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My bedroom is next to the kitchen on one wall, a hallway on one wall, the outdoors on one wall and the PC room on the other. The wall that bothers us the most is the kitchen wall.
We would like to soundproof the kitchen wall and maybe the hallway wall.
Is that possible without it costing a fortune?
Not sure what a fortune is and how much you are willing to do yourself.
Redrywall. OK - Here is the big expense. Quietrock (Lowes) works well. It is $40-50 a sheet so that might set you back $300. You could also double drywall - more work but less material cost.
Mud and tape - don't know of any mud and tape that is designed for soundproofing.
There is soundproofing paint. It helps but I am not sure how well you would notice a difference when the sounds are coming from so close. This would be another $100.
There are soundproofing grids you can buy for your wall - some with ok designs. These are really expensive and really out of the realm of your question.
So if you can do everything yourself you are looking at $200-600. Another $150-200 to have someone do it for you. Also if there are drain pipes in the walls then you will never get the full effect of the soundproofing since the 3 inches of material will probably be reduced to 1 inch or less.
If your trying to sleep better start with a white or pink noise generator to block out the noise that is keeping you awake. Most get used to white or pink noise very quickly. If that does't work then start adding heavy drapes, cloth wall hangings and rugs on the floor. A lot of sound is transmitted through the attic so if it's next thing to fix if simple work on the windows and walls doesn't work.
If your trying to maintain the privacy of energetic love making that bounces the bed against the walls and one or more of you is a screamer you have an expensive problem and you all will have to restrain yourselves a bit. The wall banging and screaming have to stop. If you rent there is little more you can do other than gags, oil the bed springs or use a futon on the floor.
If you own the home there is lot you can do depending oh the depth of your purse. You not only need to double stud the walls with off set studs that break the connection with the opposite wall and at least use one layer if not 2 layers of 5/8 inch SoundBreak XP Gypsum Board purple drywall on the bed room walls and put some kind of sound deadening insulation between the wall and in a dropped ceiling of acoustic tiles.
The floor transmits low frequency noise. (Think of the cars driving by with the sub-wolfer set on kill.) This page shows how the pros build a floor that is disconnected form the homes floor. The most extreme measure is to set 4 18 pt 24 inch waterproof pipes to deep enough to support pillars that support the floor and the load on floor in the pipes filled with dry sand. Somewhere along the it would have been less expensive to build a detached soundproof room and made it a safe room at the same time..
Before starting any projects, if you have forced air, reducing certain noise from connected rooms will be impossible. Walls will absorb some of the noise, but forced air duct work transmits significantly more noise than radiators.
Whether it be drowning out the sounds of love making, kitchen noise, television or whatever, rip out or add onto your current room's drywall with two layers of 5/8" fire rated drywall (type X), with green glue acoustic sealant between them staggering the joints (2.5" screw for the second layer). See this 1st instructional video.
The top-view diagram will give about 40 STC. It is two 5/8" walls separated by studs/insulation. For a 65+ STC barrier, a second wall with alternating stud placement and two 5/8" drywall with staggered joints:
Mineral wool insulation $2-3/sq-ft doesn't perform much better than fiberglass if you look at the STC rating (a few points). Fiberglass insulation is less than a third the price.
Any electrical outlets should also be replaced with [@@@] since disturbing noise can travel through a hole the size of pencil diameter.
A more expensive method is to use mass loaded vinyl:
With a typical weight of 1 lb. per square foot, these barriers are as heavy as lead, but only 1/8" thick. This improves the sound transmission loss (STC) of a construction assembly without losing valuable space. It may be used in new and retrofit soundproofing construction. The standard offering is a non-reinforced barrier for use in typical construction. Other configurations include lag and wrap materials for pipes and ducting, a transparent version to allow line of site or light, a surface mount option and a reinforced version that may be suspended. These materials are often combined with other materials in soundproofing applications to help provide a complete sound blocking solution.
https://acousticalsolutions.com/product-category/sound-barriers/mass-loaded-vinyl/
To completely sound proof the room, you'd see the best results by removing the drywall from at least one side of each wall, and the ceiling if there's living space above, and installing specialized quiet drywall on top of sound attenuation channel that's attached to the studs like furring strips. This both separates the drywall from the studs to remove base sounds, and the quiet drywall absorbs the higher pitched sounds. However, even after all this work, there are still air ducts and doors that will often transmit sounds.
https://diy.stackexchange.com/a/87527/87531
Make sure to check with authorities about local building codes too.
Good reads:
Additional sound reducing solutions:
See this 2nd instructional video.
