soundproofing walls in a semi

romperstomper · 20 Aug 2008 at 02:10

I live in a semi and go to bed very late ,4-5 am but believe that I must disturb my neighbours with tv ,gaming ect. (not that loud )

Now my neighbours love to wake me up at about 9am with lots of music bass for an hour or so .We don't get on so talking is not an option.

Anyway to the point ,I want to try and soundproof my bedroom adjoining wall without losing to much bedroom size ,just wondered if anyone has tried this or has some suggestions regarding the paper thin walls upstairs .

I found this link

http://www.noisestopsystems.co.uk/soundproofing_walls/index.asp

Megahurtz400 · 20 Aug 2008 at 02:18

Stick a few layers of carpet on the walls?

MikeHunt79 · 20 Aug 2008 at 02:27

"Bass music"?

You'll have a hard job stoping bass below 80Hz... It goes thru walls and doors very easily.

I suggest a concrete bunker.

Stopping sounds above 100Hz is pretty trivial tho...

Jiffy · 20 Aug 2008 at 02:57

Sounds is like water. Any gaps water can get through, sound can get through. I'm going to try and use some expanding foam (not too much though!) to help soundproof my room.

romperstomper · 20 Aug 2008 at 03:02

MikeHunt79 said:
"Bass music"?

You'll have a hard job stoping bass below 80Hz... It goes thru walls and doors very easily. ...

I did wonder that but it has to reduce it though .

MikeHunt79 said:
"
Stopping sounds above 100Hz is pretty trivial tho...

any suggestions ?

I was thinking of building a wooden frame then using loft insulation and plasterboard .

MikeHunt79 · 20 Aug 2008 at 03:18

romperstomper said:
any suggestions ?

I was thinking of building a wooden frame then using loft insulation and plasterboard .

Yep that would certainly help. The thicker the insulation the better. 1ft thick insulation may be needed. Even then you still may get some bass but it depends on how loud thier soundsystem is. Concrete or breezeblocks are a better option, it depends on how far you want to go really.

Soft things like curtains and carpets absorb sound, which is why normal rooms have much less reverb than a tiled bathroom for example...

I can actually go outside my (detached) house, shut all the doors and windows, and still hear bass if it's turned up. This is with double glazing and good loft insulation. My sub hits 130db tho, I doubt your neighbours would use something this loud in a non-detached house (I'd hope!). If they did, I'm sure other neighbours would hear it also! :eek:

CaptainComedy · 20 Aug 2008 at 03:25

egg cartons are fine also, its not just the thickness of your insulation, its also the shape which will alter and bounce the waves, egg cartons bend the wave making it easier to stop as the sound bends to contorte to the shape of the egg carton and then bounces back, but the sounds too powerful will still go through, there is no 100% proof official sound insulation so yeah - best get a sellar or something similar.

romperstomper · 20 Aug 2008 at 03:45

MikeHunt79 said:
Soft things like curtains and carpets absorb sound, which is why normal rooms have much less reverb than a tiled bathroom for example...

I have a tiled shower cubicle on one part of the wall added to that no furniture just a king size water bed so its a bit of an echo chamber .

romperstomper · 20 Aug 2008 at 03:49

codec said:
egg cartons are fine also, its not just the thickness of your insulation, its also the shape which will alter and bounce the waves, egg cartons bend the wave making it easier to stop as the sound bends to contorte to the shape of the egg carton and then bounces back, but the sounds too powerful will still go through, there is no 100% proof official sound insulation so yeah - best get a sellar or something similar.

Yeah have heard about egg cartoons ,did not know why they worked though ,interesting .

thanks for the suggestions so far

Energize · 20 Aug 2008 at 04:13

Remember that sound needs a material to travel through, if you can create a vaccum space you can stop pretty much any sound getting through.