Laundry Room Insulation

Depending on your household, you may spend more time in the laundry room than you'd like — and these rooms are often relegated to a small, less-than-ideal area. Installing enough suitable insulation improves the environment considerably.

An average dryer cycle adds significant humidity and moisture to the air, which transfers along with heat and can infiltrate your walls — posing health hazards and damaging walls over time. Sound control also helps keep washer and dryer noise from migrating to other rooms.

Heat, Humidity and Noise in One Room

A laundry room combines everything insulation has to deal with: warm humid air from the dryer, vibration and noise from the machines, and often an exterior wall or an unheated basement location. Sealing the assembly protects the structure from the moisture and keeps the noise contained.

• Exterior walls and any below-grade wall
• Around dryer vent penetrations
• Ceiling below the room if it sits above living space
• Interior partitions to contain machine noise
• Water supply lines running through exterior walls

Protecting Pipes and Preventing Damp

Laundry rooms in basements and additions often have supply lines running through cold exterior walls. Sealing and insulating those walls keeps the pipes above freezing and stops the humid air from reaching a cold surface and condensing behind the finish.

Containing the Noise

Washing machines on a spin cycle transmit noise and vibration through the building structure. Filling the surrounding wall and ceiling cavities completely is the most effective way to keep that out of the rest of the house.

A Common Source of Hidden Damp

Laundry rooms combine constant humidity with cold exterior or below-grade walls, and they are often tucked away where nobody looks behind the machines. That combination is one of the more common sources of hidden mould in a house. Sealing and insulating the assembly properly removes the cold surface the moisture was condensing on.