How to lessen the sound between rooms in our rental?

Question

We are in a rental property and the sound travels through the walls/door (I’m unsure which is the prime culprit). My 1 year old daughter’s room is right off the living room. Is there any way to lessen the sound travelling into her room without damaging or marking the walls or door?

MitchellMc · Answer

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @mgarr27. It's brilliant to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about reducing sound transfer.

This is a popular topic on the community so you might like to start by reading through some of the previous discussions on soundproofing a rental. There's plenty of helpful advice in those discussions.

It's difficult to find an option when you essentially can't fix anything to the walls, given the possibility of damage. Anything substantial enough to block noise would need to be fixed onto them. I suspect the door would be the most susceptible location for sound transfer, so if you could hang a heavy woollen rug over it, that could help. You might be able to tack this to the top of the door frame with small nails, which likely wouldn't cause any visible damage. It could be rolled up to the top and tied in position during the daytime.

The other option I use in my child's room is a white noise machine, which creates ambient noise in the room. Due to the constant hum, it lessens their reaction to exterior noises outside their room.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell