When you struggle to stay awake at the office, in school, or on the road while driving, you are suffering from excessive sleepiness. This is a disorder that is responsible for many road traffic accidents, and also reduces productivity from employees.
No one is comfortable with having to yawn all day, or working with heavy eyelids, so how can you avoid feeling sleepy all day? What are the causes, and how can you prevent them?
Sleep Deprivation/ Low Sleep Quality
Sleep deprivation and low quality sleep are very common causes of excessive sleepiness, but what are the causes? Insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, and external noise are some of the most common causes of sleep deprivation and low sleep quality. Whilst others are medical conditions, external noise is within your control, and you can easily put an end to it by soundproofing your home.
A Guide to Soundproofing Your Home
In soundproofing your home, you would need to identify the source of the noise and use a sound dampening material to reduce the incoming sound. Common sources of noise include noise from the road or neighbors across the fence, noise from your upstairs neighbors, and noise from the next-door neighbors.
How to Soundproof Your Fence?
Your fence is the first line of defense to your home against road-noise, and it’s particularly important in protecting you from road-noise, especially if you stay close to a busy road. You may not get much disturbance through here if you are using a soundproof fence, but if your fence doesn’t dampen vibrations, you will need to soundproof it.
The recommended material to soundproof your fence is MLV. Fortunately, a soundproofing fence with mass loaded vinyl is easy. Here’s what you need to do:
- Measure your fence and get as much mass loaded vinyl as is required.
- Mark the MLV and cut accordingly using heavy-duty scissors or a utility knife.
- Using an acoustic sealant, attach the MLV sheets to your fence, leaving no spaces between seams. You can also attach using nails and screws.
How to Soundproof Your Walls?
You will need to soundproof your walls if you have a loud neighbor next door whose constant loud music or other forms of noise deprives you of sleep. Just as with your fence, the recommended material to soundproof your walls is mass loaded vinyl. Steps in soundproofing your walls include:
- Measure your walls completely so you can have an idea of the amount of MLV you need. Leave some space at the top and bottom perimeters of about 1/2”.
- Mark the MLV roll and cut neatly according to your measurement in pieces that you can handle. Cut properly as mistakes here could affect the overall performance negatively.
- With the help of a friend, mount the first MLV sheet on the wall. Hold fast using screws, nails, or acoustic sealant. Begin mounting from the top, at any corner of your choice, and work your way through to the middle and then the end of the wall. Once done with the top, go to the middle and then to the bottom.
- Continue with other cut MLV pieces until the entire wall is covered. Avoid gaps between MLV seams.
- Once done, exposing the sockets and switches that were covered during MLV installation.
- Cover the exposed perimeters with an acoustic sealant.
How to Soundproof Your Ceilings?
You will need to soundproof your ceiling if the cause of your sleeplessness is noise from upstairs. This is trickier than the rest because here, gravity isn’t on your side. Steps to soundproof your ceiling include:
- Measure your ceiling so you know the size and number of MLV sheets you would need.
- Mark the MLV sheets and cut them in small sizes that can be mounted easily, but not so small that it takes the whole day to install.
- Apply an acoustic sealant to the MLV pieces, and then staple or nail to your ceiling. You will need the help of a friend to do this.
- Install the cut MLV pieces until the entire ceiling is covered. Avoid spaces between pieces of MLV as that will serve as a loophole through which noise can travel. Use a seal tape of sealant to seal any spaces that were uncovered.
Conclusion
Sleeplessness is a major cause of excessive sleep disorder, especially when it happens every time. Tackling the cause of sleeplessness is the key to solving the problem, and the major cause is noise. By soundproofing your home, noise from the environment would not affect your quiet time. And so not only will you get good sleep, but you will have good sleep quality also.
