What Is A Soundproof Door?
Soundproof doors – also known as acoustic doors – are internal doors that are heavily insulated to reduce noise and vibration.
Excess noise that easily passes through normal doors and gaps around them could have a variety of adverse effects on your life, whether that’s preventing you from sleeping properly, distracting you from your work or ruining the tranquility of your home.
Vigor Doors’ soundproof interior doors are designed and manufactured to lessen these potential negative impacts.
Soundproof doors provide a protective layer of soundproofing to a room, making it more difficult for noise to enter a space. The density of the material means soundwaves are absorbed once they come into contact with the surface, dampening sound.
To be at their most effective, it’s very important that soundproof doors are installed by skilled and experienced professionals.
How Does A Soundproof Interior Door Differ From A Normal Door?
A soundproof interior door differs from a normal door because it is commonly built with sound preventing or absorbing materials that form a solid core.
These doors are fitted with special seals that stop sound penetrating the gaps around the door edge. Normal doors are not generally fitted with these seals.
Soundproof interior doors tend to have an automatic drop seal that plugs the gap beneath the door and the option of batwing seals that run along the edge at a perpendicular angle. With this being the case, soundproof doors are generally pre-hung in an appropriate frame by an experienced specialist and fitted as a complete unit.
Based on the level of sound it is able to minimise, soundproof doors are then given decibel ratings.
What Is A Decibel Rating?
The decibel (dB) is a unit of sound named in honour of Alexander Graham Bell – the Scottish-born scientist best-known for having invented the first working telephone.
At Vigor Doors, we manufacture soundproof interior doors with decibel ratings up to as much as 45 dB. For reference, standard offices require soundproof doors with a decibel rating of 40 – 45 dB; classrooms 40 dB; and large lecture rooms 35 dB.
To provide some context – going by the threshold of normal hearing – near total silence registers 0 dB; a whisper at two metres equals around 15 dB; and a normal conversation at one metre will be around 60 dB (providing you’re not having that conversation with Brian Blessed).
Cranking it up a little (well, a lot), a rock concert or jet engine will come in at a potentially ear-splitting 120 dB. Sorry, but our doors won’t block out a Metallica concert if they decide to play a full-blown set in your next-door neighbour’s living room or if an RAF fighter pilot creates a sonic boom in the near vicinity.
Thankfully, we manufacture doors for offices, homes, classrooms, studios, other workplace settings – and a 45-decibel rating is plenty for soundproof doors in these spaces.
So, unless your workplace or home adjoins the main stage at the Download Festival or a jet engine testing facility, we’ve got your soundproof interior door needs covered.
Our soundproof doors use denser materials than those used for normal doors. These materials add mass and reflect noise, thereby creating a trapping effect. A normal interior door has a hollow core. Vigor Doors’ soundproof interior doors, on the other hand, have a dense solid core and are much thicker than your typical normal door. The result, ultimately, is that our soundproof doors significantly reduce noise.
The General Benefits Of Soundproof Interior Doors
Noise disturbance and noise pollution are scourges of modern life. Anybody that’s lived next door to a noisy neighbour or near a building site will be able to tell you how much of a negative impact unwelcome noise pouring into your environment can have on your general well-being.
Persistent noise is proven to have an adverse effect on the human body and mind, and studies show that it can increase agitation and aggression. Nobody needs that in their lives. Peace, calm and quiet, on the other hand, have a rigorous part to play in improving our home lives, work performance and sense of general happiness.
A soundproof door can help reduce or block out cacophony (the Ancient Greek for ‘bad noise’, if you were wondering about the origin of the word) and create calm, quiet environments that we can thrive in.
The Benefits Of Soundproof Doors In The Home
The home is your haven. Your sanctuary from the outside world. So, the last thing you want is for it to be invaded by uninvited noise.
You don’t want your favourite TV programme to be interrupted or a dinner party disturbed by that noisy lot next door. Equally, you probably want to block the infuriating sound of incredibly loud music emanating from your teenage children’s bedrooms. And, if you’re a student, you probably want to be able to concentrate on your studies – and that’s hard to do when someone’s having a party across the hall from you.
And sleep. Sleep is one of the modern world’s most treasured natural commodities.
Arianna Huffington (founder of The Huffington Post), Jeff Bezos (Amazon CEO and world’s richest human being) and The Dalai Lama are all huge advocates for the cause of good sleep.
