Maybe you find it hard to sleep because you can hear the fuss outside your bedroom.
Perhaps your noisy neighbors are always disturbing you. You might not notice it, but the small space between the door and the floor is the culprit, and it will only get worse without a soundproofing door sweep.
Did you know that soundwaves use air gaps as a way to pass through? This means that the gaps between the floor and door frame allow noise and vibration to travel.
Fortunately, door sweeps seal the air gap between the door and the floor. With a draft stopper or a rubber door seal, you can block external noise from entering your room. Whatever kind of door you have, using a soundproofing door sweep will significantly improve the atmosphere in your personal space.
To save you the trouble, we are going to explain the difference between draft stoppers and rubber door seals, as well as how to install them.
We've also curated a list and gave a general review of the best soundproof door sweeps to block sound from coming under the bottom of your door .
Types of Soundproof Door Sweeps
Are you tired of all the sounds on the other side of the door? Well, doors play a key role in controlling noise and vibration in space.
They act as a barrier to reduce or block noise, but since doors don't touch the floor, there's still a way for pesky sounds to annoy you.
Plugging the gaps in the door is the best thing you can do to prevent noise from passing through.
You can choose between draft and rubber door seals, with both types having advantages and some disadvantages.
To ensure you make the right decision, let's understand the difference between the two.
Draft Stoppers
Soundproofing requires mass and density. Draft stoppers combine mass and density in the shape of long cylindrical pillows with dense foam filling and insulating material to prevent noise from entering your room.
Since there's added weight on both sides of the door, you can also avoid the slamming noise whenever you open or close the door.
Draft stoppers work by creating a physical barrier around the gaps at the bottom of a door.
With that said, make sure that the material is malleable and small to wedge into place, yet heavy enough to remain intact and stay out.
Aside from that, your space can benefit from the insulating capacity of draft stoppers. During hotter days, they can keep cool air inside.
In the same way, draft stoppers can keep the cold air outside and warm air inside during the freezing winter months.
Most draft stoppers are double-sided, which means you get a thicker insulating device to protect, seal, and soundproof your door.
What's more, door draft stoppers are the practical options if you want an economical yet tough soundproof door sweep to last for a long time.
How to Install Draft Stoppers?
When you put a towel or rag under the door, that's pretty much how to install draft stoppers. However, you need to cut the draft stopper to the necessary length.
With a simple slip under the door, you get padding on both sides of the door. In effect, the door holds the stopper tightly against the floor, making sure the product remains intact.
Since they are usually made of fabric and foam, they will slide across any type of floor easily. Meanwhile, some draft stoppers contain wrap-around clips or magnetic beads.
Either way, there's no need to bend over to reposition draft stoppers constantly.
The bottom line, you may opt for draft door sweeps if you want to avoid mechanical fittings.
Furthermore, you can swiftly remove the draft stopper if you want to clean or replace it, without damaging the door.
Most materials are washable, which means you can reuse the door sweep for as long as you like.
Rubber Door Seals
Rubber door seals aim to prevent external noise from coming inside, as well as ensuring sounds from your end don't go out.
Rubber door seals have two parts: a rubber strip and a metal or plastic bit.
The plastic or the metallic part hangs over the door, while the rubber bit touches the floor.
The rubber part blocks the air gap, dampening any noise entering or leaving a room through the door gap.
Since a rubber door sweep is very dense, this is best for blocking sounds coming from the other side of the room.
As a result, noise waves struggle to pass through the dense area.
There are rubber door sweeps that include silicone, which is a flexible yet durable material, ensuring a longer service life and zero damage to the door and floor.
This also makes customization convenient. In addition, some models have three-layer designs that reinforce blocking and insulating capabilities.
The design keeps external elements out, letting you enjoy the peace and quiet inside your home.
Like draft stoppers, rubber seals can act as an airtight barrier to prevent the loss of heat and air.
Because of such features, they can also avoid weathering, corrosion, water damage, and water leakage.
How to Install Rubber Door Seals?
Installing a rubber door stopper is a bit mechanical, which takes more effort than using a draft stopper.
First, you need to measure the seals of your door. Then, cut the seals to the desired size.
Only then can you remove the extra parts before you attach the stopper.
There are products that require you to use a drilling machine to puncture a small hole to the door to fit the screw.
More than that, you will need a screwdriver to tighten the bolts.
Some models feature a dense brush or softer rubber gasket.
Either way, you can install rubber door stoppers by squeezing them through the door's gaps.
Best Draft Stoppers
An adjustable silicone draft stopper with a tenacious adhesive that prevents noise from coming in and out of a room.
Easy to install and water-resistant, making them sturdy and reliable.
- Weight and dimensions: 8.8 ounces and 8.4 x 2.2 x 2.2 inches
- The heavy-duty silicone ensures a snug fit, keeping the bottom seal easily removable and attachable.
- Can also serve as all-season protection by stopping the heat from escaping the room during cold months, as well as keeping cool air inside during summer.
- Only requires peeling off the backing film and applying the strip to the door.
- Will surely help with problems concerning drafts, noise, bugs, and air.
This double-sided draft stopper caresses the draft from both sides of the door with the help of magnets encased inside a weather-resistant sheathing.
There are two thick foam inserts and durable vinyl covering that easily slide across different surfaces like carpet, hardwood, and tiles.
