Sound proofing a connecting wall

[stonneway]

I have just moved in to an ex council terraced house. Its from the 40's or so, and the walls etc are very well built internally. I have a problem in that I can hear everything that is going on next door very clearly. An old couple live there, and they are a bit deaf, so their TV is louder than it should be, and their son lives with them and seems to watch tv in his room (next to mine) till the small hours.

The fact that sound travels through the joining wall strikes me as odd as, internally, the house is very quiet, I cant even hear someone talking at normal volume in the next room.

My question then is this; Is it possible to sound proof a wall easily, at least without the other party being involved or being aware of any major work ? Is there anything i can cover the wall with that might dampen the sound, or otherwise limit what i hear from next door ?

Olly

 

[eric_cartman]

Your problem sounds exactly like mine and you have my sympathy!

I moved into a solid 1930's semi last June with an old couple and their son living next door. The old couple are a bit deaf and we can clearly hear radio 4 news at 9 every night! Their sons bedroom backs on to ours and he works shifts, 4 o'clock in the morning I am awoken to radio 4 yet again! I have resorted to earplugs.

OK, so some of you will say "Go round and have a word", well, yes, we could but once you have crossed that bridge there is no going back. Also when selling you will be legally obliged to relay any problems with the neighbours with relation to noise.

I researched sound proofing until the cows came home but we (and them) have open fires and this seems to be the main problem. We knocked through the downstairs rooms before we were aware of the problem so there is no escaping it. We did put sound bloc plasterboard in the alcoves either side of the two fireplaces but it doesnt seem to have done much. Most advice will centre around building a new partition wall with an airspace infront of the offending party wall, stuffed with rockwall and a couple of layers of plasterboard on top with all gaps sealed with mastic but we did not want to lose space and seeing as we spent 4K having hole-in-the-wall fires put in we are not about to rip them out again.

It has also put us at unease now as well because if we can hear them they must be able to hear us (although the sound bloc plasterboard is probably helping them more than us) so we constantly frig about with the remote when the volume of the TV darts up and down when the adverts come on etc..

Some people obviously do not find this kind of thing irritating but I do. We are carrying on with our renovations with an aim to moving into a detached property early next year. It might sound extreme but I think you will find it is the cheapest and most complete solution.

 

[stonneway]

i understand what you mean. I moved from the city because of the noise, and have lived in two houses since. Each time i moved next to the noisey couple. My last house had a nice couple (no kids); turns out that the husband was a part time DJ and had made the spare room (the one next to ours) in to a "practice room" !!! Even worse, his taste in music was awful (we are talking 'Cheeky Girls' etc).

So, if i put up batons, with some form of sound insulation between them, plasterboard over the top with new plaster...that should add some level of protection?

Olly

 

[eric_cartman]

Well thats the theory, a stud wall not fixed in any way to the party wall with an airspace, then packed with rockwall or similar then finished with two layers of plasterboard and then plaster!

Problem is that until you do all this you will not know if it has been a success or not! It all comes down to suck it and see.

Are you prepared for the cost, time and loss of floorspace only to find it has not worked? I wasn't. The real area to tackle will be the neighbours side of the party wall as it is much easier to stop sound escaping. All your work may leave the neighbours very happy as they wont hear a sound from you but you may notice no change!

The sound could be coming through holes in the pointing on the party wall, under the floor or through the loft space, it is just so difficult to fully rule out. Thats why we will be moving, I just cant be bothered with trying it all only to find it hasn't worked.

Most worrying is the future, this couple are old and when they pop off what if a family of five with noisy kids move in! It's just not worth thinking about. We are off next year, we may take a small loss on the property after all the work we have done over the last year but it is a small price to pay to be happy in your own home.