There are two ways to reduce sound getting into your living space;
Either reduce direct sound by keeping doors and windows closed or
reduce indirect sound by keeping domestic appliances away from directly connecting partition walls.
In buildings, sound can be transmitted in two ways - either directly through the air, or indirectly where vibrations travel through the building's structure. The options for dealing with this are somewhat limited when it comes to an existing living space, but some effective design techniques for critical applications like recording studios include the following:
Preventing direct sound from getting into or out of a room can be achieved by fitting heavy solid doors with sealing gaskets, ideally with a second similar door to create an airlock. Windows should be as small as possible, with well-sealed double or even triple glazing.
Preventing indirect sound can be rather more challenging, and usually needs to be tackled at design stage. Various construction techniques include the use of high-density building materials, as well as architectural isolation where a sound-proofed room 'floats' within the main construction, isolated from the fabric of the building and supported by (for example) a thick layer of polystyrene foam under the floor, which will absorb much of the vibration.
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