systems again.
PrivacyShield® Plenum Return Silencer G2
5. Walls
Last but certainly not least, we need to talk about your walls because they need their own set of acoustic solutions. Here are some incredible products you can use together to create soundproof barriers inside your walls:
AudioSeal® Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV) Soundproofing Barrier
The AudioSeal® MLV Soundproofing Barrier stands out because it is a dense, sound-blocking shield that can be used inside your walls. By installing the barrier directly on the studs during the pre-construction or renovation phase, the wall gains an added barrier, which aids in making it soundproof.
AudioSeal® Mass Loaded Vinyl Sound Barrier
Green Glue Noiseproofing Compound
Our Green Glue Noiseproofing Compound is a must-have companion for soundproofing walls. When applied between walls or multiple layers of drywall, it can transform your office into a super quiet, soundproof space.
Green Glue Noiseproofing Compound – 28 oz. Tubes
Resilient Sound Isolation Clip (RSIC-1)
Surprisingly, soundproofing isn’t solely about blocking sound. It’s also about strategically decoupling structures. The Resilient Sound Isolation Clip (RSIC-1) is the perfect tool because it lets you decouple walls to break sound transmission. This isolation technique “floats” walls or ceilings, hindering vibrations and sound from passing through.
Resilient Sound Isolation Clip RSIC-1
OSI® SC-175 Acoustical Caulk
Little cracks and gaps may seem harmless, but they’re equivalent to open floodgates in the acoustic world. That’s why our OSI® SC-175 Acoustical Caulk is crafted to seal these gaps, providing a continuous barrier against sound leakage.
Acoustical Caulk
Soundproof Your Office with Innovative Products from Acoustical Solutions
If you’re thinking about soundproofing your office space, trust our team at Acoustical Solutions and our extensive line of top-tier acoustic products to get you there. From brainstorming sessions to critical negotiations, every word spoken in your office deserves clarity and confidentiality.
Contact us today to learn how we can help you transform your office into a quiet, private oasis!
To learn more about how Acoustical Solutions can solve your noise control problems, use our contact form, call one of our Acoustical Sales Consultants at (800) 782-5742, or visit us on the web at acousticalsolutions.com.
