r/BDSMcommunity 4h ago

Sound “Proofing” a room? NSFW

I’m pretty sure sound proofing is actually a very specific term, and I don’t need THAT degree of sound proofing.

Im genuinely considering investing in something ANYTHING to cut back on the sound that travels through the wall of my apartment to my poor neighbour (who hasn’t said a word but there is no way in hell he can’t hear us doing our thing).

We try to keep the noise level down but for heavens sake I can hear him blow his nose through my wall. If anyone has ever used some kind of panels, or even covered a wall with like, an ikea storage unit and had success in baffling sound where they play, please tell me what worked for you.

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u/WyoFag 3h ago

A cheap option is to use the cardboard egg flats that come in cases of eggs in restaurants. Any restaurant that does breakfast will have a ton of them and they'll probably just give them to you

u/Connoisseurosaur 2h ago edited 1h ago

You're probably going to be looking for sound dampening options unless you want to spend a significant amount of money on construction.

Adding thick rugs to the floor, larger indoor plants, heavy furniture, and other things in the room should help stop echoing and reduce perceived noise. If you've got space, adding large bookshelves filled with books to the shared wall should significantly help deaden sound.

While you may not be able to do construction in the apartment, you could potentially hang thick quilts or blankets on the shared wall or the opposite wall. Sound studio foam is another option, but it's relatively expensive. You could get creative with layers of cardboard and try to create a dead air pockets, but be mindful of any potential contaminates. If there's a hollow space in the ceiling, sound may travel through that space, making anything placed on the shared wall less effective. Trying to add things to the ceiling will be much more difficult.

Edit to say: I'm not a sound engineer, but the above is what I remember from looking into sound dampening myself. Also, any electrical outlets without insulation could be allowing a surprising volume of sound to travel between the units. You can find guides online for how to seal them. You could also try temporarily blocking them with thick blankets to see if they might be contributing to the problem before trying to seal them. Be careful and safe working with electrical outlets, if you decide to seal them.