When you talk about soundproofing, you tend to focus on the walls and the ceiling. Granted, coating these areas with a layer of soundproof material can significantly reduce the amount of sound that escapes or echoes throughout your room.
However, people often forget that sound can travel through your floor too, and you might be missing out on a higher level of audio quality if you choose to work on your walls and ceilings and ignore your carpet.
That’s why we’ve put together this buying guide! We want to share with you how to install carpet overlay in order to help reduce reverberations and prevent any loud noises from escaping your room. Whether you have a music studio or you just want to reduce the volume of footfall or moving furniture, this article will share with you the best carpet overlay for soundproofing your place!
While you’re here, feel free to check out The Best Cheap Soundproofing Tricks For Your Home.
Quick Guide
In a hurry? Below we’ve compiled the best features of each of our recommended products on this list to come up with a handy guide to help make your choice easier and faster!
Best Overall: Floorlot Shop Floors Delivered Laminate Flooring
“Floorlot Gold underlay provides an exceptional barrier between laminate and the subfloor. I used this on concrete for a basement finish. The thickness helps with MINOR variances in the floor, and is an outstanding cushion. Thermal barrier is excellent, sound absorption is excellent. Go with Floorlot. I highly recommend this product.”
Best Splurge: MP Global Products QuietWalk Laminate Flooring
“Wow, this stuff is everything it says it would be. The difference in the ability of this stuff to dampen the sound while walking across the floor is incomparable. I'm so glad I decided on this and the price difference is not incredible. Installation was very simple, which made up for any cost difference between this and foam underlayment. I won't use anything else if I ever decide to install more flooring in my home.”
Best Budget: Roberts Black Jack Underlayment
“Coming from a first time floor DIYer, as long as you lay this row by row and don't do it all at once it is fine. It is meant to pad the subfloor, so even if there are a few holes nobody will know the difference once you lay your new flooring. My husband is a home builder and said this stuff works the best so far compared to the big box store options.”
Best for Small Areas: Steico Fiber Flooring Underlayment
“After much research, I decided to use this underlayment for my Music Room engineered wood flooring which had to be replaced due to a plumbing leak. My installer really enjoyed working with this product; his first experience.”
Best for Large Areas: MP Global Products Acoustical Underlayment
“It's a must have if you have a lot of kids or high-heel traffic on hardwoods. Also muffles sound from the basement.”
1. Floorlot Shop Floors Delivered Laminate Flooring
With a coverage of 200 square feet, this product from Floorlot Shop Floors Delivered comes in black, is available in a thickness of 3 millimeters for improved noise protection, and can be used under laminate, engineered wood, and even solid hardwood floor systems for an effective soundproofing experience!
Although the 200 square feet of area coverage isn’t as much as some of the other products on this list, this flooring quickly makes up for it with the cost.
This flooring also comes with a moisture and vapor barrier in order to ensure that moisture from the air doesn’t cause long-term damage. Over a long period of time, vapors can accumulate and cause water damage if there’s no barrier to prevent it.
This product also comes with printed grid lines. This ensures that cutting and fitting it in your room will be easier. Seaming tape is also included with the product, making installation quick and easy.
The 33 millimeter overlay not only prevents noise from escaping your room, but gives you a comfortable experience while walking. This feature can also be used to correct small scale imperfections or irregularities in your floor. The thermal insulation of the flooring also adds to the overall comfort level of this product.
However, there have been a few problems that verified customers have faced with this product. For instance, the tape that comes pre-attached with the product isn’t the best quality. The placement of the tape is also slightly inconsistent, which makes installing two pieces together a bit difficult.
Specifications
Pros
Cons
This product from MP Global Products provides superior sound reduction with the help of recycled fibers. These fibers help absorb sound and ensure that it doesn’t travel through your floors and get into other rooms or levels in your building.
If you have floating floors, this flooring will make it sound like solid underfoot due to its sound absorbing capabilities. The construction of the recycled fibers is also quite dense, which means that it’s resistant to compression. The structure will support the mechanism well even with consistent footfall.
Typically, the fibers in your flooring tend to absorb vapors and turn into bulk moisture. However, with the vapor barrier that comes with this flooring, you don’t have to be worried about moisture seeping into the carpet and causing long-term damage.
There are no VOCs, otherwise known as Volatile Organic Compounds, used in the making of this flooring, making it safe for indoor use. If you have an in-floor heat system, this carpet flooring allows for uniform permeation of heat, making it compatible for use.
However, there are some problems that people have faced with this flooring. One verified customer claimed that it was slightly difficult to cut properly, while another customer expected it to be rolled differently so that it would be easier to install. However, these are small issues and didn’t deter customers from buying it again.
Specifications
Pros
Cons
If you’re working on a budget or don’t have a large area to cover, the Roberts Black Jack Underlayment comes in just 100 square feet of coverage. With a thickness of 2.5 millimeters, this flooring isn’t as thick as the previous options. However, it can still be used with laminate and engineered wood flooring effectively.
The structure of this flooring is quite dense. This means that there will be no damage caused to the fibers of the flooring by any buildup of moisture, mold, or mildew, which can ruin your floors in the long term.
The flooring not only gives your feet cushioning, but will fix any imperfections or irregularities in your floor. The plastic overlap included with the flooring helps make installation easy, while the adhesive strip makes it easier for you to get the flooring in place without too much of a hassle.
However, a slight problem with installation is that this flooring tends to roll backwards, which isn’t ideal. Also, at 2.5 millimeters thick, this isn’t the thickest option on the list, which might affect its soundproofing abilities. If you’re looking for more thickness, you might want to consider other options on this list.
Besides this, the coverage of the flooring is only 100 square feet, which is decent for small areas but might not work well for larger projects.
Specifications
Pros
Cons
Like the previous product, the Steico Fiber Flooring Underlayment is meant for smaller rooms. It comes with 90 square feet of area, which makes it perfect for small projects. You will notice the comfort and audio quality in your room improve with the high quality construction of this underlayment!
An interesting thing about this product is that it is US tested and certified to give you the highest rated soundproofing experience you can buy. The absence of VOCs and similar emissions make this product safe to use indoors, ensuring that your family or pets won’t suffer from any subsequent health issues.
Even though the thickness of this flooring is only 3 millimeters, the high compression strength is useful in ensuring that your floor doesn’t squeak due to the underlayment. It will also protect your floor against external elements and improve its overall lifespan.
Specifications
Pros
Cons
With a coverage of 360 square feet, the MP Global Products Acoustical Underlayment is the largest option on this list. Whether you have a wooden flooring, either nailed down or glued, or ceramic tiles, you can use this product to your acoustical advantage!
There’s no vapor barrier attached to the underlayment, which means that sticking it with adhesives will be quick and convenient. However, this convenience does come with some compromises, as vapor barriers are useful in preventing moisture damage.
With a thickness of 5 millimeters, this is certainly one of the thickest options on this list. It’s a good option for those looking for higher level soundproofing!
Specifications
Pros
Cons
The Bottom Line
Soundproofing your walls and ceiling is important for the best possible audio quality, but your experience will improve even more if you don’t ignore your floors. In this article, we outlined some options that can help you improve the acoustics of your home, office, or studio.
We hope that this article has helped you make an informed decision about which of these options is the best carpet overlay for soundproofing according to your requirements. If you’re looking for articles, guides, and reviews on similar topics, please feel free to check them out on our site!
