Fill all floor and wall cavities with mineral fiber acoustic insulation.
Insulate heating and air conditioning ducts by using fiberglass flex ducts, fiberglass duct board, or by wrapping or lining the ducts with fiberglass insulation.
Install resilient underlayments (carpeting and padding) throughout your home to help reduce impact sound transmission.
Install resilient mats between subfloor and finished floor to help reduce impact sound.
Caulk around windows and use weather-stripping at the bottom of your exterior doors.
Use solid wood or mineral core doors with insulation where privacy is required.
Install acoustic ceiling panels.
Reduce sound transmission with double or triple pane glass and storm windows.
Select quiet, high quality appliances.
Install telephones, doorbells, intercoms, or audio built-ins on interior walls only—never on common walls or corridor walls.
Caulk holes made by wiring that penetrates connecting structures with elastic non-hardening caulk or dry packing.
Seal openings around ceiling fixtures so that they are airtight.
Make use of plants, draperies, and wall hangings throughout your home. The “soft” objects in a room may absorb more sound.
Minimise window sizes facing noisy areas.
Ask your builder to develop a well-planned layout to minimize the noise of flowing water, and insulate walls containing drainpipes.
Ask your builder to seal under all bottom plates as the walls are being built.
Ask your builder to avoid undercutting doors, if possible. Frequently, doors must be undercut to get proper air circulation for the HVAC. A simpler solution to ensure proper circulation is to keep doors open when rooms are not in use or provide transfer registers.
