Hi

We have recently moved into a terrace. Our neighbours seem to be considerate, but we do still hear talking and music (even though they do not have music on at an unreasonable level). This is just down to thin patry walls.

I have therefore been looking into soundproofing and have found advice on this forum.

I have so far seen two options - but I wonder which people on hear would think is best through experience.

The cost is effectively the same - I just want to know what would be best to block out - or at least reduce the level of noise that travels through the walls.

Option 1 - Soundblock panels from Soundstop.co.uk. Self installation.

Option 2 - Greenglue - the guys that sell this have been helpful and said they will make up panels using two bits of drywall with greenglue in between. They will even install it!

I am happy with both options, but like I said need some advice as to which to go for from people who have done soundproofing themselves. Or alternatively I would welcome other suggestions.

Many thanks

Depends how far you want to take things and what your budget is.

Normal fibreglass insulation is very effective and inexpensive - the only drawback is that it's not very nice to put in. Gloves and mask are a must.

[XANTECH]

Hi,
with a party wall if I were you and if the room is capable of it, look at putting up a stud wall and 4 x 2 studwork and inbetween the uprights use rockwool or as stated fiberglass, did a job for a customer not long ago and reduced noise ingress almost entirely, unless the neighbour was playing their system very loud.
Regards

Originally Posted by XANTECH

Hi,
with a party wall if I were you and if the room is capable of it, look at putting up a stud wall and 4 x 2 studwork and inbetween the uprights use rockwool or as stated fiberglass, did a job for a customer not long ago and reduced noise ingress almost entirely, unless the neighbour was playing their system very loud.
Regards

Can you tell me how much you charged for this? I would have this done if someone would do it for us and not rip us off (I know someone who had "soundproofing" done recently, it made no difference and it wasn't cheap!). I'm in Yorkshire

[lnewey6]

right i have done soundproofing my self and i can say it does work but it depends on what you are trying to stop. I did a 3*2 stud wall with rockwool and 2 layers of plasterboard and it stopped everything apart from the bass sounds. plus it all depends on how noisy your neighbours are, i remeber reading a article once about a bloke who tested hifi for a living and he lived in the old flats in london. and this one day he was testing this new subwoofer and he had a knock on the door and this person was reading him the riot act and to his suprise it turns out it was this kid with his cheap bass box i decided in the end to add extra layers with green glue havent heard my neighbours for months

[XANTECH]

It really is impossible to say how much it would cost, as a rough guide we charge £300.00 a day for a 2 man team, materials on top, this may sound expensive but we travel all over the country and travel and accommodation have to be covered. If you can give me an idea of the size of room you are looking at it would be helpful.
If you want you can send me a pm on the forum and we can discuss further.
Thanks

[Mivan]

To properly soundproof a wall you need some sort of isolation technique....

Noise vibration travels through structures and one of the best ways for stopping it is to have rubber mountings.

A floating wall will work better than a wall fixed directly to anything (especially the existing wall!!!)

Very dense rockwall and 2 layers of plaserboard is minimum. Its amazing how many builders get soundproofing very wrong and end up wasting money.

There are a few systems around that use rubber mounting and indirect fixings. But your looking at around £90 for a squ mtr of installed soundproofing which puts a few people off.

Originally Posted by Mivan

To properly soundproof a wall you need some sort of isolation technique....

Noise vibration travels through structures and one of the best ways for stopping it is to have rubber mountings.

A floating wall will work better than a wall fixed directly to anything (especially the existing wall!!!)

Very dense rockwall and 2 layers of plaserboard is minimum. Its amazing how many builders get soundproofing very wrong and end up wasting money.

There are a few systems around that use rubber mounting and indirect fixings. But your looking at around £90 for a squ mtr of installed soundproofing which puts a few people off.

Thanks for your advice. Is a studwall the same as a floating wall? If not, how do you make a floating wall?

