Blown-In Insulation for Soundproofing Walls and Floors
Most of Abraham's sound jobs are blown-in cellulose in interior walls and in the floors between levels. Filling those hollow spaces cuts down how much noise carries from one room to the next.
4.9 stars from 136 Google reviewsFree estimate
- About a 10 to 15 minute visit
- Your bid, usually within 24 hours
- Abraham calls or texts back within one business day.
Estimates are free within a half-hour drive of Des Moines.
- Owner on site for every job
- Same crew for 16 years, no subcontractors
- Over 2,000 homes since 2008
- Insured up to $2 million
Will blown-in insulation quiet a room?
It helps, and it's worth being straight about how much. A hollow interior wall carries sound like a drum: voices and TV hit one side and pass through the empty space to the other. Filling that space with cellulose dampens much of it. It won't make a room fully soundproof, because some sound still finds other routes.
Sound moves easily through open air and loses energy passing through dense, packed material. That's the whole idea behind filling the cavity.
Abraham usually uses blown-in cellulose for sound work in interior walls and floors. It fills the cavity around wiring and pipes, so there aren't open pockets left for sound to pass through.
Free estimate
- About a 10 to 15 minute visit
- Your bid, usually within 24 hours
- Abraham calls or texts back within one business day.
Estimates are free within a half-hour drive of Des Moines.
Bedrooms, offices, basements: walls and floors worth filling
Sound work goes into the interior walls and floors that most houses leave hollow. Places it makes sense:
- A bedroom wall shared with a living room or TV room
- The wall behind a TV or home theater setup
- A home office next to the kitchen or a play area
- Bathroom walls
- A laundry room wall next to a bedroom
- The floor between a finished basement and the main level
- The floor between the first and second story
- Walls between bedrooms in a rental
Voices, footsteps, doors: what a filled cavity helps with
| Noise | How it travels | What blown-in cellulose does |
|---|---|---|
| Voices and TV | Through the hollow space in walls and floors | Dampens a lot of it |
| Footsteps upstairs | Through the floor framing itself | Takes some of the edge off, but won't stop it |
| Sound under and around doors | Through the gaps, not the wall | Doesn't help; the door is the weak spot |
| Sound through ductwork | Along the ducts from room to room | Doesn't help |
| Sound through outlets and switch boxes | Through the holes cut in the drywall | Helps, since the cavity behind them is full |
Rock wool is an option. Abraham finds cellulose does just as well.
Rock wool, also called mineral wool, gets suggested for sound a lot, and it's available if you want it. In Abraham's experience, blown-in cellulose performs just as well in interior walls and floors, which is why it's his usual choice.
Tell Abraham which rooms you want quieter
Point out the walls or floors where the noise comes through, and he'll tell you how he'd fill them. If it's a rental, say which bedrooms or floors are the problem.
Quieter walls and floors: FAQ
Can blown-in insulation go between floors?
Yes. The floors between levels are one of the two places Abraham's sound work usually goes, along with interior walls.
Is cellulose good for soundproofing?
It's Abraham's usual choice for sound, and he finds it performs just as well as rock wool in interior walls and floors. No insulation makes a room fully soundproof, but a filled wall carries less noise than an empty one.
Does sound insulation help with heating and cooling?
Not much. Interior walls and floors sit between heated rooms, so filling them is about noise. The attic and the exterior walls are where insulation keeps the heat in.
Will it help with a noisy laundry or furnace room?
Filling the walls around a laundry or furnace room cuts down the airborne noise coming out of it, the same way it does for voices and TV. Rumble that travels through the floor framing is harder to stop.
Do you do sound insulation for landlords?
Yes. Landlords and investors hire Abraham as well as homeowners, and sound work in interior walls and floors is one of the services he offers them, whether it's a wall between two bedrooms or the floor between levels.
Get a free estimate
Tell us about the house and what's bothering you. Abraham calls or texts back within one business day.
Estimates are free within a half-hour drive of Des Moines.
How we handle your information: privacy policy.