Soundproofing Party Wall

[elih]

Hi,

I live in an Edwardian mid terrace and the sound proofing is less than ideal downstairs, and upstairs we can hear one set of neighbours talking quite clearly, and their cooking smells come through as well.

Everything I've found online talks about adding plasterboard to the walls, but we can't do this in the front of the house because the doorway to our bedroom is right against the party wall, and downstairs we have original cupboards built in beside the fireplace. We also can't do it upstairs in the back room as the boiler is on the party wall.

We've taken up the floorboards upstairs and the joists run from front to back, so they're not shared and there aren't any visible holes to fill. We're at a bit of a loss as to what to do next.

Would just stuffing some rockwool between the joists and the wall help at all?

We can't ask the neighbours for help finding the problem as they're renting and the landlord has recently 'renovated' the house and is highly unlikely to be any help at all.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

[jeds]

The loft is a common source of sound transmission so I'd check that. But really, if you're not prepared to add some sort of sound treatment to the party wall there's not a lot you can do. Stuffing the floor with mineral wool won't do much on its own.

 

[elih]

The loft is a common source of sound transmission so I'd check that. But really, if you're not prepared to add some sort of sound treatment to the party wall there's not a lot you can do. Stuffing the floor with mineral wool won't do much on its own.

Thanks for replying. Our loft has been converted and is actually the only place we can't hear next door from. The noise is definitely coming through on the lower two floors, we just can't find any obvious places. It's not that we're not prepared to add treatment to the wall, it's that we physically can't. The already narrow doorway of our bedroom can't be moved because of the position of the stairs, and it's directly on the party wall so adding any inches to the wall would make it very awkward to get into the main bedroom.

I didn't think rockwool would have much effect, but I'm at a loss as to what else would work.

 

[^woody^]

If smells are getting in then that has implications for fire risk too.

Sound and odour can be a Statutory Nuisance, and if deemed to be, the landlord can be compelled to deal with it. You can get further advice on this route from your local council's environmental health team.

Timber ground floors can be a route for sound and odour too.