Best Soundproofing Material for Walls, Ceilings and Floors

Soundproofing Materials vs Sound Absorbing Materials

There is no single best soundproofing material, because “soundproofing” covers two different jobs. Blocking stops sound passing through a wall, floor or ceiling, and takes heavy, airtight materials like mass loaded vinyl and drywall. Absorbing stops sound echoing inside a room, and takes soft, porous materials like acoustic panels. A material that is excellent at one is usually useless at the other.

So the right question is: are you trying to keep noise out of (or in) a room, or make the room itself less echoey? Most people asking for the best soundproofing material want the first, and that is where most of the money goes.

Quick answer To block noise through a wall, the most effective materials, in order of value, are acoustical caulk to seal the gaps, mass loaded vinyl for mass, insulation in the cavity, and resilient channel to decouple the drywall. To reduce echo inside a room, use fabric-wrapped acoustic panels. Foam and curtains don’t soundproof.

Soundproofing Materials Compared

Typical results on a standard stud wall. Actual gains depend on the wall you start with and how carefully it is built.

Material	What it does	Typical effect	Best for
Acoustical caulk	Seals gaps	Stops leaks that undo everything else	Every project, first
Mass loaded vinyl (MLV)	Blocks (adds mass)	+10 or more STC at 1/8″ thick	Walls, ceilings, floors where space is tight
Extra layer of drywall	Blocks (adds mass)	A few STC points per layer	Cheap mass where thickness doesn’t matter
Insulation in the cavity	Absorbs inside the wall	A few STC points	Any open wall or ceiling
Resilient channel or clips	Decouples the drywall	Large gains, especially for bass	Music, home theaters, footsteps
Damping compound between drywall layers	Damps vibration	Helps mid and low frequencies	Two-layer drywall walls
Floor underlayment	Isolates the floor	Higher IIC (footsteps)	Floors over living space
Acoustic panels	Absorbs echo	NRC up to 1.05, no STC gain	Echo inside the room
Foam, curtains, blankets	Light absorption	Little to no blocking	Softening echo only

Best Soundproofing Material for Walls

If you can put only one thing on a wall to block noise, make it a layer of mass loaded vinyl under new drywall, with every gap sealed. In order:

1. Seal the gaps. Acoustical caulk ($17.99 a tube) along drywall edges and around outlets, switches and pipes. A wall with gaps can lose most of its rating.
2. Add mass. 1 lb/sf mass loaded vinyl is 1/8″ thick and adds 10 or more STC points to a stud wall, about the same as three or four extra layers of drywall, at $199 per 100 sq ft. Wall Blokker ($219) is tested in dozens of wall assemblies; Wall Blokker Lite ($169) suits metal studs; Wall Blokker PRO ($299) is the heaviest, for wood studs and party walls. Tape every seam with MLV seam tape.
3. Fill the cavity with mineral wool or fiberglass insulation if the wall is open.
4. Decouple with resilient channel or isolation clips if bass or music is the problem.

At the La Quinta in Orlando, our sister company Commercial Acoustics used Wall Blokker PRO on wood-stud guest room walls to reach STC 55+, in place of the specified gypsum sound board and at a lower installed cost.

Best Sound Deadening and Sound Dampening Material

“Sound deadening” and “sound dampening” get used for three different things, and the best material depends on which one you mean:

• Stopping a surface from vibrating, such as a thin wall, a door or a car panel. A heavy, limp layer like mass loaded vinyl, or a damping compound between two layers of drywall, does this best.
• Cutting noise through a wall. This is soundproofing: mass, sealing and decoupling, as above.
• Taking the echo out of a room. This is absorption. Sound absorbing wall panels (2″ fiberglass, NRC 1.05, from $109) are the most effective sound dampening material for walls, and ceiling clouds (from $119) do the same overhead.

For the full range of absorbing panels, from fabric to wood slat and felt, see types of acoustic wall panels.

Best Soundproofing Materials for Ceilings and Floors

• Footsteps from above: an isolation underlayment under the floor upstairs. Floor Blokker is a 1/4″ mat with an MLV layer, rated for IIC 50+, at $240 per 100 sq ft.
• Voices and TV from above: insulation between the joists, a layer of MLV, and the ceiling drywall hung on resilient channel.
• Noise to the room below: the same underlayment, plus rugs on thick pads if you can’t replace the floor.

Thin and DIY Soundproofing Materials

The thinnest effective soundproofing material is mass loaded vinyl: 1/8″ thick, or 1/16″ for Wall Blokker Lite, so it fits behind new drywall without losing floor space. Most of what works can be done yourself:

• Caulk and outlet pads on shared walls. An afternoon’s work.
• Door seals and an automatic door bottom. The door is the biggest leak in most rooms.
• MLV over an existing wall, screwed through the drywall into the studs, seams taped, then a new layer of drywall on top.
• Window inserts that press into the frame and block far more than curtains.

Materials That Don’t Soundproof

• Egg crate and acoustic foam are light and open-celled. Sound passes straight through. They soften echo a little.
• Soundproof curtains and moving blankets are too light and too leaky at the edges to block much. They help with echo and light.
• Bookshelves and furniture break up echo but add little mass to the wall.

If you’re choosing on environmental grounds, see eco-friendly soundproofing materials, and for fences and yards, the best outdoor soundproofing material.

Frequently Asked Questions