French doors and glass doors can make any room more elegant thanks to their design of two swings of doors sliding inners and outers from the middle opening, allowing your house to be flooded in natural light with expansive space.
Although these kinds of doors utilize more floor space than traditional sliding doors, they seem more attractive than conventional ones.
However, as appealing as they look, they undoubtedly possess a flaw: there are sound waves made between the gap of the two swings of doors.
If you have trouble with this noise and want to find out how to soundproof French doors and glass doors, we are here to help you.
6 Best Ways to Soundproof French Doors
You must find it annoying when hearing the sounds through your French glass doors, disturbing your privacy and moment of relaxation.
Another unpleasant case is when the doors are the culprit themselves, releasing noises when being opened and closed. Luckily, there are many efficient methods to dampen these unexpected sounds listed below.
1. Soundproof Curtains
Thick curtains can absorb most if not all unwanted noise and minimize reverberation (echo). The thicker and denser the curtains, the greater sound absorption.
For the best results, we highly recommend you to buy curtains made of wool and Molton fabrics. These kinds of materials come with great insulation and blackout properties, delivering excellent soundproofing capability and optimum privacy.
If possible, choose curtains that are three times the width of the door and a little bit wider. By draping more cloth, you can lower the volume of sound traveling through the doors.
And when you install the soundproof curtains, remember to choose a sturdy rod across the door frame’s top. Check if it is durable enough to deal with your curtains. You might not know this, but double-track rods can hang two sets of heavy curtains.
2. Soundproof Blankets
This second suggestion is one of the most affordable methods that you can apply to soundproof your doors.
Moving blankets are quite identical to thick curtains. Some come with grommets for you to hang on curtain rods. Or you can tack or glue them to any surface.
The denser and thicker your blanket is, the better sound reduction it can deliver.
3. Fill Gaps Between The Frame and The Doors
Can you notice the gaps between the doors and their frame even when you close the doors?
These gaps are one of the culprits that cause the noise to leak through the doors. By sealing them with dense foam tape, you can significantly reduce the undesirable noise. This is also a common way to seal a garage door.
To apply this method, you need to measure the depth and width of the gaps first. Then you will want to choose a suitable foam seal that can fit best with the gaps.
There are many tape options of different sizes for you to choose from. Most of them are self-adhesive and highly dense. Pick one and seal the gaps.
Here’s an extra bonus when you execute this method: filling the gaps can provide both thermal and sound insulation. It’s quite convenient!
4. Lubricate Handles and Hinges
Another easy way to soundproof your glass doors is to lubricate their handles and hinges. These parts of your doors can create unexpected noise whenever you open and close the doors if they don’t have enough oil or grease.
Thus, you can avoid all of the irritating squeaks generated by rusty hinges and handles by oiling these components.
If there is no machine oil at your house, you can use any kind of oil you have, even the plant-based ones, without any problem. They still can help you fix the problem.
Vaseline also works in this case. That said, machine oil is much cleaner and remains effective longer as a lubricant.
5. Cover The Door’s Bottom Part
There are also gaps under your doors. Even when they are very thin, they still allow the sound to pass through.
To cover these gaps is quite simple and fast. All you need to do is buy a door sweep and then stick it to the bottom of your door. Your tasks here are done!
That said, if your floor is uneven, a conventional door sweep can drag on it and hinder your door from opening and closing. In this case, it is best to set up an automatic door bottom. It can recognize when your door opens and closes and cover the gaps when needed. In addition to soundproofing, this door sweep can also prevent your door from slamming.
6. Replace with Double-Glazed French Doors
This suggestion is the best solution to soundproof glass doors. All of the methods mentioned above cannot completely hinder the noise from leaking.
That said, it can cost you an arm and a leg. If it is within your budget, you had better choose this way.
Double glazed doors feature perfect mass and thickness, thwarting sound waves completely. But if you want to get a new entrance, we recommend you to ask for professional help as the installation is quite complicated and time-consuming.
Final Thoughts
So you have known how to soundproof French doors and glass doors. Our best six methods can greatly reduce the noise traveling through your doors and, in some cases, from your doors.
While soundproof curtains and blankets appear to be easy and affordable, using double-glazed doors is quite pricey.
Based on your condition and preference, you can choose the most suitable method for you or combine some of those to achieve the best results.
Anyway, we hope our article is helpful for you. If you have any further questions, please feel free to let us know.
