Do solid wood doors block more sound than hollow core doors?

[Jason]

Hi,

I have a hollow core door in the bedroom and it's just not quiet enough sometimes. I mean nosie from other rooms can be heard in the bedroom.

How much better would a solid door block sound?

Thanks

jason

[willshak]

on 9/19/2007 9:43 PM Jason said the following:

Much better. If you are talking about the plain luan mahogany doors, even the molded panel doors are better.

[Jason]

willshak wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Thanks, any particular doors better at this?

jason

[Water sports]

What doors block high frequiences , wood type, door type ??

[Don Phillipson]

Probably hollow doors filled with fibreglass or something similar, shreds of varying lengths. The specifications of what you want are those opposite to specs for a loudspeaker diaphragm, i.e. non-rigid, to absorb sound rather than pass it on, etc.

[25th Century Quaker]

You'd probably be better off hanging some sound-absorbing material on the outer surface of the door.

The hollow core door is probably reverberating the sound waves. A molded panel door or a solid core door would probably be better than what you have. But, the door skin of either type (the molded/textured or solid core) will still be a relatively flat surface the sound waves will hit and transfer the noise to the bedroom on the other side.

Although I'm not an expert on this topic, I think you'd be better off by utilizing some sort of material that absorbs sound being affixed to the outer door skin.

Try hanging anything on the outer face of the door before replacing the door you have. Simply hang a sheet - folded to produce numerous layers of material - from the top of the door. Or, place one or more coat hooks on the outer side of the door and hang jackets, flannel shirts, or housecoats from it.

It would probably help to hang the material a small distance from the door surface to further reduce transmission of the sound waves from the hung material to the door skin. Use a curtain rod, a wooden dowel, or whatever else is suitable to drape the material over and allow an air gap between the material and the door skin.

Clothes hooks typically hold garments several inches from the door skin. That will be beneficial in reducing noise intrusion into the bedroom.

If you can't, or don't want to, screw anything to the door, buy the type of clothes hooks that slip over the top of doors and hang something from that/them. Here some types I found online:

alternate link - You could use a door-mounted shoe rack like this, or modify it to hold other items, which will absorb the sound waves hitting the door - See the following Google search results webpage for more varieties -

[Jason]

25th Century Quaker wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Thanks for the info.

[Heathcliff]

innews: [e-mail]:

Before you try any of these things do a little research on the web on sound transmission. Generally the best defenses against sound transmission are mass, and sealing openings. So if you have a big gap between the door and floor, that would one area to address. To add mass, yes get the heaviest solid door you can find, or for a quick and dirty solution screw a sheet of drywall to the existing door. Can be on inside or outside. -- H