The UK even has its own sleep charity committed to helping people from all walks of life get better sleep. Why? Because sleep fuels better physical health and productivity, enhances creativity and improves our wellbeing.
Sleep makes us happier. Peace and quiet improves our home lives. And, although our soundproof doors can’t allay other worries, we can certainly supply you with doors that can reduce noise that might be disrupting your life.
The Benefits Of Soundproof Doors In The Workplace
You’ve got some important numbers to crunch or a report to write – but that well-meaning yet verbose colleague with the booming voice is making such a racket, even through your closed office door. It’s hard to concentrate, isn’t it?
How can you perform tasks to the best of your abilities when you can’t shut yourself off from unhelpful or downright annoying noise? How can you ensure that curious ears aren’t listening in to confidential conversations you’re trying to have in your conference room?
It might be time to get soundproof doors fitted.
Equally, now that so many more of us work from home, it can be difficult to concentrate with all the hullabaloo the family might be making – especially during the school holidays or if you’re trying to have a video call with colleagues. Why on earth is the dog barking again?
A soundproof door for your home office could be the solution to your problems.
Teaching and learning can also be difficult if excess noise is passing through normal doors not manufactured or installed to reduce sound. Again, we can offer peerless solutions to your problem with our standard and customised soundproof interior doors.
While your antique pine panelled door may give your room a rustic or vintage feel, it won’t do a great deal of good when it comes to blocking out or even reducing unwanted noise.
Which Sectors Does Vigor Doors Work With?
At Vigor Doors, we create standard and custom soundproof interior doors.
Although we’re proud to manufacture Fire Doors – alongside our other door products – in Teesside in the North-East of England, we’re very pleased to be able to supply, deliver and install soundproof doors across the UK for – among others – the following sectors:
Commercial sector – offices, office buildings and other workspaces
Educational sector – nurseries, schools, universities, colleges, conference centres and higher education institutions – including high rise student accommodation
Residential sector – flats, houses, hotels and B&Bs
Health care sector – hospitals, surgeries, hospices, dental and veterinary practices
Tell Us More About Vigor Doors Soundproof Doors
The higher the decibel rating, the thicker the door core will be. Hence, our 45 dB doors are our thickest and prevent the most noise getting through.
Our standard soundproof doors consist of a solid core door without vision panelling – known as a flush door – and either a batwing seal-only, or a batwing and drop seal.
A batwing seal, if you were wondering, is an L-shaped seal (not to be confused with the shape of a batwing) fitted to the surface of the door frame, perpendicular to the frame – the edge of the door will meet the seal upon closure. Batwing seals aid noise reduction, and provide insulation properties by preventing drafts.
Batwing and drop seals are both required for doors with higher soundproof decibel ratings.
What Sets Vigor Doors Soundproof Doors Apart?
First and foremost, our passion. Whether we’re fitting fire doors, soundproof doors, doorsets or screens, we’re passionate about getting your doors right the first time – regardless of the size of the job.
Too often, we’re contacted by customers that want us to fix problems that other door manufacturers have created for them by not making or installing their doors properly.
That passion and desire to get your doors right the first time is reflected in our customised offering. Although we of course offer standard soundproof doors that will do the job you need them to and come in at a lower price, we can also do so much more with our various customisation options.
Our bespoke design service and craftsmanship allows us to design vigorous doors that match and stand tall in any environment.
If you’re looking for soundproof doors that better suit their surroundings without compromising on safety, we’re here to help.
We can add a number of features that will help your soundproof door suit any décor, including certified ironmongery such as specially crafted handles, drop seals, locks, latches and door viewers.
Why We Stand Out From The Crowd?
We’re totally committed to delivering soundproof door products and projects on time, to the highest standards and on budget.
That’s why our focus is front heavy – we always make sure we get a total understanding at the start of the project, so that we’re all on the same page.
Once we receive a customer’s requirements and specifications, we make sure we fully map out the potential order and understand every aspect, so that we can provide a fair and accurate quote for the work.
Mapping the work out in this way also means, crucially, that we consistently deliver projects on time to the highest possible standards.
Above all, we’re incredibly passionate about providing you, your families, colleagues, pupils or students with the comfort of knowing that our soundproof doors will help block out or significantly reduce unwanted sound.
Get soundproof doors right the first time. Speak to a member of our Vigor Doors team on 01642 265 034, or, alternatively, drop us a line at info@vigordoors.com – we’re always happy to help.
