Soundproofing an interior wall

I have one internal wall in my house I want to soundproof. It's a 1900 house and the wall is 3 metres squared. What would be the best and cheapest way of doing this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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  • ceredigion
    ceredigion Posts: 3,709 Forumite
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    depends :rotfl:
  • DigForVictory
    DigForVictory Posts: 11,998 Forumite
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    "Wallpaper" with duvets? Then over layer with blankets? Can be a bit dusty, but significantly reduces noise coming through.
  • Soundproofing a single wall may not be that useful since sound will travel through the beams/joists above and below the wall. When we looked into this a few years ago we were advised that a good way is to build a studwork frame, fill it with soundproofing insulation, plasterboard and skim over - it will probably help but won't be 100% effective.

    Try google, there are lots of companies that will overcharge you for this but the premise is simple and a local builder will be able to replicate for a fraction of the cost some of these "specialists" charge.
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  • System
    System Posts: 178,303 Community Admin
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    Soundproofing a single wall may not be that useful since sound will travel through the beams/joists above and below the wall. When we looked into this a few years ago we were advised that a good way is to build a studwork frame, fill it with soundproofing insulation, plasterboard and skim over - it will probably help but won't be 100% effective.

    Try google, there are lots of companies that will overcharge you for this but the premise is simple and a local builder will be able to replicate for a fraction of the cost some of these "specialists" charge.

    Cheers. I'll have a look into the options!
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  • ed110220
    ed110220 Posts: 1,541 Forumite
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    Unfortunately sound-proofing is a notoriously difficult subject. Sound can travel through air gaps, say tiny gaps in the mortar and gaps below floor/above ceiling level or it can be transmitted through elements such as joists.

    A fairly cheap way of doing it would be to dryline the wall with soundproofing plasterboard like this: http://www.wickes.co.uk/invt/224657 bearing in mind it's not a guaranteed solution if the sound is coming through elsewhere.

    That's what I did when I needed to replace the hardboard drylining on the party wall. I must say I cannot notice a difference but it was on a 10 inch concrete block wall with quiet neighbours so I couldn't really hear them to start with but my other half could hear a gnat whisper so I did it to humour him:rotfl:

    The soundboard is like plasterboard but with an extra dense filling. It's much heavier than ordinary plasterboard.
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  • motch
    motch Posts: 429 Forumite
    goater78 wrote: »
    I have one internal wall in my house I want to soundproof. It's a 1900 house and the wall is 3 metres squared. What would be the best and cheapest way of doing this?

    Any help would be greatly appreciated!


    How much depth can you afford to lose? soundboards can be added to the wall and you'd lose about 2". Studwalls can be more effective but you'd lose much more depth. If you have a nice long room that would be good!

    Not cheap though and the size of your room (9 square metres?) would cost well over £500 for soundboards added.

    I have no experience of these though so don't know how effective they genuinely are, (anyone had this type of work done?)
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