Help!
Picture this : 1910 semi, party wall merely a single skin of brick and plaster, empty external cavity walls, and shared floor joists which run across the two dwellings. Bedrooms and sitting rooms meet at the party wall.
Couple it with very loud dogs and a TV next door and you can probably understand my frustration. However, I have just moved in and so cannot sell for quite some time. I also prefer not to shoot the dogs, shoot the owners, or shoot myself.
So, I'm really hoping there is a positive soundproofing solution to all of this. It may take time and money, but I am prepared for that.
Challenge #1: Party wall. As I said, this is a single skin of brick directly plastered (no lath). There are also door architraves meeting the party wall upstairs, giving about 50mm (possibly 55mm) to play with. Downstairs I have some beautiful cornicing which I desperately want to keep, giving me roughly the same 50mm approx to play with. In all other rooms I have lots of space to burn. What would be the best solutions?
Challenge #2: Shared floor joists through party wall. Even in the back rooms I can feel/hear next door walking around. The floor actually bounces in my property. I also expect this is a prime cause of flanking noise. Can these joists be cut and supported another way? Or is there some way of deadening sound travel?
Challenge #3: Cavity walls : a huge source of flanking. With an earplug in one ear and the other to the external wall, I reckon I could hear my neighbours dog fart. Would standard cavity insulation help? Or would it need to be some acoustic insulation to fill the gap?
Yours, desperately,
D
Picture this : 1910 semi, party wall merely a single skin of brick and plaster, empty external cavity walls, and shared floor joists which run across the two dwellings. Bedrooms and sitting rooms meet at the party wall.
Couple it with very loud dogs and a TV next door and you can probably understand my frustration. However, I have just moved in and so cannot sell for quite some time. I also prefer not to shoot the dogs, shoot the owners, or shoot myself.
So, I'm really hoping there is a positive soundproofing solution to all of this. It may take time and money, but I am prepared for that.
Challenge #1: Party wall. As I said, this is a single skin of brick directly plastered (no lath). There are also door architraves meeting the party wall upstairs, giving about 50mm (possibly 55mm) to play with. Downstairs I have some beautiful cornicing which I desperately want to keep, giving me roughly the same 50mm approx to play with. In all other rooms I have lots of space to burn. What would be the best solutions?
Challenge #2: Shared floor joists through party wall. Even in the back rooms I can feel/hear next door walking around. The floor actually bounces in my property. I also expect this is a prime cause of flanking noise. Can these joists be cut and supported another way? Or is there some way of deadening sound travel?
Challenge #3: Cavity walls : a huge source of flanking. With an earplug in one ear and the other to the external wall, I reckon I could hear my neighbours dog fart. Would standard cavity insulation help? Or would it need to be some acoustic insulation to fill the gap?
Yours, desperately,
D