All buildings – residential and commercial – can benefit from some level of soundproofing. Soundproofing prevents noise from traveling from room to room, from floor to floor, and from the exterior to the interior.
Incorporating soundproof insulation makes buildings more comfortable for residents and provides a better working environment for occupants. During (or even after) construction, the type of insulation installed in walls and floors reduces sound transfer.
There are many types of insulation available for residential and commercial use – each offering different levels of soundproofing. The experienced team at Service Partners can help you select the right soundproof insulation for your project. Contact your local branch today!
Different Types of Sound Insulation
Service Partners is the leading distributor of insulation products in the nation. When it comes to insulation, you have many different options available, let’s review which work best for sound reduction.
- Spray Foam – two-part spray-applied polyurethane foam
- Fiberglass Batt Insulation – budget-friendly insulation available in a variety of sizes
- Fiberglass Blown-In – blown-in insulation with an excellent ability to fit in small spaces
- Mineral Wool – insulation made from rock, furnace slag, and other raw materials available in batt, board, and blown-in forms
- Cellulose – a loose insulation product made from recycled paper products
- Rigid Board – lightweight, easy to handle insulation available in three types: extruded polystyrene, expanded polystyrene, and polyisocyanurate
Sound Insulation with Spray Foam
Spray foam insulation is available in closed cell and open cell varieties. Spray foam insulation is particularly good at increasing the strength of the structure that it is installed on, and it provides excellent thermal and air control characteristics.
While open cell spray foam is slightly better at sound reduction than closed cell, neither type of spray foam is the best option for blocking sound. Because spray foam hardens and strengthens surfaces like walls and floors, it often allows sound vibrations to pass through more easily than other types of insulation.
Fiberglass Batt Insulation for Soundproofing
Fiberglass batt insulation is a very popular choice for soundproofing homes and businesses. It is budget-friendly, can be used in any climate zone, provides effective climate control, and is easy to install.
Fiberglass batt is great for sound absorption. Thicker and more dense fiberglass batt will perform better. Service Partners offers a variety of fiberglass batt insulation products, including kraft faced and unfaced options.
Soundproofing Benefits of Fiberglass Blown-In
One of the best insulation products available for soundproofing is fiberglass blown-in insulation. Blowing wool is machine-applied in attics, floors and netted walls. It has excellent soundproofing properties because it fills open spaces effectively.
The dense packing of the fiberglass insulation provides superior sound absorption results.
Mineral Wool Soundproof Insulation
Mineral wool is a popular insulation choice for sound reduction in homes and businesses. Mineral wool is also called rock wool insulation because it is made from rock, furnace slag from the iron industry, and other raw materials. It is available in batt, blown-in, and board options.
The density of mineral wool slows the movement of sound and vibrations through walls and floors. Service Partners carries a variety of mineral wool insulation products that are great choices for soundproofing, including ROCKWOOL’s Safe’n’Sound.
Sound Deadening With Cellulose Insulation
Cellulose insulation, when installed as a dense-pack, also provides superior soundproofing. Cellulose insulation is commonly used when adding soundproofing to existing structures because it can be installed through small holes cut in drywall or under siding.
Many of the cellulose insulation products we carry like blended cellulose, borate cellulose, and stabilized cellulose are mixed with additional chemicals to also provide fire resistant properties.
Using Rigid Board Insulation for Soundproofing
Rigid board insulation is lightweight and easy to install. Service Partners carries several types of rigid board insulation including extruded polystyrene, expanded polystyrene, polyisocyanurate, and fiberglass board.
While rigid board does provide some soundproofing benefits, it is more commonly selected as an insulation material because of its ease to install, its cost benefits, and its ability to be used above and below grade in commercial and residential buildings. If you are interested in which rigid board material can provide the best sound reduction for your project, contact your local Service Partners branch.
Sound Ratings – STC, NRC & SAA
If you are trying to figure out how much sound a material can block, you’ll want to know its Sound Transmission Class (STC) rating. You can use STC ratings to compare sound reduction properties of different building materials.
A similar but slightly different rating is the Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC) or Sound Absorption Average (SAA). STC ratings indicate how much sound is blocked while NRC or SAA indicate how much sound is absorbed. A building material or assembly with a higher sound rating indicates more effective sound reduction.
For example, a typical interior wall with ½” drywall over 2×4 studs has a rating of STC 34. If you add standard fiberglass insulation inside that wall, you can increase the rating to STC 39.
Using other types of wall construction and/or insulation can similarly change the STC rating.
Soundproof Insulation Considerations
Each insulation project has its own individual considerations when it comes to selecting the right soundproof insulation. Homes, multi-family buildings, offices, industrial buildings, schools, hospitals, and auditoriums all need insulation for thermal and acoustical benefits. Yet each type of structure has different requirements and expectations for sound regulation.
To keep costs down, fiberglass batt insulation is a popular choice when installing insulation, particularly in residential applications. While fiberglass batt is budget-friendly, it does not completely seal spaces, making it less effective at sound attenuation than gap-filling insulation like dense-pack fiberglass or cellulose.
To add sound reducing insulation in an existing structure, the best choice is blown-in insulation such as fiberglass and cellulose. Blown-in insulation can be installed without having to remove entire walls. New construction or open walls have multiple insulation options available including fiberglass, mineral wool, and spray foam (if there is a surface to spray the insulation against).
Soundproofing Insulation Near Me
How do you know which insulation is the best for soundproofing? Your choice will depend on your individual project specifications. The Service Partners team can help with all aspects of selecting soundproof insulation.
Whether you are looking for the best sound insulation for a new construction project or a budget-friendly sound reduction solution for an existing building, our experienced insulation team will recommend the right insulation product for your needs. With 75+ branches nationwide, we have soundproof insulation materials available near you with next day delivery and service available.
Contact your local Service Partners branch today for all your soundproof insulation needs.
