WEST HOUSTON Blog

Can Insulation Soundproof My Home in Southeastern Texas?

After the holidays wrap up, you would think the noise may start to finally die down. But with new gifts, visiting family and friends, and vacations, your neighborhood may be more active than ever! You’re not necessarily the neighborhood Grinch just because you sympathize with his complaints about “oh, the noise, noise, noise!” Whether you’re trying to muffle the passing cars or neighborhood children out for winter break, your home may need better soundproofing.

Soundproofing Your Home

As a homeowner, you may already be familiar with the basic function of insulation and its job to help regulate the temperature throughout the house. However, insulation materials provide a number of other advantages that can contribute to the comfort and safety of your home. Having regularly maintained and updated material throughout the walls, floors, ceilings, and other areas additionally reduces noise transfer more than you may expect.

“Soundproofing” your home is when you take steps to reduce sound pressure. This helps to reduce the rate at which sound waves move through structures. If you’re already aware of how a properly insulated home reduces the rate at which heat transfers between rooms and floors, the material’s soundproofing ability works similarly. Certain types of material reduce the ability for sound waves to travel through walls and floors. 

The insulation can mute outside noise like traffic or pedestrians while even reducing the volume of sounds within the house - if you’re used to hearing the living room TV across the house or your roommate’s special taste in music, you may be in need of additional or upgraded material within your inner walls.

Insulation and Noise Reduction

If you're looking to effectively reduce the noise in and out of your home, you need a material that can enclose the space and stop soundwaves from freely traveling. The effectiveness of insulation material is calculated with its R-value, which is short for resistance value. This value is typically used to measure each different material’s resistance to heat transfer; industry experts can similarly use this number to determine effective soundproofing. As you’re comparing insulation types to have installed within the house, ask your local insulation contractor about quality soundproofing materials. 

Exterior Walls

If your home doesn’t have effective coverage or properly installed material, the noise from the outdoors can encroach on your everyday life. Sound is heavily reduced with the right material covering the important spaces throughout your home, which makes it crucial to regularly evaluate your home’s current condition. 

Sounds that come from outside of your home are most often classified as “airborne noise.” This could include noises like passing cars, pedestrians, and even nearby garage doors or lawn service. Your building envelope needs to have adequate coverage in order to stifle sound vibration to help result in a quieter home overall. 

As a homeowner, the most common type of insulation you may be familiar with is fiberglass or mineral, which is the loose fill or batts you find throughout your attic. Fiberglass batts are arguably one of the most effective materials used to reduce noise penetration; the thicker it's applied to walls, floors, and ceilings, the more sound vibration is slowed. 

Interior Walls & Floors

Reducing the outdoor clamor from encroaching on your home is only the first step to minimizing traveling sound throughout your home. With free evaluations from Koala Insulation of West Houston, our industry experts don’t just check the exterior walls of your home but the framed walls and floors as well; the walls between rooms, ceilings, and floors of a multistory house and even the basement or attic all count for areas of interest. 

When these spaces are left unchecked, the area can not only contribute to higher bills and uneven heating and cooling but they could also be the reason your whole house is able to tune into the latest show playing on TV (whether they want to or not)! Your walls are also the most obvious spot that sound will commonly slip through when your insulation has deteriorated. 

Although upgraded material won’t necessarily stop soundwaves entirely from traveling from one room to the next, there is a noticeable difference in volume. In addition to updated insulation, other objects and external soundproofing are a great way to keep the commotion down between rooms and floors!

How to Choose Insulation Material

What are your next steps after gaining a better understanding of insulation’s impact on your environment and noise reduction capabilities?

One of the first steps you should take would be choosing your insulation material. Working with your local insulation professionals, together you can determine which material and type work best for the needs of your home. Many homeowners don't realize that their walls, ceiling joists, and floors aren't all filled with the same kind of insulation. For example, while loose-fill fiberglass may be found on your attic floors, your home could benefit from closed-cell spray foam in between ceiling joists.

When looking for more information on the best type of material for your needs, Koala Insulation of West Houston can not only offer additional education on insulation material but also a helping hand in your decision. With our free evaluations, our insulation professionals can provide details on the current condition of the material within your home. Everything from your household habits to the climate zone of your region can affect your home’s needs, which means it’s important to take the time to find the right materials.

Reduce Noise And Heat Loss With Southeastern Texas Experts

Koala Insulation of West Houston is dedicated to finding cost-effective and environmentally friendly solutions to keep your home safe and comfortable throughout the year. Our free evaluations give you the opportunity to find areas in your home that may need upgrading or additional material. We help you and your household take into account everything from your climate zone to household habits in order to choose the best insulation for your home's needs. Contact our team of industry professionals at Koala Insulation of West Houston today to schedule your free evaluation and learn more about how to improve your environment.