I couldnt handle listening to the neighbours anymore so decided to build a stud wall infront of excisting party wall... I did this by leaving a 1" gap and building a 4 x 2 stud wall, packed with 100m rockwool and 2 layers of soundbloc plasterboard... only problem i had was the top piece of wood, wasnt attached to the ceiling securely as was only plaster boards ceiling above however when i put the rest of the stud work up this solved this problem!! The wall worked a treat until plaster man came round and said before he can plaster the screws had to be counter sunk. there were mostly apart from at one end of the wall.. I tried un-screwing and re-screwing with no luck so decided just to hit the screws with a hammer to push them in further. this was a day before the plasterer came over and on the night i started to hear the neighbours again (tv mostly) plasterer came and plastered wall but now i can hear them just the same as before and i feel like crying!! surely i couldn't have done much damage with the hammer (5 hits) I am thinking i have pushed the stud wall back into touching the party wall. Only one thing i have done aswell on the same day was take the rest of the coving down which revealed a hole in which the radiator pipes come through, that is the only other option i can think off, so need to fill the hole in and re-cove to see if that will make a difference. going to do my bedroom the same which is above the living room and lift up floorboards to see if I can do anything with the joists under the floorboards. I am totally devastated that it has got back to square one! has anyone got any ideas what i can do? I cant afford to build another wall. Maybe just have too live with it...
Soundproofing nightmare
- Thread starter parnaby
- Start date
you are assuming what you have done had reduced the noise ??
it could be possible they have been quiet ??
if you have framework screwed to the walls without a barrier the sound will transfer regardless off insulation
it could be possible they have been quiet ??
if you have framework screwed to the walls without a barrier the sound will transfer regardless off insulation
It's probably the hole. Get it filled and re-cove and that will hopefully do the job -you'd be surprised just how much sound travels through the ceiling void. It could be worthwhile stuffing some insulation between the joists, just along the party wall, providing it doesn't restrict any airflow.
Other than that there are a couple of questions:
Are you friendly with your neighbours? If not, are they likely to have found out that you have built this wall and just turned up the volume of their TV?
If you do get on with them, couldn't you just ask them to turn it down a bit?
It sounds unlikely that a bit of hammering would have knocked the wall back, but even if it did, the sound should still be deadened to some extent.
The only other thing I can think of is where the plaster has joined the adjacent walls, it is transferring the sound to the face of the new one.
Other than that there are a couple of questions:
Are you friendly with your neighbours? If not, are they likely to have found out that you have built this wall and just turned up the volume of their TV?
If you do get on with them, couldn't you just ask them to turn it down a bit?
It sounds unlikely that a bit of hammering would have knocked the wall back, but even if it did, the sound should still be deadened to some extent.
The only other thing I can think of is where the plaster has joined the adjacent walls, it is transferring the sound to the face of the new one.
They couldn't hear their TV with all the hammering going on so they had to turn it up.
Yep, The hole.
To soundproof a stud wall, like the one you are describing, it has to be airtight. Sound can find its way through even the smallest gap. The soundproofing people recommend that the plasterboard is offered up to the adjacent wall leaving a 5mm gap, this gap is then filled with “acoustic mastic” to ensure a good seal. Everbuild firemate is one of the products that I can think of just now that has acoustic dampening properties. You should consider its use (or suitable alternative) to fill the pipework holes. Some intumescent sealants will claim acoustic properties, just ask at a builders merchant.
The wall moved as you were hammering it?
Shouldn’t it have been fixed to adjacent walls?
I would normally say go for a “high density” insulating material (wickes 161189 or similar) for insulating but have read on the forum that a cheaper alternative is to compact normal loft insulation into a smaller space. The smaller space being approx. half the thickness of the insulation. (ie 100mm insulation packed into 50mm gap) Don’t yet know which gives the better results. Haven’t tried it under my floorboards, just too big a hassle to get them lifted so can’t comment on method/results. Used the HD stuff in a stud wall, but room not in use yet so don’t know how effective it’s going to be. (photos of it in album) Again, the soundproofing people recommend that, if you can, acoustic mineral wool is packed into the voids of the floor and ceiling, keeping in mind the previous posters comments on airflow.
Bit unsure about your difficulty in not getting the screws to disappear into the board, normally you need to be careful that you don’t screw them in too far. Screw fixing plasterboard, perhaps consider an adhesive solution for the second layer (and the first one for that matter). Take a look at the everbuild site, looking for the video presentation for pinkgrip dryfix. There are other manufacturers out there who do a similar product, “soudal” (fix 'n' foam ?) springs to mind. Only thing here is the price of a gun vs how often you will use it.
For information on soundproofing including different methods for walls visit :-
http://www.soundstop.co.uk
Oh, and welcome to the forum.
To soundproof a stud wall, like the one you are describing, it has to be airtight. Sound can find its way through even the smallest gap. The soundproofing people recommend that the plasterboard is offered up to the adjacent wall leaving a 5mm gap, this gap is then filled with “acoustic mastic” to ensure a good seal. Everbuild firemate is one of the products that I can think of just now that has acoustic dampening properties. You should consider its use (or suitable alternative) to fill the pipework holes. Some intumescent sealants will claim acoustic properties, just ask at a builders merchant.
The wall moved as you were hammering it?
Shouldn’t it have been fixed to adjacent walls?
I would normally say go for a “high density” insulating material (wickes 161189 or similar) for insulating but have read on the forum that a cheaper alternative is to compact normal loft insulation into a smaller space. The smaller space being approx. half the thickness of the insulation. (ie 100mm insulation packed into 50mm gap) Don’t yet know which gives the better results. Haven’t tried it under my floorboards, just too big a hassle to get them lifted so can’t comment on method/results. Used the HD stuff in a stud wall, but room not in use yet so don’t know how effective it’s going to be. (photos of it in album) Again, the soundproofing people recommend that, if you can, acoustic mineral wool is packed into the voids of the floor and ceiling, keeping in mind the previous posters comments on airflow.
Bit unsure about your difficulty in not getting the screws to disappear into the board, normally you need to be careful that you don’t screw them in too far. Screw fixing plasterboard, perhaps consider an adhesive solution for the second layer (and the first one for that matter). Take a look at the everbuild site, looking for the video presentation for pinkgrip dryfix. There are other manufacturers out there who do a similar product, “soudal” (fix 'n' foam ?) springs to mind. Only thing here is the price of a gun vs how often you will use it.
For information on soundproofing including different methods for walls visit :-
http://www.soundstop.co.uk
Oh, and welcome to the forum.
Its not like the neighbours are loud, it is just general noise! they wouldnt know about the wall as very rarely speak too them (as never see them ) just hear them ha...
I will try and do the hole, however the pipes are the radiator pipes and will get hot! is there anything that i can fill the hole with which is heat resistant? would like to fill in the void then put coving back up. When i have put a metre leveler on the wall, there is a slight gap of about 3mm so thats why i am thinking the frame has moved back....
I will try and do the hole, however the pipes are the radiator pipes and will get hot! is there anything that i can fill the hole with which is heat resistant? would like to fill in the void then put coving back up. When i have put a metre leveler on the wall, there is a slight gap of about 3mm so thats why i am thinking the frame has moved back....
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