How to Make Soundproof Indoor Shutters

Soundproof indoor window shutters
In densely populated areas there are often noise problems due to traffic, nightlife and other outside noises. This can be solved with expensive acoustic windows, but that is often not possible because of the window frames or perhaps because it is a historic building you life in. With our do-it-yourself solution you can also keep out noise outside. By making soundproof insulated shutters

A very friendly customer shared photos and info on how he made our solution reality. He already insulated his floors with our guide on how to soundproof wooden floors using Isomat KE. This time he used Isomat KE to insulate plywood and made them in to sandwich panels, consisting of 2 layers of multiplex with a layer of Isomat KE glued in between.

How to make soundproof window shutters yourself
The window shutters in the picture are about 110 x 170 cm. This overview picture is with the sun fully shining, the shutters are completely closed. As you can see, there is still a little gap on the top left and bottom right, make sure that you use a draft tape or door rubber to avoid noise leaks. Leaks can easally be found with a bright light one side.

The shutters themselves are made from two layers plywood, 12 mm each. With contact adhesive a layer of Isomat KE is glued in between to isolate resonances. The weight of the shutters determine the amount of soundproofing, the heavier the shutters, the better the insulation! And as mentioned before, draft tape or a door rubber will avoid sound leaks and improve the thermal insulation of the shutters. 

Use heavy hinges with bearings to ensure that the heavy shutters can easally be opend and closed. These hinges are bolded with four screws to keep them firmly in place for years to come. The close-up picture shows the hinge and decorative wooden profile. Underneath the profile the plywood panels are also fixed together with screws. Wood products can warp because of moisture, to avoid this and to keep the Isomat fixed between the plywood sheets, you best use screws to keep it all together. The decorative profile gives a nice finish to the shutters as hiding the screw holes.

Points of attention
When rooms and ventilation grilles are shut in favour of sound insulation, ventilation will be minimal. Do you want silent ventilaton? Consider an acoustic ventilation unit. On our page ‘Silent Ventilation’, you can find out everything about silent ventilation.

Questions?
Do you have questions concerning this topic or do you wish to receive a Isomat KE sample? Please feel free to contact us.