[mattym]

a floating wall is a stud thats built onto rubber channel or strips as far as i know. You should be at least building a stud infront of your party wall if your going to use soundblock or green anyway, seal properly and it should be fine

[Mivan]

The whole idea of a floating soundproof wall (and its the most important bit!) is that is does not come in contact with anything.... Foam tape round the edges of the plasterboard/soundblock to stop it touching walls/floor/ceiling... and fixing the studding with rubber mounts and that fix to the wall but dont have a direct noise path.

I think the mounts are around £3 each and you'd probably get away with using 3 or 4 a stud.

PM me with some measurements and i'll try to show u how many you'd need and how to get them if your interested.

Rockwall needs to be are 60kg/m3 i think... wickes used to sell something similar. It's basically a very dense block of rockwall instead of the usual loft insulation...

HTH

[mattym]

what kind of rw will this get you?

[Mivan]

Well RW all depends on the initial construction plus the soundproofing. RW is the value of the final construction. Individual construction components dont come with a RW value.

If you have a standard brick wall (200mm) using this method would give around RW 60 but it all depends heavily on the initial construction and how the soundproofing is installed.

For those that dont know a Standard Brick Wall (200mm thick) with plaster is around RW 38-40

[JohnG]

Can floors be soundproofed as well ? I live in a detatched bungalow but can still hear the bass from a house 4 houses away from me even when I've got all my windows shut.
My flooring is the square chipboard type and there's a 2 to 3 foot gap underneath which runs the length of the house. Can soundproofing be done underneath the chipboard as I'm wondering if the space underneath is acting like an amplifier for the noise from outside ?
I suspect that my walls haven't been properly soundproofed as well but don't know how to go about testing that.
Sorry if I've hijacked someone elses thread but there seems to be some good knowledge here

[Mivan]

Yes, it is possible to blow a fibre into the void to dampen the drumming effect.

Another alternative is to fill the space with rockwall, but it would mean having to take up all the floor instead of just a bit of it.

[mattym]

Originally Posted by JohnG

Can floors be soundproofed as well ? I live in a detatched bungalow but can still hear the bass from a house 4 houses away from me even when I've got all my windows shut.
My flooring is the square chipboard type and there's a 2 to 3 foot gap underneath which runs the length of the house. Can soundproofing be done underneath the chipboard as I'm wondering if the space underneath is acting like an amplifier for the noise from outside ?
I suspect that my walls haven't been properly soundproofed as well but don't know how to go about testing that.
Sorry if I've hijacked someone elses thread but there seems to be some good knowledge here

could it be coming in through the roof? bungalows do tend to suffer from noise in through the roof.

We recommend Reduc flooring if you want to soundproof a floor, does a very good job and isnt that thick, another product is acoustilay, which is a layer you can put under stuff, or you can DIY a floor with green glue, felt and other such stuff

[JohnG]

I'd never considered it coming in through the roof, thanks for that. What would you suggest for the roof ?

[JohnG]

So can a soundproofing expert tell where the noise is coming in (or getting out) or is it a case of trial and error on site ?

[albriscoe]

Hi everyone

This is aimed at HanzyR and JohnG but is for anyone else as well

sorry for butting in, to sound proof any room wall there are products available from any good builders merchants. There are sound proof plaster boards specifically designed to do what you want and come up to present day building standards regulations as well as sound proof insulation material similar to rockwool. I did my cinema room out with it during contruction just to be sure.

Not another new cinema room ???

Two yorkshire companies I have used are sheffield Insulations and Minster Insulations who are in Bradford. They deliver free as well.

As to the floor insulation problem you could try the sound proof insulation fixed up tight to the underside of the chipboard but don`t squash it as that will ruin what its supposed to do, or you could try 100mm kingspan sheet cut tight to fit between the joists and pushed hard up against the floor and fixed with battens either side to hold it up. This method will also reduce your heating bills as well. I have done this to every suspended floor in my new build house and the results are fantastic.

If you need any more info please ask and I`ll do my best to help and HanzY I`m in Yorkshire as well

Anyway thats my input folks hope it helps

cheers Allan

[mattym]

Originally Posted by JohnG

So can a soundproofing expert tell where the noise is coming in (or getting out) or is it a case of trial and error on site ?

sound is like water, so any holes and it will find its way in, minimising the amount of ways in is the key.

