Soundproofing is a team sport. Sound tends to find its way through small holes and tight spaces with ease. Windows, doors, and especially glass doors tend to have a lot of weak points that make them a bit more difficult to soundproof – especially if you still want to use them. Poorly soundproofed glass doors are perhaps the biggest offender in any otherwise soundproofed room.

Why Do Glass Doors Let in Lots of Sound?

First you need to understand the three elements of good soundproofing:

Sufficient Mass

You probably already assumed this one: a door with greater mass is more difficult for sound to pass through. This is because sound is vibration, and a dense, heavy object is more difficult to vibrate.

Tight Seal

The mass of an object doesn’t matter if there’s a hole in it. Sound waves can travel through small holes quite easily. Proper sealing is important for maximum effectiveness.

Air Gap

When sound waves pass through a solid object, then through air, and back through another solid object, they lose a lot of energy. Air gaps reduce energy transmission. This also applies to heat, which means better energy efficiency.

So with that in mind, why do glass doors let a lot of sound pass through?

1. The glass used in a door typically has much lower mass than a standard wooden door.
2. Doors inherently have gaps so they can be opened and closed with ease. Glass windows (or entire glass doors) have additional weak points where the glass fits into the frame.
3. Most glass doors have a single pane of glass, which means they don’t have an air gap.

How to Soundproof a Glass Door

Soundproofing a sliding glass door, a hinged glass door, or any door with a window in it is just like soundproofing a regular window:

1. You take approximate measurements and submit them for a free estimate
2. We visit to take more detailed measurements and provide you with a quote
3. You pay a deposit and we fabricate your inserts
4. We visit to install the finished product

The inserts for a sliding glass door are like an extra door that fits over the existing one. This door can be operated smoothly and seals tightly to keep the noise out. You can still use your existing window treatments, and the construction to install it is minimal.

How Much Sound Do Soundproof Inserts Block?

Our soundproof doors and window inserts reduce noise by up to 95%. In one of our tests, our soundproof window inserts dropped the decibel reading of nearby traffic from 52 dB to 36 dB.

The noise from some vehicles is difficult to block, such as the low-pitched rumble of an 18-wheeler. Our inserts and doors are excellent at blocking noise from most mid- to high-pitched noises, like cars, squealing train wheels, most music, and people’s voices.

Ready to soundproof your doors? We’re here to help! Proudly local, we serve Houston, Austin, and DFW, and nearby communities. Get in touch today to see what we can do for you.