How to Hang Acoustic Foam Without Damaging Walls?

With a computer, recording software, microphones, speakers, audio interfaces, headphones, and good acoustics, you’re ready to go. But since homes aren’t made for recording, sound can be hard to control. That’s where acoustic foam helps.

While you want to control sound and reduce noise, the last thing you need is to deal with peeling paint or damaged drywall. Luckily, there are easy, non-invasive methods to hang your acoustic foam that won’t leave a mark. In this guide, we’ll show you simple ways to get the perfect soundproof setup without causing harm to your walls.

 

Why Use/or Not Use Acoustic Foam to Soundproof a Room?

There are different ways to treat a room acoustically, and one of the popular is with Acoustic foam.

Acoustic foam is cheap and readily available online. It comes in different colors allowing you to choose the color that complements your home studio interior décor.

But before I dive deeper, there’s essential information you should know first. For example, this material is a fire hazard and will cause a lot of smoke when burned.

Additionally, if not installed correctly, it won’t absorb sound, and instead, it’ll bounce it back. Follow the steps in this guide carefully, and it’ll work well. Alternatively, you can hire a professional if you’re highly suspicious of your DIY skills.

How to Hang Acoustic Foam Without Damaging Walls?

You can hang acoustic foams using different techniques and depending on the surface where they’ll be installed.

A popular installation method is the use of spray adhesive. Let have a look at the different methods to install.

For smooth surfaces and drywall

• Use Loctite general-purpose or 3M general purpose spray adhesive
• Use a strong double-sided tape such as Gorilla Mounting Tape or Adhesive Squares
• You can also use push pins such as these long T-Shaped pins
• Alternatively, use 3M Command Strips

For concrete surfaces

• Use construction adhesive such as liquid nails

How to Hang Acoustic Foam with Minimal Damage

If you’re renting an apartment and don’t want to leave walls with holes from push pins or residue from adhesive, you’d better stick with 3M command strips popularly used for hanging pictures.

They don’t leave residue on the wall.

Alternatively, you can mount the foam on a piece of coroplast, plywood, or thick cardboard with an adhesive.

Then hang the assembled panel on your wall. This technique not only prevents the walls from damage but also allows you to freely move the panel around or take them with you when moving out.

Hanging Acoustic Foam with Adhesive Squares

Use a pencil or masking tape and mark the position of foam panel on your wall

Thoroughly clean the wall surface using denatured alcohol or isopropyl. Then wipe the area clean with a paper towel or rag and let dry. Avoid common cleaners because their ingredients can interfere with the strength of the bond.

Remove one paper liner from the adhesive square and apply the square on the backside of the panel near the edges.

Apply some pressure for 30 seconds to make sure the adhesive squares form a strong board with the foam.

Remove the second paper liner and mount the panel in the desired location and apply pressure for about 30 seconds.

Number of adhesive squares needed per panel

• 1 inch = 2 adhesive squares
• 2 inch = 3 adhesive squares
• 3 inch = 4 adhesive squares
• 4 inch = 4 adhesive squares

Hanging Acoustic Foam Panels with Spray Adhesive

Important Note: Never install acoustic foam with spray adhesive on wallpaper or textured surfaces. If you genuinely want to hang acoustic foam in a room with these features, I highly recommend mounting the foam to a thick cardboard or plywood board using adhesive and then hang the assembled panel.

Use a pencil or masking tape and mark the position of foam panel on your wall

Thoroughly clean the wall surface using denatured alcohol or isopropyl. Then wipe the are clean with a paper towel or rag and let dry. Avoid common cleaners because their ingredients can interfere with the strength of the bond.

Cover the areas you won’t be spraying with newspaper, cloths or painter’s plastic to protect your room

When installing make sure the room temperature stays at around (21° C) 70° F for best performance

Apply enough adhesive to the rear side of the acoustic foam. You can apply some on the mounting area as well.

Allow for 10-15 seconds for the adhesive to become sticky

Gently place the foam against the adhesive coated mounting and apply pressure for about 30 seconds

Make sure to maintain steady room temperature as stated above four a couple of days for enough curing.

Where to Place Acoustic Foam

Ensure that you treat the reflection spots on the horizontal axis.

Here’s how to do it, simply sit in your listening position and imagine where sound coming from the speakers hit the side walls and reflects back to you.

It’s important to hang acoustic foam treatment here to help improve your stereo width and make the audio quality much better.

Beware of Weak Areas

Consider hanging some acoustic foam panels between your front wall and the speakers. Doing so helps significantly reduce reflections coming from the back of your speakers.

However, it’s tricky doing so as the boundary interactions in this case can cause a major dip in the low-mid frequencies. But for most home studios, it’s the best place to place the speakers close to the walls as advised by the manufacturer.

But if there’s any space left between the speakers and the wall, place acoustic foam panel there.

Never forget the corners

Mount some of the acoustic foam on the corners of your room or even where the ceiling meets the sidewall.

As your studio grows over time, you will need to add bigger and thicker foam in your corners to help reduce resonance.

Create Acoustic Cloud

You can hang acoustic foam a few inches from your ceiling and directly above your listening position and your musical instruments. This will help prevent reflections above you.

 

Recommended Acoustic Foam Products

There are five different acoustic foam products that we highly recommend. They are all a good option, especially when it comes to affordable, eliminating noise. Because quality varies from one panel to another, here are the five best products on the market today.

• Auralex Acoustics Studiofoam Wedges– they are available in 18 and 24 pack depending on the sizes. They offer great performance at a cheap price. With a noise reduction coefficient of 0.80, these are the best acoustic foam panels on the market. (Source)

 

• Auralex Acoustic SonoFlat– it’s another foam panel from the same brand as above. The best part is that these panels have an NRC coefficient of 0.95. They are capable of muffling noise coming through the window.

 

• Audimute AcousticColor Tile– these panels are available in different colors and sizes of 36×36 inches and are 0.5-1.5 inches and have an NRC rating of between 0.55 and 0.95.

 

• Pro Studio Acoustic Foam- it’s 12 by 12 inches and 2 inches thick and an NRC rating of 0.65

 

• Auralex Acoustic Roominatior Foam Kit– it’s another great acoustic foam from Auralex but with an NRC rating of 0.6-0.65, which is less effective than the above Auralex products.

On How to Hang Acoustic Foam Without Damaging Walls

In conclusion, if you live in a rental unit and want to transform one of your rooms to a music studio or home theatre, you wouldn’t want to interfere with your rental/lease agreement.

Lastly, above are different ways on how to hang acoustic foam without damaging walls. Make sure that you choose the method that fits the architecture of your walls.