1970s semis - What Is Sound Proofing Like?

Lumox75

Out of interest, how would people rate different properties in terms of quality of soundproofing?

kittykatkat

1920s semi - good sound proofing, only occasional loud bumps could be heard such as DIY.

1960s purpose built flat - fairly good sound proofing, particularly with next door neighbours, but probably more noticeable than 1920s semi.

jimbog

I grew up in a Victorian terrace and heard nothing from next door. Then I moved into a Victorian terrace in the midlands and was shocked by how 'thin' the walls were, you can hear people cough and talk- but the strange thing was they were of the same thickness!

An architectural friend of mine said it was due to the 'frog' in the brick (the hollowed out part of the brick) - to save cement and sand some builders lay the bricks of the party walls without filling the 'frog' with mortar - hence more voids that amounts to a less dense wall

Apparently!

sirmosh

Although you can say some periods had more sound-proofed walls than others it varies hugely between properties even of similar styles, arrange a viewing in the evening when the neighbors are likely to be in and see what you can hear.

Ivana_Tinkle

knightstyle wrote: »

At least with a semi you only have one side to worry about. Some neighbors a while ago soundproofed their house by sticking plasterboard with a soundproof layer stuck on the back, they simply put dabs of glue on the wall and stuck the sheets to it. Then they had it plastered. No idea of cost but they did it all themselves except the plastering.

We used the same method in the living room of our 1960s terrace with paper-thin walls and it worked amazingly well. Upstairs, you can still hear every sneeze and laugh from next door, then you go downstairs to (more or less) silence!

The only problems with doing it yourself are that the boards are unbelievably heavy and it's expensive. I think it cost around £500 to do a wall about 5.5m long by just under 3m high. I'm not sure it would be enough to drown out really loud noises like pounding music or DIY (we do sometimes still hear the kids screaming if they're being really loud), but it's certainly enough for day-to-day noise.

kkgree1

Our house is semi-detached and was built in 1975. We can hear very little noise through the party wall. The only exception is the wardrobe doors slamming and if they clear out the grate to their open fire. Otherwise no TV noise, voices, etc. It's far better than the 2 bed terrace we lived in previously (circa 1988).