How To Soundproof French Doors? (7 Best Methods)

When installing French doors, the homeowner usually thinks about their advantages, such as they provide more light in the room or their aesthetic design. But it is important to consider that French doors do not have good sound insulation. This is why soundproofing a French door is one of the most common home DIY projects. In this article, we will talk about french door soundproofing methods. So let’s go!

How to Soundproof A French Door? You can soundproof a French door by sealing gaps around and under the door frame, covering it with noise-blocking curtains, or by using a bottom door sweep. Also, French doors will let in less sound if they are made of double-glazed glass.

There are a lot of ways to soundproof french doors. Which option you choose depends on the budget you have for soundproofing, but you can be sure that each of them will bring you a better quality of life. When considering how to soundproof a french door, you must know that you will succeed if you make the door thicker and close all the gaps on them.

There are a few methods to do this, and we will talk about them in the rest of the text. In the following lines, find out everything you need to know about effective soundproofing of French doors.

7 Ways To Soundproof French Doors

In the following chapters, we will cover seven methods you can use to soundproof your French doors successfully.

1. Use a Noise-blocking Curtain

By hanging noise-blocking curtains, you can significantly reduce the intensity of noise coming from outside into your living space or prevent noise from your home. In addition, these curtains can be a nice addition to the room’s interior decoration, considering that they are available on the market in many different colors and patterns. You can also find noise-blocking curtains on store shelves and online in different sizes.

These curtains can very easily be installed on French doors. It is only necessary to place a curtain rod on top of the door and then hang them on it. The thicker the curtain, the better the noise-dampening effect will be.

There is also the possibility of installing a double layer of curtains, but you must be careful when mounting them on the curtain rod. You have to make sure that the bar can support their weight.

But before you decide on this move, remember that a double soundproof curtain can take you a long way when it comes to reducing noise, but at the same time, it needs more maintenance to keep it clean.

2. Hang a Moving Blanket

If you have a few moving blankets at home and want to save money, you can use them to soundproof your French door. This can be the case when it comes to thicker blankets, which are a very effective alternative for noise-blocking curtains.

How to install a moving blanket on a French door? You have two options on how to do that. 

You can stick the blanket on the door, but remember that it will be difficult to remove it after sticking it. Another option is to hang the moving blanket on the curtain rod above the door. Just like noise-blocking curtains. However, this option requires that the moving blanket has grommets.

If you want to learn more about moving blankets, read an article about: Are Moving Blankets Soundproof? In this article, we explain everything about these blankets.

Some moving blankets have grommets; check if this is the case with the ones you have at home. If there are no grommets, you can try to make them yourself.

Keep in mind that the price of moving blankets and noise-blocking curtains is very similar. So if you don’t already own a moving blanket, it is recommended that you buy noise-blocking curtains instead because they are better.

3. Close All the Gaps On French Door

Although noise-blocking curtains and moving blankets are a great solution for reducing noise in the room, they won’t help you much if there are gaps between the door frame and the door itself. That is why sealing all the gaps in the door is very important for good soundproofing.

Note! This move can benefit the thermal insulation of the room too.

The first step is to find the gaps. This can be done by closing the door and looking closely at where they are located. The easiest way is to turn off the lights while the light is turned on on the other side.

In the places where the light passes through the door, you will easily notice smaller or larger gaps and conclude exactly which part of the door or door frame you need to seal.

Mark the gaps and measure them. The next thing you’ll need to do is to get thick foam tape. The advice is always to take more tape since you can cut it yourself into suitable pieces, and at the same time, be sure that you will not have to go shopping twice.

4. Install a Double-glazed French Door

If you plan to invest a lot of money in this soundproofing project, installing a double-glazed door is certainly the best solution. It will almost completely block the noise that comes into your home.

What you will essentially achieve with double-glazed doors is that you will double the thickness of the door, so the high level of sound quality you can achieve is not surprising.

However, apart from investing a lot of money in this, you will also have to invest a lot more effort and hire an extra pair of hands. Removing the old french door and installing a new one is difficult. However, if your door frame is not of standard dimensions, replacing the french door will cost you even more because it is a custom-made product.

5. Cover the Gaps Under The French Door

Although you may not notice a significant gap under the door at first glance, this is precisely why noise passes into the room through the French door in many cases. Fortunately, this problem is very easy to solve, considering that there are already solutions, such as a door sweep.

You can buy a door sweep in any hardware or furniture store, and it is also available on Amazon at very reasonable prices, and they come in different dimensions. It is also good to know that the door sweep has several other functions. In addition to blocking out unwanted sound, it can also help retain heat in the room.

This will also prevent, for example, odors from the kitchen or bathroom from entering your bedroom, as well as the entry of insects that easily slip through the opening under the door, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you.

If the floor under the door is flat, you can install them very easily. The door sweep has a built-in self-adhesive surface on one side, which can be easily attached to the door’s lower part without using any tools.

However, if you want to be 100% sure that the door sweep will stay in place, no matter how hard your kids slam the door, you can secure it with a few small screws.

When the floor under the door is not level, unfortunately, the standard door sweep will not help you. You will have to invest a little more effort to make your own door sweep that will follow your door line. If you are not skilled in such DIY projects and you want a door sweep, you will have to order a custom-made one.

6. Lubricate The Hinges On French Door

It may seem unusual, but door lubrication can help with door soundproofing. How? If the door is not well lubricated, it probably does not sit well in the frame, leaving gaps through which sound can pass.

Therefore, if your French door makes an unusual sound when opening and closing, inspect the handles and hinges and lubricate them with any oil. It can be w40, but also ordinary cooking oil.

7. Soundproof the Air Vents

If you have invested a lot of time in this soundproofing project but don’t see any progress, don’t panic! Look above the door. There is a high probability that you have an air vent above your door. The simplest way to solve this problem is to close the vent with drywall literally. But then you will reduce the degree of ventilation in the room.

If that doesn’t suit you, there is another solution. It is the installation of a sound maze in the vent opening. It involves placing wooden tiles in the vent opening. They reflect sound in the reverse direction, which means that the air vent will continue to ventilate but will no longer let in as much noise.

Don’t Install Material Directly on the Door

Now that you are familiar with all the methods and ways to soundproof a french door, we can conclude that it is very easy to soundproof your doors.

In conclusion, we can say it is only necessary to make the door thicker and close all possible gaps in it. However, it should be emphasized that it is not recommended to do this by placing any material directly on the door’s surface, as it can be potentially damaged the doors.

In addition, you will agree the room will not be more aesthetically pleasing if you stick a moving blanket on the French door, compared to installing a noise-blocking curtain. Whichever french door soundproofing method you choose, you can customize it to fit the room’s interior decoration.

If you own a dog, then you might also be interested in this topic: How to Soundproof a Dog Crate?

What Kind of Doors Are Best For Soundproofing?

The ideal choice for soundproofing is a solid wood door that hardly allows sound to pass through. Of course, the thicker the door, the greater the soundproofing effect. However, you should know that solid wood doors are the most expensive on the market.

But do not worry if you do not have a large budget for soundproofing. You can buy cheaper doors and then improve the sound-blocking properties on them with the help of the hacks we just offered you in this article.

Final Thoughts

Having french doors can sometimes be a problem, especially if you are in a noisy environment. That’s because these doors do not have good sound insulation. However, this issue can be fixed. Although there are many ways to do it, there are several successful methods that you can try, and which one you will choose depends mainly on the budget you have available. This article has covered all the ways you can do it, and you shouldn’t have any problems with it.