Sound proofing party walls.

Hedge · 23 Sep 2015 at 13:32

Anyone got any experience of this?

We haven't lived here long and the couple next door are a lovely old couple who make no noise, however I do sometimes hear them plugging things into sockets etc and the occasion bark from their dog.

I was wondering that, since we are redecorating and plastering is it maybe worth cladding the walls in something so they don't hear my 5.1 sound system on occasion and we are covered against loud people moving there in the future.

Any recommendations appreciated. Thanks.

Mark M · 23 Sep 2015 at 13:41

Im not expert but with a 5.1 system it wont be the walls that you need to sound proof it will be the floor as the bass from the sub will travel further and louder than anything else. From my limited knowledge unless you build a room within a room then you are pretty much wasting your time.

oli collett · 23 Sep 2015 at 19:13

This site is a brilliant resource which should answer all of your questions:
http://www.soundproofingcompany.com/soundproofing101/

Mr.Stu · 23 Sep 2015 at 21:42

We sound proofed the alcoves next to the chimney breast before plastering. Basically a stud wall, with insulation and sound proof plasterboard.

Cost was minimal and is had made a difference.

Professional sound proofing company quoted £3k+

Hedge · 23 Sep 2015 at 21:56

Mr.Stu said:
We sound proofed the alcoves next to the chimney breast before plastering. Basically a stud wall, with insulation and sound proof plasterboard.

Cost was minimal and is had made a difference.

Professional sound proofing company quoted £3k+

This is pretty much what Im looking to do. Every room we have joining neighbours is an alcove either side of chimney breast.

BigBoy · 24 Sep 2015 at 00:14

Hedge said:
This is pretty much what Im looking to do. Every room we have joining neighbours is an alcove either side of chimney breast.

its not the alcoves you want to worry about, the actual Chimney will cause echo and make this sound a lot louder than they actually are.

v0n · 24 Sep 2015 at 01:27

Yup, after soundproofing entire party wall against my neighbours lifestyle with intricate design of foam isolated frame filled with insulation slabs covered with dual layer of soundproofing plaster board with special self adhesive membrane in-between, I discovered 90% of noise is chimney breast working between floors like an old gramophone tube.

If anything I hear them even more now, having cut environmental noise with my wall-on-the-wall, I can participate in all the family conversations (which are never quiet) my neighbours have upstairs via already soundproofed and isolated on my side chimney. It's not the fireplace, it's not the side wall of the chimney, the sound penetrates from under their 1930ies timber floor suspended on joist protruding onto brick work holding their chimney breast. It's like all the elements lined up into perfect design for just the right frequency range. The entire chimney channel on my side works like a submarine tube messaging system, like you had a metal pipe touching to the back of a cranked up TV set. It ends up on my side with their voices amplified in mid frequency range and slightly distorted. And there is simply no cure, I mean I could try filling entire chimney top to bottom with insulation slabs, but I doubt it would completely fix it. It's not what you do - it's what won't be done to the other side with acoustic insulation that's a problem.

boxman2000 · 24 Sep 2015 at 08:25

Behind our lounge is the neighbours stair case (or shouting match arena as we called it) and it got to the stage that we fitted a stud wall in our lounge which sorted the problem, although at the expense of a few inches of space in the room.

May be worth getting an acoustic specialist in

Yaayuh! · 24 Sep 2015 at 09:06

Mr.Stu said:
We sound proofed the alcoves next to the chimney breast before plastering. Basically a stud wall, with insulation and sound proof plasterboard.

Cost was minimal and is had made a difference.

Professional sound proofing company quoted £3k+

Basically this.

It sounds like you don't have a cavity between you and your neighbours. Create one best you can with stud walling and use soundproof boards. You will need to tackle the floor and ceiling also.
It can be a lot of work to do it properly, so just concentrate on doing the best you can for the money.

teaboy5 · 24 Sep 2015 at 23:12

v0n said:
Yup, after soundproofing entire party wall against my neighbours lifestyle with intricate design of foam isolated frame filled with insulation slabs covered with dual layer of soundproofing plaster board with special self adhesive membrane in-between, I discovered 90% of noise is chimney breast working between floors like an old gramophone tube.

If anything I hear them even more now, having cut environmental noise with my wall-on-the-wall, I can participate in all the family conversations (which are never quiet) my neighbours have upstairs via already soundproofed and isolated on my side chimney. It's not the fireplace, it's not the side wall of the chimney, the sound penetrates from under their 1930ies timber floor suspended on joist protruding onto brick work holding their chimney breast. It's like all the elements lined up into perfect design for just the right frequency range. The entire chimney channel on my side works like a submarine tube messaging system, like you had a metal pipe touching to the back of a cranked up TV set. It ends up on my side with their voices amplified in mid frequency range and slightly distorted. And there is simply no cure, I mean I could try filling entire chimney top to bottom with insulation slabs, but I doubt it would completely fix it. It's not what you do - it's what won't be done to the other side with acoustic insulation that's a problem.

Is their's back to back with yours?

I am have a chimney which would back onto my neighbours hall way, but I can never them? Not sure if they would then hear me?

Or is a case of the chimney's back onto each other?

a1ex2001 · 25 Sep 2015 at 11:24

teaboy5 said:
Is their's back to back with yours?

I am have a chimney which would back onto my neighbours hall way, but I can never them? Not sure if they would then hear me?

Or is a case of the chimney's back onto each other?

Most traditional Victorian terraces and a lot of semi's have entirely share chimney stacks here they are actually built as one makes them much more stable and reduces building costs! Makes it a real pain if one side want to take it down though or they need re-pointing!

teaboy5 · 25 Sep 2015 at 12:19

a1ex2001 said:
Most traditional Victorian terraces and a lot of semi's have entirely share chimney stacks here they are actually built as one makes them much more stable and reduces building costs! Makes it a real pain if one side want to take it down though or they need re-pointing!

Ahhh I see. Thank goodness I don't have that issue as it would drive me mad!