First, I wanted to give some background info. My house (prior to me owning it) used to be all electric. At some point, it was converted to forced air with natural gas furnace. In order to get the air/heat to the upstairs bedrooms, they ran the duct work through my living room on the first floor and my closet in my bedroom on the 2nd floor. They framed in the living room and put up drywall. They didn’t do anything with the bedroom closet (left the ductwork exposed). The noise from the ductwork drives me crazy when I’m trying to sleep. My plan is to use some type of soundproof material and frame in the ductwork.

My closet is fairly large and is separated down the middle with a wall. My first question is if this would possibly be structural? I want to take this wall out so that I can make my bedroom closet more functional. I’m pretty sure the wall is parallel with the joists, but I will have to get up in the attic to be certain. I’ve attached a few pictures of the closet.

Assuming this isn’t structural and I can knock it out, that would bring me to my second question on framing in the ductwork and soundproofing it. Is there any specific soundproofing material that I should use for this?

 

What is above that wall? if attic, can you crawl up there and get a look see?
Shouldn't be any big deal to frame up and wall off the ductwork. I'd assume most any insulation would work fine although I don't know as much about insulation as some of the members do - they'll probably chime in later.

 

Yeah, the attic is right above the closet. I will take a look at it tonight. I was in the attic last year to put in a ceiling fan box and from what I remember, the joists are parallel with this wall in the closet.

My closet in my spare bedroom is built the exact same way (without the duct work) and has the same wall in the middle. That wall would be perpendicular to the joists.

 

The odds are that little wall isn't load bearing but it's always best to make sure!