Does soundproofing work?

[Michaelsf90]

I'm just curious as to will soundproofing work for us. The party wall is double brick but no cavity. Sat in silence you can hear next door talking. With the tele on it generally has to be shouting you can hear. Sometimes children bang the doors. I can hear that banging anywhere in the house as it is so loud and seems to reverberate. The other night I could hear screaming in the hall which is opposite end of the house to the party wall with the front door shut. I've had a word and they said they're moving next week. My concern is how much we hear. Yes they were clearly loud and lived loud but I wouldn't say they did anything too wrong. Just wondering if anything will help. We want to do a single storey extension on the back in a few years so if anything would help we would get that work done at the same time. If nothing will help at all and the next neighbours are worse wel end up moving eventually

 

[GoodDIYjob]

I can sympathise with you. We have experienced the same thing although it has got better in recent years and we don't notice it any where near as much now. Yes, our neighbours also have a heavy foot print at times but I couldn't say it is extreme. If we keep all our sounds sources off though, you can hear their telly and muffled voices. We certainly can hear their phone ring.

So ours is a 1930s semi also with a double brick 9" party wall. Most of the properties in the road are built similarly and from those neighbours I converse with, they can experience the same sound permeability as us.

The layout of our semis means the front and back living rooms from either side are adjacent with the hallways to the outer walls. This layout means you are closer together from the start.

From what I can gather a well built 9" party wall is pretty solid and relatively sound proof. However, poor detailing and any pockets or missing bricks scattered around will have a big impact.

Given the size of the pockets for purlins in our loft space plus a few missing bricks in the party wall where you could see straight through into the neighbours loft, I suspect there will be some leakage points in your house and ours.

I have tried to stand at our wall and identity where. But it is very hard as the sound reflects off surfaces so you can't really tell. Next door have no floor coverings only floor boards from the wooden suspended floor. I strongly suspect there are open pockets to next door in party wall below floor level but I could not face lifting all the boards whilst we were doing an extension.

I can also say, in our front room, the previous occupiers had battened out for mineral wool and double plasterboard, this is also done in the bedroom above. When noise is a problem it does not really make difference, in quite or moderate noise it attenuates a little but not a huge amount. This is another factor why I suspect sub floor and between floor areas of party wall. You may wish to investigate the party wall hidden by the ceiling or the subfloor area before spending on trying to soundproof the doubleskin brick and plasterwork.

 

[Michaelsf90]

Ours is the exact same, 1930s semi. The front and back rooms are side by side and the hall and kitchen are on the other side away from the party wall. Upstairs isn't much of a problem for us. We were going to batten and soundproof but we ended up leaving it due to coving which is very well stuck down and the fact its old, and nice and very expensive to replace. But I also didnt because of the chimney breast and theirs a little nib between the front and back room and then a big opening. Due to the restrictions I figured it would be expensive, time consuming and not actually make a difference. But I was just wondering if we get an extension and wer spending that money to get someone to do the soundproofing while the extension is getting done. If it would actually work and be worth doing or if it's pointless and just move haha it's no way to live but with how the house market is its impossible to know these things until you live there

 

[^woody^]

Generally, the sound needs to be stopped from getting out from their side, not from getting in on your side.

Yes filling any gaps around joists etc will help, but most of the sound is reverberating through the structure and that's difficult to stop on your side.

 

[Michaelsf90]

Thats the huge problem with having no cavity. It's so frustrating it's a lovely street and area. Massive back garden. The one fault is that and depending on the neighbours it can totally ruin how amazing the house is

 

[Leofric]

Depends on the space you have available and how far you are prepared to go/pay for. Have a look on British Gypsum website for details of upgrading sound insulation of existing walls.

 

[Michaelsf90]

Would the batten frame, resilient bar and soundbloc board work or would I have to do round the fireplace. If I could get away with doing the alcoves I'd more than likely get it done

 

[pete50]

Short answer. No it doesn't work.

 

[Munroast]

Would the batten frame, resilient bar and soundbloc board work or would I have to do round the fireplace. If I could get away with doing the alcoves I'd more than likely get it done

trouble is that a lot of sound can get through a very small hole. (or one small thin area)
you mention fireplace, what is the chimney arrangement and is there much noise coming down the chimney.?

your entire walls (including bits between floors and under floors) need to be covered with a think dense material, the thicker and denser the better. I have heard that two sheets of plasterboard with a thick layer of neoprene between them works well. but don't know how you would attach that to the problem wall without it touching.

 

[Michaelsf90]

The chimney breast was removed from the front room and bedroom which I think causes a lot of issues. The back room has the chimney breast. I'd say the alcoves are worse. I've addressed the flanking noise issue by insulating under the floor and above the ceiling up to a metre from the wall with rw3 Rockwool inbetween the joists. I had some lime rubber stuff to sit between the wood and wall or floor or wherever it's fixed to but I talked myself out of doing the work due to people saying if you dont create a room within a room it's pointless. So I didnt want to spend all that money and all that hard work to end up with no difference. So the nib and chimney breast would need doing. It was like opening a can of worms. I guess all I want to know is would it be worth doing when doing the extension and having building work done. Could it actually work?