Beyond a shadow of a doubt, a sliding glass door is beautiful and has a way of augmenting the appearance of any building.
As a matter of fact, one way to give your home an elegant appearance is to have a sliding glass door. It even becomes more important because it can let you have a view of what is going on outside your apartment without a need to come out.
Sliding glass doors are amazing. They come with a lot of pros. Well, they do not just have pros, they have cons also.
In as much as these doors are associated with lots of cons, one of these cons stands out – sliding glass doors are difficult to soundproof. This is because sound passes through glass easily.
If you live in a very quiet neighborhood, it might not really matter if your sliding door cannot keep noise from coming into your apartment.
However, if you live in a neighborhood that is quite noisy, you will have to come up with ways to soundproof your sliding glass door.
Contained in this article are lots of ways to soundproof your sliding glass door. Read on to find out.
Contents
Challenges with Soundproofing Sliding Doors
- Prior to discussing how to soundproof sliding glass doors, it is important that we get to understand the many challenges that are associated with soundproofing sliding glass doors. With this, it can become a lot easier to come up with ways to soundproof them
- Sliding glass doors are made of glass. This means that they are not as thick as doors made from wood and other materials. This ultimately implies it will be more difficult for them to absorb sound. Also, the process of working with glass is not always an easy one as there is a lot to care about. In the absence of the right amount of care, the sliding glass door might get damaged in the process of soundproofing. Finally, unlike other door types which can be easily padded, padding sliding glass doors take away the easy view that they are supposed to be associated with.
- There might be a whole lot of difficulty associated with soundproofing sliding glass doors, nevertheless, there are still lots of effective ways to soundproof sliding glass doors without doing the glass any damage.
Ensure you seal any gaps you come across
In addition to noise finding its way into your apartment from outside because of the fact that sliding glass doors at not thick, noise can also penetrate your doors through gaps. A lot of times, these gaps are unseen. Nonetheless, they are in existence.
This technique of soundproofing your sliding glass door is not expensive and can help solve the problem of sound getting into your department from outside. It, however, is not exactly perfect.
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To make use of this method of soundproofing sliding glass doors, simply look for all existing gaps when your sliding glass door is closed. As soon as you locate any of them, ensure that they are sealed with the use of a weather stripping tape.
After getting this done, shut your door slowly and very carefully. Once done, look out for any other openings through which sound will find its way into your apartment. Ensure you check under your door while at this.
If there is any form of opening under your door, you can make use of a door sweep in sealing this opening. Door sweeps are not only affordable, but they are also effective in sealing beneath your sliding glass door.
Make use of a Thick Winter Blanket
Making use of a thick winter blanket or soundproof blankets in soundproofing sliding glass doors is very affordable. It, however, might not produce very fantastic results.
While this will be effective in stopping any sounds coming from outside your apartment, sounds which are caused by any form of impact will pass through unhindered.
Basically, a winter blanket is effective in soundproofing sliding glass doors because it is thick and will absorb any sound that comes in contact with it.
When using a winter blanket in soundproofing a sliding glass door, it is important that you make use of it only for a short period of time. This is due to the fact that it does not just trap sound. It also traps dust and might turn your leaving room into a dumping ground for dust.
So, if the aim is to soundproof your sliding glass door permanently this might not be the best idea. However, if it is something that you need for just a short while, you can take advantage of this method.
While at this you need to keep in mind is that while this will produce some results, they won’t be fantastic. Any and all noise made by impacts will basically pass through unimpeded as well.
Make use of Curtains
Curtains might not be the first thing to come to your mind when you decide to soundproof your sliding glass door. Irrespective of this, they can get the job done. I’ve also published an article on whether soundproof curtains work or not.
Making use of curtains in soundproofing your sliding glass doors is a great idea if you are running on a tight budget.
The reason for this is they do not cost so much even if you are buying a very expensive curtain. In addition to being affordable, you do not need a professional to help you hang your curtains. They can be done very easily.
While purchasing curtains, don’t forget to buy rods which you will need to hang them. Also of utmost importance is the size of the curtain you buy.
If you want to really enjoy the benefits of soundproofing your sliding glass doors with the use of curtains, it is important that you purchase curtains that can cover the entire area of the door.
The reason for this is pretty simple. If the curtain does not cover the entire area of the door, some sound will still be able to find its way through your sliding glass door without being trapped by the curtain since there might be no form of contact.
That is not all about getting curtains for soundproofing sliding glass doors. It is also important to purchase very thick curtains
To get the best results from the use of curtains to soundproof your sliding glass window, you can double your curtains.
Make use of a fiberglass blanket
A lot of people might consider making use of a fiberglass blanket to be the same as making use of curtains in soundproofing sliding glass doors. Well, it does not really matter what your opinion is, they are not the same.
I’ve found this blog post which explains how fiberglass works. The reason for this is fiberglass blankets are more effective in dealing with noise from outside than curtains. Now, they do not just deal with noise from outside, they also help against impact noise.
Hanging fiberglass might be an effective way to soundproof your sliding glass door, however, it might leave your home leaving a little unattractive. You should always bear this in mind while making a choice.
Make use of a Combination of Some of the Techniques
Soundproofing a glass sliding door is not a very demanding task. Also, in addition to it not being a very demanding task, a lot of the methods which are used in soundproofing sliding glass doors do not offer a hundred percent result.
Even after making use of any of the above methods in soundproofing a sliding glass door, a lot of people might still not be satisfied.
Well, if you have a sliding glass door and have made use of one of the above methods in soundproofing your sliding glass door without obtaining the level of satisfaction you desire, you are not alone.
I once faced the challenge of having to reduce the level of noise that made its way into my apartment through my sliding glass door.
I made use of one of the techniques above but I did not get the level of satisfaction I envisaged. So, this was what I did. I went on to combine more than one methods of soundproofing sliding glass doors.
What I did was take out time to locate all openings through which sound could get into my apartment. Once I discovered them, I ensured that they all got sealed.
This provided some level of reduction in the sound that made its way into my apartment. Well, I did not stop at that. I went ahead to make use of a fiberglass blanket.
This further reduced the noise which was able to get into my apartment through my sliding glass door. A blend of fiberglass blankets and perfectly sealed sliding glass door can go a long way in reducing the level of noise that makes its way into your apartment.
Make use of Laminated Glass Sliding Door
A laminated glass sliding door is a lot different from a regular glass sliding door. It is stronger and absorbs more sound.
The implication of this is having a laminated glass sliding door in place of your regular glass sliding door can provide a lasting solution to the issue of sound making its way into your home.