Soundroofing - Clear advice

[Lasthope]

Put this as a comment on an old thread (not too sure what i'm doing here...) but no response, so can anyone help me?

Hey, having pretty much the same issue as most with party wall and after spending too much time reading am getting way confused... too many options for a novice like me to try get my head around... help!! (please...)

Just moved into a 1936 semi (hoping 3rd time lucky after 2 previous neighbour issues) with cellar and loft, brick party wall, floorboards both ground and upper level. All rooms have, or have had, a fireplace.

Have had (and paid for) a survey of the problem, which has raised issues with bad plaster and dodgy DIY by the 'handy' previous owner in the alcoves either side of the fireplaces. All joining rooms have terrible sound proofing... tv, baby (not even just when crying, how adorable) and normal conversations are all heard very clearly (worse than my previous Barratt new-build, which I think was made of sugar paper...) however the main concern is the living room and bedroom.

So..... my main question is to find out what the best solution would be and how easy it is to do yourself (and still look good!).... I am also open to paying someone to come and install, but there doesn't seem to be many around offering this (in Glasgow).

Green glue seems to get mentioned a whole lot, and I have heard of soundblok and rockwool, but think I have read too much.

Any straightforward help would be much appreciated!

[Badger0-0]

Pretty standard trick is 2" battons and plasterboard, the gap being filled with rockwool.
That'll be good for a start
But floorboards are a problem apparently, in that they can cause an out of phase resonance.
It was suggested to me that you stick an acro directly under the sub to stop the resonance.
Don't know if that helps, there is no definitive answer as far as I know.

[Lasthope]

Thanks for that, there seems to be so many options available.

From everything I have read I am proposing to use a couple of layers of soundbloc with green glue and some rockwool. What is the deal on the framework though, wood or metal?

My main concern is that I go to all the effort and disruption to find what I have done is not the best way to go, or looks bad. Does anyone know of a proffessional I could get in for a quote, roundabout Glasgow?

ta.

[Badger0-0]

Either can be used, I'd have thought, but possibly wood may damp sound a little more.

Re the pro:
Not really, but you are looking for a dryliner. That's what they call it, drylining.

[Londondecca]

I bolted some studs to the party wall and added some perpendicular strips to which were added two layers of 12.5mm plasterboard with Green Glue in between. Although this has worked very well, my main limitation was loss of space. If you could afford to lose about 3" I would build a new stud wall infront of the wall.

I chose normal plasterboard after reviewing some research which showed only a small improvement by using fancy plasterboard, compared to the price difference.

I also used normal loft insulation as again the research indicated there was not a huge difference in performance.

I would highly recommend looking at the Green Glue site for ideas and suggestions on sound proofing http://www.greengluecompany.com/index.php

how is your room since you used green glue and how noisy were your neighbours befor you soundproofed

[Londondecca]

Cannot hear them anymore aside from when they play very loud music but even then it is very muffled and I cannot tell what track is being played. Previously I could hear what TV or radio programme they were listening to.

[Ted White]

Glad that worked our OK for you. Nice to hear results after having lived with the Green for some time.

[Mike A]

A few years ago I put up stud walls in the alcoves in our lounge.

100 mm gap then 75mm battens and 12mm plasterboard filled with rocslabs. Made quite an improvement but we can still occasionaly hear the forkers

Anyway, you mention a cellar and if it's anything like the space we have under our 1890's gaff, I'd also try and deaden the party wall in there. There are various (ventilation??) holes here and there and I think the sound is traveling through. Blocking up the chimney brest would probably help but I'm not sure if that's such a good idea?

When I redecorated the upstairs bedroom a couple of years later I lifted the floorboards and fitted slabs between the joists as well. Dunno if it actually made any difference but it kept me amused for a weekend.

I'd also go with the slabs over the loft roll as it's much easier to put up. Cutting open the bags and watching it suddenly expand out is also fun!

[Pecker]

Gaps - the more the better.

On top of the party wall put up a stud & plasterboard wall, leaving a gap. Repeat as many times as space allows.

Each new wall/gap reduces sound, far more than if you stuck all the walls together.

Finally, which way do the floorboard joists run? If you can replace them so they don't run into the part wall this will help, particularly with deep bass (though I'm not sure this is an issue for you). It means that all the bass sound in the air in your room which vibrates your floors will be transfered into your front and back walls, rather than the party wall.

Steve W

[Gary Lightfoot]

The bigger the air gaps the better. Look at the wall constructions shown in the following link to see which ones give the higher STC ratings:

http://www.stcratings.com/assemblies.html

Example 6 shows that two walls with plasterboard and a small air gap is worse than the same assembly without the internal plasterboard fitted.

Gary

[Ted White]

A single large air cavity is better by far than several smaller ones. See here: http://www.greengluecompany.com/unde...TripleLeaf.php

Small air cavities will resonate at higher frequencies. Higher frequencies are more common = more opportunities to resonate.

Ted

[Gary Lightfoot]

Great link Ted - better example than mine. I'll book mark it .

Gary

[Ted White]

Hey, we're saying the same thing, so that's great. It's also great that this information is making it out of the shadows. It's a very misunderstood phenomenon.

[Gary Lightfoot]

Indeed it is, and it seems to be a lot more complex than it would first appear at times. Fascinating subject though.

You're a regular over on avs aren't you Ted?

Gary