Soundproofing for walls

ssrout

New Neighbours have just moved in next door (semi built approx 1934)
Please give advice to stop some of the noise coming through both the alcoves in the down stairs living room and dinning room,may do upstairs if succesful

Thanks

glubalub

Getting rid of unwanted noise transmission through the party wall of a 1930s house isn't any easy job. To be effective you really need an expert. Simply putting a barrier between you and the party wall probably won't do much good as the sound will find ways to track around the barrier. The sound will pass from your neighbour to you through small gaps in the structure of the house as well as passing through the structure itself. To do the job properly would mean lifting floor boards to seal any possible gaps around floor joists, installing sound absorbing material between the joists as well as applying sound proofing to the entire party wall. Rockwool make some suitable sound insulating materials. The insulation can be fixed to an independent stud wall built in front of the party wall. The stud wall should be isolated from the structure as far as possible and all the gaps sealed with sound reducing mastic.

All in all quite a big job.

Have you thought about talking to your neighbours about the noise and seeing if there is a way of reducing it at source?

ssrout

Thanks for your quick reply and good advice