Skimming + "Soundproofing" quote

mark482

Hi all, I'm having some work done on my house in Leeds as follows:

- Bedroom ~ 3m x 3m:

Skim 2 walls + walls in "over stairs cupboard" corner area ~ 1m x 1m
Board over 1 wall (plaster coming off lath)
Patch hole in "cupboard" ceiling ~ 1m x 10cm
Patch missing plaster on one wall ~ 2m x 10cm
Remove air-brick in outer wall and replace two bricks in inner wall
Board alcove around window (bad plaster)
Soundproofing one wall (party wall): Build 2x2 stud wall away from existing wall, line with rockwool, two layers plasterboard, skim

- Lounge ~ 3m x 3m:

Skim 3 walls
Board alcove around window (bad plaster)
Soundproofing one wall (party wall): Build 2x2 stud wall away from existing wall, line with rockwool, two layers plasterboard, skim

- Stairwell + landing at top/bottom (each around 1m x 1m)

Skim walls
Skim ceiling over artex

I've had a quote of £1500, based on 3 people, 3 days. Reading back that long list of things to be done this seems reasonable, any comments?

The ceilings in the two rooms are sound but have some paint off in patches (no mist coat used by the look of it) and a few areas to be filled from coving taken off. I read on another post that I may regret not just having the ceilings skimmed too because the beautiful new walls (I hope!) may make it look bad?

Also, so far I just have an overall price on a business card - what should I ask for in more detail before work begins?

First post, any advice very gratefully received

pinkwitch_2

That is a very cheap quote we've just had our house soundproofed on one side of the house and it was £2,400 ,with no plastering .The soundproofing materials came to £1300 before labour.

mark482

I had a second quote now - £1300 but the guy did not convince me he really knew what he was talking about. Since posting I am getting a bit suspicious of the legitimacy of the guy who gave me the £1500 quote. I'm waiting for a quote from someone who seems legitimate (if federation of master builders means anything) and was very convincing in a non-pressurising way, and was happy to show me the prices for materials he had from the local building supplies and discuss different options, even suggest things that I could do myself (and tell me how ). I wonder what materials were used in your project, and if you're happy with the result? Looking at lots of websites I see everyone claiming "unique product" for things which are clearly standard products e.g. from british gypsum like "gyproc triline" sold with some markup. Not totally criticising these sites - everyone has to make a living, and they have some useful info on them for free, but I get the impression there is a lot of snake oil being marketed...

pinkwitch_2

soundstop.co.uk (wouldn't recommened) is where our materials came from and we have used the soundstop panels, we were going to use what your thinking of using but it was even more expensive.The builder did a brill job unfortunatly it hasn't stopped the noise we wanted to stop,which was impact noise,but it has stopped airborne noise.

So No we wouldn't have it done again!

mark482

Thanks for the info, sorry to hear it didn't achieve what you needed It does all seem like a bit of a gamble, even if the work is done well... I can also hear doors banging if that's the kind of impact noise you had, but I think it won't bother me so much as voices, tv, etc. The builder I'm hoping to get to do the work does some work for the council and did the wall for one client, who then found that the sound leaked by way of the floor and ceiling so I'm going to try and cover all bases there too - I've got the boards up, lots of gaps around the joists, just working up the courage to fire up the can of expanding foam now - I hear it can be a dramatic experience

I'll report back how it all goes, hopefully might be of help to others considering it.

foolishqueen

Hi Mark482,

I'd be really interested in knowing how you get on and how effective your soundproofing is! I'm considering having something done to the party wall in the living room and bedroom but am apprehensive about it's effectiveness and also who to get to install the stuff!!

Cheers.

mark482

Will write a full report of how it goes - cross your fingers Probably be a couple of weeks at least because the builder I want is busy - usually a good sign I guess.

Might also be worth mentioning for the record that the undertaking is to futureproof against potential bad tenants next door - my current neighbours, while a bit noisy, are lovely and getting to know them was definitely a good first step to "soundproofing" in itself...

foolishqueen

How did it go Mark482? Have you had the work done yet?! Cheers.

mark482

Stilllllll working on it Was convinced to do some of the work myself to save some money, and one job leads to another.. Will keep you posted

foolishqueen

Hi again maerk,

Sorry to revive an old thread....any updates? We are in a bit of a quandry now. Do we move or stay put and do something similar to you? Our house is on the market, but now my partner says moving may not be a good idea. Originally it was her who had the problem with noise, but now she is much better and it seems I am getting worse!!! So if you have any inout that would be cool?

Cheers.

owls

Hi

Sound proofing is not to difficult a job and is reasonably straight forward
i am a plastering contractor and as such undertake varous projects of this nature.

The product that we use is Knauf rocksilk .its 100mm and is very dence [around 30 quid a pack]this meets current building standards and sound tests, you then can follow it up by using 15mm sound block plasterboards [15 quid or so a board]possibly two layers, what you do then is run a stream of mastick around any perimeters to fill any gaps prior to plastering this method will work the best i would have thought, for any stud partitioning or ceiling and it also meets current fire regs.