Assessing party wall sound insulation when buying

reheat

We currently live in a pre-war (late 30's) ex-council semi, and discovered too late that the party walls seem to be paper-thin, and we have "gob almighty" attached neighbours, whose incessant foul-mouthed hollering is forever intruding. Even when they flick an electric switch the other side of the wall, it sounds almost as loud as if it were in our room.

We need to move anyway for job reasons, and are really keen to try and avoid this pitfall next time around. Would ideally buy detached, but won't be able to afford that. We also want to avoid new builds, as having a reasonable size garden is very important to us, and would need much more money to get a new build with one.

Is there any way to assess the sound proofing of party walls, based on the building regulations in force at the time a property was built. I presume there is no actual way to test the sound proofing without the neighbour's collaboration?!

In a more light hearted moment, we did deliberate one method might be to holler an insult or two at the neighbour through the wall during a viewing, and use the response to gauge both the noise insulation and neighbour's temperament. But decided it might not be very practical .

dimbo61

Have you tried having sound insulation put on the walls between yourself and next door neighbour ?
soundblock panels can reduce the sound from next door

G_M

Ideally on a 2nd viewing get the neighbour's cooperation.

Take a portable radio/music system and one of you plays it loud and jumps upand down while the other goes next door to listen....

helloyouu

The problem with noise... Or sound... Is that it's not just about the wall. Noise can go through the wall as well as the ceiling and the floor.

You can have very good wall but the floor can still carry a lot of noise.

moneyistooshorttomention

I shall follow this thread with interest - as I'm househunting myself currently.

There is a small estate of high-quality properties currently being built in the location I am looking at. I cant afford the detached ones - but can afford the semi-detached ones. I don't know whether there are yet legal requirements for adequate soundproofing of newly-built properties (or whether that is something that won't be enshrined in law until "after my time") and I am "safe" to look at these semis or no. I would imagine that there must surely, by now, be some recently-made laws that compel builders to adequately soundproof properties they are currently building - but suspect these laws may not be here for a couple of decades yet.

Does anyone know if these "soundproofing laws" are here yet on newly-built properties - or are they still "somewhere in the Future and may not be here for decades yet"?

Davesnave

The regs for new builds take 20 seconds to Google & can be found here:

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_ADE_2003.pdf

As for getting the neighbour's coperation....well, maybe. If they said "No," how could you be sure the neighbour wasn't just maintaining their privacy, or even putting you off as a potential next-door whinger? That's how I'd see it! :rotfl:

With existing properties, anything decently well-built is going to have at least a breeze block between next door & yourself, and if space isn't an issue, you can always improve on that. However, the best most people can hope to do is observe the neighbouring property(ies) at different times and on different days to assess the behaviour of their occupants. In other words, stalk the place, and certainly speak to the neighbours, but don't expect to be invited in.

reheat

dimbo61 wrote: »

Have you tried having sound insulation put on the walls between yourself and next door neighbour ?
soundblock panels can reduce the sound from next door

But we need to move anyway, so better to get a house with less of a problem if possible.

reheat

helloyouu wrote: »

The problem with noise... Or sound... Is that it's not just about the wall. Noise can go through the wall as well as the ceiling and the floor.

You can have very good wall but the floor can still carry a lot of noise.

This is true of our house.

lessonlearned

New builds - max 62 decibels
Refurbs and conversions - max 64 decibels

Wooden floor - without sound insulation will produce approx 75 decibels

societys_child

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5K3UdIiMpM

Test for sound proofing (slightly adult)
- need the sound up - listen carefully 23 seconds in

ognum

I really think its hard to tell, we live in a well built large Edwardian semi, we never heard anything from out neighbours until they had a new babe, we can now hear a baby crying as if in the distance and only in one downstairs room so I think the level and pitch of the noise makes a difference.