There are a lot of materials that can be used, getting good advice and information on them isnt so easy, i do try and give as good info as i can

[JohnG]

Thinking about noise coming in through the ceiling..
Does anyone know if it's better to increase the thickness of the existing insulation in the loft (at the moment it's up to the same height as the top of the rafters) or is it best to install some kind of wooden flooring up there ?

[albriscoe]

Hi John

Having a wooden floor will definatley help with sound proofing and it will also give you somewhere to store all the stuff we all collect over the years, but you will have to make sure that you do the complete loft area or you are defeating the object. If you don`t want storage I suggest you do all the loft area with proper sound proof insulation which isn`t expensive 200 mm over the existing to do any good at all. Anything else I think would be a waste of time and money IMO.

Also john if you only have 4" x 2" ceiling joists which are the norm, you definatley do not have enough insulation up there if it only comes to the top of them, you need at least 200mm so you might be eligible for a government grant towards the cost. Something to ponder over mate!!

Cheers Allan


Not another new cinema room ???

[JohnG]

Cheers, I see if there are any grants available

Dear All,

I wondered if anyone could lend some much needed advice! I've been living in a small terrace property for just over a year now. The property was once one house and divided into three terraces some time ago. Since we have moved in we are experiencing a lot of "normal day-to-day living noises" from our neighbours. They are not over-noisey in terms of throwing wild parties and screaming and shouting but we can just hear lots of talking (muffled), light switches going on and off, thudding up the stairs etc which as is disturbing especially at night when trying to sleep. We therefore went ahead about a month ago and got the whole party-wall looked at. They discovered we had holes at the side of the RSJ and a few inches gap where the wall and ceiling meet! These were filled with foam. The stair cavities were also drilled and then filled with foam. Soundblock (15mm) was then applied to the whole of the party wall using the "dot and dab" technique with two layers of plaster over the top. The floor is complete concrete and the loft space is properly insulated etc.

However, after living in it since, this whole process hasn't made a slight bit of difference and everyone is baffled as to why! We thought of filling behind the soundblok plasterboard with more foam as we thought the space behind the soundblok may now be acting as some kind of speaker effect on the sound coming through the wall. We are unsure of this as we think this may cause the plaster to blow!

Please help! Any ideas?

Thank you.

Laura

[Mivan]

The reason why you can still hear noise coming through is due to the fact sound travels through the wall as vibrations. It will simply move through the separate layers because they are still "connected" to one another. One of the more popular ways of helping with this is create a "floating" wall. Acoustically not connected to any surface.

Frames and acoustic rubber mounts are one method, which means once its drywalled its a completely separate wall from the existing wall. The void can then be filled with rockwall or a blow in fibre.

There are other reasons why your hearing noises, this is once again due to noise vibrations... but this time its because of vibrations travelling through the structure of the building, this is called flanking noise. Also noise coming in and out of windows, again flanking noise.

This is why soundproof rooms are so expensive !

HTH

[gullfo]

i think mivan has stated it correctly - you have transfer via the structure, any connected walls, windows, shared ventilation, pipes, conduits, etc. which could telegraph past, or flank, any amount of isolation you build. for example, your wall might be assembled to STC 63 but if the floor is connected between the rooms, shared ducts, pipes, etc. you could easily lose half of that.

the switch flipping sound is likely due to something in the structure transferring the sound directly between living spaces - given it was once a single home, this is very likely, as well as shared facilities pipes ducts etc.

retrofitting the home into fully noise-contained units would be very expensive as its likely to involve a lot of work to cut away structural bits and replace them with other structural bits to support things without being connected. huge job - which is likely why the builder didn't do it in the first place...

[Mivan]

I'd also be interested to know what the foam was that they filled the gaps with. I have visions of the builder simply filling with expanding foam!?!?!?

I would of expected something like very dense rockwall or actually filling the gaps with brick/block to match the rest of the wall.