Hi, we've just got the keys for our first house and its a Victorian semi detached cottage.
There is a lot of work going on in the house and we currently have everything stripped back (door frames and doors off, skirting boards off, carpets up etc) and then house is being re plastered in a month or so once the electrician has been.
Being an older property we expected not to hear anything, but the brick party wall seems to be letting a load of sound through. This isn't thudding or slamming, but more clear voices and the child crying etc. The house is empty so it will be worse right now, but we can hear laughing and understand their conversations at the moment.
Now seems like the time to do some sound proofing / insulation whilst everything is being taken up and stripped back.
I roughly know my plans for the flooring and that is as follows:
I've read a ton and watched a lot of videos about sound proofing walls but need to come up with a definite plan of action and want to get some opinions about my current plan.
For reference, I have 5" downstairs (dining room and frontroom) and 3" in the rooms upstairs to play with as thats where the door frames start.
I understand that the ideal scenario is to decouple the wall so on all walls I would do the following but slightly thinner upstairs.
The above is the most basic version, now I have a couple of questions
Thanks!
There is a lot of work going on in the house and we currently have everything stripped back (door frames and doors off, skirting boards off, carpets up etc) and then house is being re plastered in a month or so once the electrician has been.
Being an older property we expected not to hear anything, but the brick party wall seems to be letting a load of sound through. This isn't thudding or slamming, but more clear voices and the child crying etc. The house is empty so it will be worse right now, but we can hear laughing and understand their conversations at the moment.
Now seems like the time to do some sound proofing / insulation whilst everything is being taken up and stripped back.
I roughly know my plans for the flooring and that is as follows:
- Lift floorboards and add Rockwool butted up to the party wall.
- Fill in gaps between boards and walls with acoustic tape / sealant.
- Repoint / fill any gaps in the bricks with mortar
I've read a ton and watched a lot of videos about sound proofing walls but need to come up with a definite plan of action and want to get some opinions about my current plan.
For reference, I have 5" downstairs (dining room and frontroom) and 3" in the rooms upstairs to play with as thats where the door frames start.
I understand that the ideal scenario is to decouple the wall so on all walls I would do the following but slightly thinner upstairs.
- Create a stud wall decoupled from the brick party wall, this would be fixed into the floor and ceiling joists with a slight air gap around the edges and the wall itself.
- Fill the gaps in the stud wall with 50mm Rockwool
- Use two layers of staggered plasterboard over stud wall
- Fill gaps around edges with acoustic sealant.
The above is the most basic version, now I have a couple of questions
- I've seen 'ISOMAX' clips / hat channeling https://flooringwarehousedirect.co.uk/product/isomax-clip/ would it be worth using this even when building a decoupled wall.
- If I was to use the hat channelling, could I directly add it to the brick and avoid the stud wall?
- How do I keep the Rockwool secure if there is a gap at the back of the wall?
Thanks!
