Why does outside noise travel much easier in my bedroom than my office

Delta223

Hi everyone;

One thing I love about my office is the noise protection; I just don't seem to hear much outside noise. My office is at the edge of a hallway and there is a secretary right outside, yet I can't hear her much.

My house is very different; it is on the top floor and I can hear all the noise from downstairs. And if someone leaves their door open I can easily hear them.

Differences I can detect:

1) The office door seems heavier. It has about a 1/2" gap in the bottom, much smaller than my bedroom door.

2) The doorframe is metal and seems sturdier; not sure how that affects sound penetration.

3) The office room leads to a hall on the right, and a main area on the left. Both have a 10' ceiling. The house has maybe 20-30' ceilings, possibly increasing sound travel

I'd like any feedback you may have on the most likely drivers of sound travel at my house so I can look into sound minimizing my bedroom.

danpik

20-30' cielings?????? Do you mean 20-30' tall???? Wow.

Office walls may have insulation in them. Ours in my office at work are all insulated. What are the floors in your office made of? Concrete? Sound does not travel too well thru that

ToolSeeker

Could be something like quiet rock drywall (same as 7 sheets of regular drywall) used in office buildings, could be the insulation, the heavy door indicates solid instead of hollow core there are several things that they use for noise suppression in offices and hospital like environments that they don't employ in homes.

brockmiera

Don't offices typically pump white noise thru them as well to help dissipate audible sounds?

PoleCat

Many commercial buildings are required to have fire rated doors. These suckers will block a lot of noise.

danpik

Never heard of that being done. I know for a fact they don't do it where I work

Larryh86GT

Most likely insulation. Many earlier homes were built without it. It makes a
big difference in sound proofing.