House survey - what does this mean?

[redrabbit]

Buying a semi-detached house and the survey looks very good. I just wondered though what exactly this meant:

"There is approximately 119mm of noise insulation on the Party Wall either side of the chimney breast which gives the impression of a shallow projection of the chimney breast at first floor."

Is 119mm good?
Shallow projection, does that mean it's not very thick when it goes up, is this good/bad/indifferent?

Oh and there is also this picture too

.

Just wondering about noise mainly

Thanks

 

[^woody^]

It's just stating an irrelevant fact.

Who calls it "noise insulation" though?

 

[oldbutnotdead]

It means there have been problems in the past with noise from next door. No way of telling from those pics what has been done (whether its a full-on job with resilient bars or just a drylined wall stuffed with rockwool).
Any chance of arranging another viewing when the neighbours are in & doing stuff (watching telly, trotting up & down the stairs, that sort of thing)

 

[redrabbit]

It means there have been problems in the past with noise from next door. No way of telling from those pics what has been done (whether its a full-on job with resilient bars or just a drylined wall stuffed with rockwool).
Any chance of arranging another viewing when the neighbours are in & doing stuff (watching telly, trotting up & down the stairs, that sort of thing)

Hi

I'll admit to knowing very little about this but I'm struggling to understand how you've come to that conclusion

I believed that most Newly plastered and decorated walls would have this kind of insulation on the party wall

 

[oldbutnotdead]

How many houses have you looked at/lived in to generate that belief? Whoever did the work has sacrificed space presumably hoping for some sort of return

 

[JohnD]

Who calls it "noise insulation" though?

what other purpose do you think it has?

 

[Keithmac]

Judging by our chimney its a lot more than 11cm that has been added to the wall!.

 

[^woody^]

what other purpose do you think it has?

A professional calls it 'acoustic' or 'sound' insulation. An amateur calls is noise insulation.

There is a difference between sound and noise, not just in the grammar sense either.

 

[ptarmigan]

Perhaps next door are a bit noisy when lovemaking.

 

[^woody^]

Perhaps next door are a bit noisy when lovemaking.

Weidos if they only do it on the sides of the chimney.

 

[endecotp]

I believed that most Newly plastered and decorated walls would have this kind of insulation on the party wall

No!

 

[OvertonPlumber]

We had same in our house. 18 years ago neighbours were nightmare would come back from pub at 12 and put ABBA on at full volume. The chimney is thick and gives natural sound insulation. The two side breasts were counterbattened and insulated with acccoustic Rock wool slabs to reduce noise.

We have sold and moving to a detached bungalow in New year

 

[redrabbit]

Thanks all

I'm a satisfied as I'm going to be with this. It's a nice semi detached in a village and all looks good..

I think it would be a bit silly to get overly anxious about noise when almost every house in the UK has some form of adjoining wall.

I'm sure it will be fine and house looks good. Just hope all goes through smoothly with solicitors now. Been waiting 4 weeks for mortgage decision due to backlogs.

 

[jacko555]

when almost every house in the UK has some form of adjoining wall

Sorry to split hairs. Gov stats sat 22.3% of the housing stock is detatched.

I had a house where the sound proofing was so bad, you could hear the splash / "poseidon's kiss" when the neighbour took a dump.

Their default mode of communication was shouting.

Their telly was on LOUD.

Other neighbours got a dog and then never walked it. It would whine and whimper like the socially starved and borderline abused animal it was.

Moved to a detatched house with bag gaps and hedges.

I appreciate this is not always possible.

Good neighbours are lovely.

But a poorly soundproofed house and stupid and unthoughtful neighbours is a hell.

That soudproofing is a red flag. It bothered a previous occupant to add it and build a wardrobe to separate you. That wasnt cheap and its only one bit of the shared wall. Not the loft or spaces between floors...

 

[SFK]

That soundproofing is a red flag. It bothered a previous occupant to add it and build a wardrobe to separate you. That wasnt cheap and its only one bit of the shared wall.

Redrabit,
You could/should ask your convayencer to ask the Seller about this soundproofing so its all legally documented :
- when was soundproofing installed?
- has their been noise issues with the neigbours and when?

SFK