Replacing internal stud walls with brick/breezeblock

[mrjameskent]

Hi all,

Having recently moved into a newly converted apartment in Grade 2 listed building I am suffering from a lack of sound insulation, to the extent that I can hear the upstairs neighbours urinating into their toilet.

It seems there is little I can do legally against the developer without spending a disproportionate amount vs. what it would cost to install soundproofing myself, irrespective of Part E building regs.

As I will need to pull down one side of most of the internal stud walls to address flanking noise and access cavities, I am wondering if I might as well rip them out and rebuild them with bricks or breezeblocks.

I would be extremely grateful for any advice/guidance on whether this is overkill or a pointless exercise and anything I need to consider/research. I will be getting the ceilings soundproofed in addition.

I've attached the floorplan in case this is useful.

Thanks View media item 93217

 

[noseall]

Wouldn't ear plugs be cheaper!

I would be tempted to hit the ceilings first although noise abatement remedies can vary in success depending upon the expertise and understanding of sound travel, of the people doing the work.

Denser materials will transmit less noise. True soundproofed rooms are lead lined. The problem is that when you are in a situation whereby all is quiet and still around you, then your ears go searching for sounds.

So, unless you spend trillions on this project along with someone that knows what they are doing, be prepared to be less than satisfied.

 

[joe-90]

Once the sound is in the structure of the house you'll never get it out. The soundproofing needs to be done in the neighbours house to be successful.

If the floor joists run side to side across to the neighbours place you've got no hope.

 

[mrjameskent]

Just to add some additional information:

- there are no next door neighbours, I have the entire floor
- the building is detached
- the ceiling is concrete and upstair cannot pull up floor and treat at source due to listed status/original flooring

Thanks
J

 

[HawkEye244]

What I learned when sound proofing one of my floors is that just about anything you do to a ceiling will be effective with stopping noise traveling from below upwards, this is because the majority of noise traveling up will be airborne and not structural, the majority of noise traveling from above downwards will be structural. You could spend a considerable amount on sound proofing a ceiling but in a scenario like this approximately the same noise mitigation could be achieved from upstairs putting down carpets and underlay. Despite it being a listed building you could persuade upstairs to put carpet down with the thickest underlay you can find. Tiled areas such as in the bathroom could benefit from having large matts to pick up most of the footfall.

You have a large place with big rooms, I would expect a reasonable mid range carpet not to cost more than £1000, and depending on who you get to fit it could range from £300-600. Perhaps you could offer to pay a little towards the neighbours having this done. I think it would be a better investment than the time, cost and inconvenience to yourself of having work done to your place. I can vouch for carpets and underlay as despite spending a few weeks packing out one of my floors with rockwool, the biggest difference came once the carpet was in. It is the foot to floor contact that must be addressed in my opinion

 

[Nige F]

Out of interest what was the building before conversion ?