Removal of chimney breast

[bobgreen]

Hi, my neighbour has sneakily removed thier chimney breast two years ago and the sound insulation does not exist any more between our party wall, I can hear everything. Our house is a semi-detached built in the 1920s. I believe the party wall to be one brick thick, but thinner where the chimney breast were. Any ideas on how to stop the noise coming through will be much appreciated. Thanks. Bob.

 

[Richard C]

If you’re on friendly terms, have a chat with him, explain your problem & ask if he consulted your local council Building Control before he did the work. If not, check with you local council regarding regulations he may have breached by removing the chimney breast & not complying with any building regs. that should prevent/reduce the problems your experiencing.

 

[alpcon]

Also to add to the post from Richard C.

Did your neighbour notify you under the party wall act of his intention to carry out the work? If not then i bet you a grand they havnt notified or applied to building control prior to commencing the work

Again if you get on well with next door it may help if you gently point this out to them and I bet they rectify your problem without delay.

 

[andy_jb]

Hi,

I have a similar problem, except the neigbour had taken the chimney breast down before i even first looked at the property (moved in 6 months ago)

Can hear TV, door slamming, light switches on/off. Very frustrating, especially as i am a noise freak.- i like my peace and quiet.

Its very surprising how much sound gets through - I am sure its 9" blockwork between the walls as well.

I hope this will improve for me as i currently dont have any carpets down, and plan to put some decent sized cupboards either size of my bedroom chimney breast.

Hope you manage to improve your situation.

Andy

 

[bobgreen]

Thanks for the reply.

My neighbour has not informed me or ask for permission to do what he has done under the Party Wall Act either through a letter or informal chat. I had confronted him about it but he was hostile about it.

I had contracted both the Enviromental Health and Building Control departments both couldn't help me. Enviromental Health said that because the noise was a result from the alteration of the walls, they had no laws which can bring the neighbouir into account.

Building Control came round to check both my property and next door, eventhough the guy next door was reluctant to let the inspector in, only after the threat of a warrant was he allowed in. The inspector found to my surprise that the chimney breast was still there although a fire place was put in, eventhough when I knocked on thier door a week earlier the fire place was absent. Whats more strange is the day prior to the inspection I can hear from next door a mad rush on a big DIY job, I could hear the hammering, drilling e.t.c. This went on for nearly 20 hours, the guy next door didn't even sleep. He worked from the morning and into the next morning, because he is used to working the late morning shifts. I am suspicious that he may have friends or relatives with the council who may have given him the heads up on the inspection.

I am really stuck now, can anyone please help?

 

[Bradleybuild]

that really is a horrible situation. id be mad as hell
Well i guess you could chuck lots of money at it thru the courts.
you could beat him up
you could start a long running feud

I think you should insulate/sound proof the chimney from your side, and dont waste too much time thinking about it.
I hope i dont sound patronising, i would have my blood up now and be gunning for him.
But in the end the problem is NOT going to be solved by him or them, youve got to do it
Cheers

 

[joe-90]

This is the second thread you've started on the same subject. You are obviously listening for noise as there is no way you would hear conversation through a brick wall otherwise. It doesn't matter who you live next to as you'll still hear something if you listen hard enough. Get over it, it's YOUR problem not his.

 

[bobgreen]

Hi mate, no I don't spend my life listening to next door, but all the noise can be heard even over moderately loud music and the TV, so you can see from my point of view it is impossible to ignore. Maybe you haven't been through what I have been through, otherwise you would understand. I have even had a indrect conversation with next door just by speaking at normal volume, so you see with sound insulation this bad, you would have to be deaf to not hear it.

 

[designer_london]

Bob (years later I know) - how did you end up dealing with this?