Insulation is a crucial component to getting the best possible soundproofing in your home. That’s why I’ve decided to go in-depth about this topic and talk about what you can get from the best soundproofing insulation on the market. Besides sharing some of the best products you can use on your walls and ceilings, I’ll also explain the basics of insulation.
Firstly, it’s important to know that there’s a difference between insulation and other soundproofing materials. If you take a look at the article I’ve linked to, you’ll see that there are plenty of products that can offer similar results. However, I believe that insulation might be the most effective soundproofing material you can use.
Various types of insulation are meant for different purposes, so I’ll also share some of the main ones you may work with. Although soundproofing insulation is specifically designed to lessen the amount of noise that reaches you — is it really the best option all around? You’ll find out later on in the article.
Types of Insulation
As I’ve mentioned, different types of insulation can answer to different needs. However, when it comes to the type of insulation, there are two general distinctions we make:
- Batt insulation comes in rectangular panels or rolls that are typically about as wide as the space between the wooden studs in your walls. They can be anywhere between an inch and several inches thick, and they’re usually made of cotton, fiberglass, or mineral wool (aka rock wool).
- Blown insulation is most often found in attics. Essentially, this type of insulation is pretty much the same material as the previous type, so fiberglass and cellulose. However, the material is blown in chunks into the space it’s meant to fill. So you see why you can’t very well put it in walls without having it fall apart.
- Foam spray insulation is much easier to work with. You could even get it inside brick cavity walls without taking them apart. After you spray the liquid polyurethane into the cavity through a small hole, it will expand to fill the space. Then, you can just patch the hole you used to fill the cavity.
Out of these three choices, blown insulation is clearly the loser. After all, it’s pretty much only useful for attics that aren’t in use. Foam spray insulation is certainly better, although it’s the most expensive type. So I’m going to focus on batt insulation, which is the most popular kind anyway.
Batt Soundproof Insulation and Where to Buy It
In fact, batt insulation works as a sort of concealed acoustic foam. It basically works the same way: by trapping the air (that carries sound) inside of it. After all, sound traveling through walls must move either through the air or by vibrating against the structure of the building. Due to the density and thickness of batt insulation, it tends to resolve both airborne and impact noise — to a point.
So where can you get these products? Well, personally, I like to get them on Amazon. If you want to be able to see the products before you order them, you can look at the ones that are on offer at your local home improvement store. You can also browse the sites of the specific manufacturers to find more information about the products on Amazon.
Best Soundproof Insulation for Walls and Ceiling
There are only a few companies that offer the majority of the batt insulation on the market. You may even know of some of them — so let’s see who they are.
Roxul
You’d be hard-pressed to find a brand of insulation that’s more famous than Roxul. My favorite in their vast selection of products is the Rockwool Acoustic Mineral Insulation. That mineral wool insulation has a density of 8 pounds per cubic foot, which is what makes it such a good soundproofing product.
However, there is a slightly cheaper alternative that has a density of 6 pounds per cubic foot. Both of these products come with 6 pieces that are 2 inches thick, 48 inches tall, and 24 inches wide. The wooden studs in your wall should be the same width.
As I’ve mentioned, Roxul products are currently the most popular ones on the market. So you can buy them and trust that they’ll perform perfectly.
ATS Acoustics and Owens Corning
You may know ATS Acoustics as the company behind many of your favorite acoustic foam panels. While they do make their own insulation, they also seem to be a distributor for Owens Corning fiberglass insulation.
This Owens Corning 703 insulation is the closest substitute for the Roxul products I’ve mentioned above. It, too, comes in packs of 6, with the exact same dimensions we saw. Even though it only has a density of 3 pounds per cubic foot, it has a perfect noise reduction coefficient. The same product comes in different thicknesses, as well — for example, the 4-inch version comes in 3-piece packs.
Lastly, I’d like to mention one more type of insulation from Owens Corning. Their 2-inch Rigid Fiberglass insulation has a Foil Reinforced Kraft layer on one side. Apparently, the foil face is especially effective at blocking mid to high frequencies, while the low end of the spectrum is caught in the fiberglass.
As you can see, all of these products come in the same dimensions, only varying in the thickness of the panels. You should be pretty happy with the performance of all of the items I’ve listed. However, you probably also noticed that the market isn’t exactly overflowing with great products. Still, if you need products you can trust, you’ll find yourself gravitating to these two or three manufacturers.
You may also like: Best Kinds of Insulation for Basement Ceilings