- Weight and dimensions: 12 ounces and 36 x 2 x 2 inches.
- The double-sided protection is an excellent way of blocking fumes and noise.
- Flexible material enables the draft stopper to form fit to surfaces, including conveniently moving with the door.
- Great way to soundproof your home while keeping the inside of your space at the optimal temperature.
- Also stops the amount of dust and dirt that enters your home.
This one-sided door draft stopper features sturdy Styrofoam with luxury fabric, making it easy to glide on different floor types such as stone, tiles, laminate, and wood.
Energy-efficient and noise reducing, the draft stopper blocks out light, sand, dust, and insects.
- Weight and dimensions: 7 ounces and 14.8 x 3.1 x 2.8 inches.
- Uses strong adhesive backing, as well as hoop and hook fastener for easy installation, removal, and cleaning.
- Measure the size you need, clean the door bottom with a dry rag, and apply the draft stopper.
- Quality-crafted, weatherproof door insulator that blocks out noise, while also keeping light, dust, and odors out.
- To tighten the draft stopper against the floor, pull apart and reconnect the Velcro part.
Best Rubber Door Stoppers
Because of its durable EPDM foam rubber, this rubber door stopper removes vibration and drowns out the noise, while protecting your home from external elements.
The weather-resistant rubber seal delivers excellent resistance to low temperature, compression, ozone, sunlight aging, and water absorption.
- Weight and dimensions: 0.16 ounces and 300 x 1.2 x 0.5 inches.
- Comes with adhesive-backed rubber seals and two adhesive options: general-purpose HT tape and automotive-grade BT tape.
- P-seal gaskets reduce heat loss, making them perfect in sealing against noise, vibration, and dust through the gaps between door frames and floors.
- Combines flexible PVC material, secure rubber sponge bulb seal, and metal clips.
- Low initial tack makes repositioning during installation simple.
Despite being a budget door stopper, this product combines PVD coated aluminum and solid rubber to effectively stop draft while being resistant to grit, weather, and sun.
Quick and straightforward installation guarantees that the door sweep remains unnoticeable and protected.
- Weight and dimensions: 0.4 ounces and 36.5 x 2 x 0.1 inches.
- The aluminum frame is quite rigid and tough to cut.
- Rubber bends fairly well and can hold up great like other industrial-grade door sweeps.
- For effective installation, drill small pilot holes and screws to attach the rubber and aluminum portions securely.
- Suitable for oddly-shaped door sill, as well as when the floor is very unlevel as it can accommodate a curve on the floor.
This UL-rated rubber door stopper seals gap up to ¾-inch high between the bottom of the door and threshold.
With fasteners to help you install, this top-rated door stopper can immediately keep noise, vibrations, dust, insects, and drafts out.
- Weight and dimensions: 9.6 ounces and 40.2 x 4.2 x 4.8 inches.
- Heavy rubber seal stands up to internal and external elements such as air, dust, and dirt.
- Simple installation only requires you to trim off the length you need and screw the door stopper on the bottom of your door.
- The metal part holds paint well enough to blend it with the door.
- The rubber is not that flexible, so expect to hear some scraping sounds against uneven surfaces when you want a snug fit.
Can I Use Weatherstripping Products as Alternative Door Sweeps?
You can, although with some considerations. Weatherstripping products are meant to seal gaps between the door frame and the door. Thus, they are not technically door sweeps, yet they have the capacity to soundproof.
Since they are usually made from sound-absorbing materials like fiberglass, weatherstripping tape forms an airtight seal between the door and the tape, blocking out sounds and vibrations.
If the space between the floor and the door is too small, making it difficult for you to use rubber door seals or draft stoppers, you can optimize weatherstripping products as an alternative.
Some doors, like storm doors, already have weatherstripping tape along the edges.
On the other hand, there are weatherstripping products that also use rubber bits.
For example, the Kanzyy weatherstripping Door Kit, which measures 39 feet long, features a 43.3-inch door sweep that you can cut down to the width of your door.
You can remove the protective layer over the adhesive, separating the two strips of rubber.
Although the rubber is about a quarter of an inch thick, it's hollow enough to let you close the door easily.
Because of the quick and simple installation, you can focus more and sleep better on your side of the room.
How to Install Weatherstripping Products?
A weatherstripping tape typically comes in rolls. Therefore, you'll need to cut it down to the necessary length.
They are self-adhering, which means you must peel off the protective layer and attach the tape onto the door frame or along the frame's bottom side.
Final Thoughts
As long as there is space under your door, noise and sounds will continuously come and go.
Installing a soundproof door sweep is the simplest solution if you want to block the passage of noise through the small gap between the door and the floor.
With the best draft stopper and rubber door seal from this post, you can maintain a peaceful and atmosphere in your home.
Jessica is a Acoustical Engineer, currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. After graduating from her degree in Master of Engineering degree in Acoustics from Solent University in 2014, Jessica worked for a few companies before She will be blogging about her past and current experiences in the studio and sharing her journey as she pursues her career goals. She enjoy the balance of work inside and out of the office, solving practical problems on a daily basis as every project is different and requires a different solution, the variety of work (sound insulation testing, background noise survey, mechanical plant commissioning, external plant assessment, plant room breakout assessments) and the mix of independent and team work.
