noise reduction

Hi all. I own a 2016 prius 3 touring and am interested in applying sound deadening to the wheel wells. I couldn't find anything related to this in the '16 forums. I have already done the doors. A few questions:

I wanted to know if you removed the wheel well liner to apply the sound deadening material, or if you just applied over it? Phoenixgreg, it looks like you applied over it in the photos, but I wanted to make sure.

How well is it holding up against the elements? I imagine that the wheel well takes a lot of hits from road debris, rocks, etc.

What is the best approach to remove the panel over the hatch?

Thanks!

 

Sadly, my car was totaled last year, but I did remove the wheel well liners first and packed the area towards the cabin with foam rubber. That made a noticeable difference. I know these pics are hard to envision as I needed to be upside down looking up in the exposed wheel well cavity packed with foam rubber.