Stud partition walls in mid eighties house

benson1980

Hi, another question some people on here may be able to assist with. We are currently doing up a mid eighties detached house which is pretty standard construction- upstairs is chipboard floors, all stud partitpartition walls with no sound proofing, and above all the doors are the small glass panels. I was going to redecorate upstairs at some point and was looking into whether there was any reasonably cost effective means of making the walls a bit better in terms of reducing noise levels, between upstairs adjoining rooms. I realise this will entail removing one side of the plasterboard, installing some kind of insulation, and blocking up the thin glass panels- has anyone tried this, or would this be a waste of time/money in terms of effectiveness?

Furts

It might be easier to put a layer of sound blocking plasterboard on the surface - but you will lose a little bit on your room, and it may look wrong in relation to a door architrave or an artex margin.

If you put sound insulation in the studwork stuff it full, with carefully cut and sealed insulation. I say this because imho the typical 25-50mm layers just slump within the partition and become ineffective.

Le_Kirk

Have a look at acoustic baffles, might be better for what you want.

I_have_spoken

Only worth doing IMHO if you also add sockets, network ports etc. while the plasterboard is off.

Use high density acoustic mineral wool between the studs, then put up acoustic plasterboard screwed onto "resilient bars" so it's not coupled to the studs to reduce transmitted vibrations. It's a waste of time to screw the plasterboard directly to studs as the noise will come straight through.

phoenix_w

Be aware that 80's stud walls could be the "eggbox" variety - where the innards of the wall between studs is cardboard in a cellular arrangement (eggbox), with the plasterboard directly bonded to the eggbox. Not only does this arrangement make the plasterboard a swine to remove, but if you remove too much of the eggbox your wall may be less rigid. I remember the studs in my eggbox walls being quite far apart, possibly 3 foot or so.

eps

Phoenix_W is right. These 'eggbox' partition (non-loadbearing) are called 'Paramount' walls. Benefit of this is that it can be removed without affecting the structure and reposition a new partition. The least intrusive way is probably to have injected insulation such as Warmcel or DIY spray insulation kits. You'll also want your intermediate floor to have some decent insulation to avoid noise transmission through floor. It's probably not worth doing if it's not done right the first time.

benson1980

Thanks for the ideas- an injectable solution potentially sounds ideal. Never heard of warmcel. Any idea on potential cost?

Furts

benson1980 wrote: »

Thanks for the ideas- an injectable solution potentially sounds ideal. Never heard of warmcel. Any idea on potential cost?

I will probably get shot down for stating this but I suggest the injection is a non starter. Commercial operators cavity wall insulate on this basis but the pumps are van mounted and likewise the material supply. If they were to inject partitions then industrial hoses would be dragged through houses causing damage. I have experience of this and would advise that nobody does it unless there is no other option.

Then coming to the logistics, I do not know of any cavity wall vans that operate in their spare time injecting partitions within homes.

Perhaps some equipment can be hired, and the materials purchased, but I have not come across this.

That said, the suggested material is a non starter and does not illustrate the concept of sound deadening.

There is valid advice from phoenix_w - I am assuming that you have checked the construction of your partition. Similarly if you have laminated partitions then there is no possibility of any sound deadening being inserted.