Here's the updated version:
I live in a 1950s mid terraced ex-council house and can clearly hear my neighbours' TV dialogue when trying to relax in my lounge.
The party wall was already treated during a renovation — plasterboard and Rockwool was used — but it's clearly not sufficient.
The sound is predominantly airborne (I can make out speech clearly). The floor is suspended timber with a void beneath, not concrete slab.
I've watched this video which recommends a mass + sealing approach:
My question is: what's the best next step?
Option A — Strip back the existing plasterboard to bare brick and start fresh with a proper treatment
Option B — Add a second layer on top of the existing wall using MLV sandwiched between two layers of 5/8" drywall
The video recommends two layers of 5/8" drywall with MLV between them, plus putty pads on electrical outlets and acoustic sealant on all gaps.
On decoupling: The video suggests decoupling is primarily beneficial for impact noise and vibration rather than airborne sound, and that mass alone handles most airborne transmission. However I'm not sure if this applies to a party wall in a terraced house where the wall itself may be vibrating and re-radiating sound. Should I be building a decoupled stud wall with isolation clips and hat channel, or would adding sufficient mass achieve most of the benefit without the added complexity and loss of room space?
Any advice from people who have tackled similar party wall issues in older terraced houses would be much appreciated.
Photos of the wall here:
Originally when I moved in the plan was to hang my plasma TV on that wall (A picture covers it now). As it has a HDMI Cable going over the celling into an AV area under my stairs.
As you can see that there are also three twin sockets on this all all together.
I live in a 1950s mid terraced ex-council house and can clearly hear my neighbours' TV dialogue when trying to relax in my lounge.
The party wall was already treated during a renovation — plasterboard and Rockwool was used — but it's clearly not sufficient.
The sound is predominantly airborne (I can make out speech clearly). The floor is suspended timber with a void beneath, not concrete slab.
I've watched this video which recommends a mass + sealing approach:
My question is: what's the best next step?
Option A — Strip back the existing plasterboard to bare brick and start fresh with a proper treatment
Option B — Add a second layer on top of the existing wall using MLV sandwiched between two layers of 5/8" drywall
The video recommends two layers of 5/8" drywall with MLV between them, plus putty pads on electrical outlets and acoustic sealant on all gaps.
On decoupling: The video suggests decoupling is primarily beneficial for impact noise and vibration rather than airborne sound, and that mass alone handles most airborne transmission. However I'm not sure if this applies to a party wall in a terraced house where the wall itself may be vibrating and re-radiating sound. Should I be building a decoupled stud wall with isolation clips and hat channel, or would adding sufficient mass achieve most of the benefit without the added complexity and loss of room space?
Any advice from people who have tackled similar party wall issues in older terraced houses would be much appreciated.
Photos of the wall here:
Shared wall project
www.amazon.co.uk
Originally when I moved in the plan was to hang my plasma TV on that wall (A picture covers it now). As it has a HDMI Cable going over the celling into an AV area under my stairs.
As you can see that there are also three twin sockets on this all all together.
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