"They don't build them like they used to" .... insulating new/old houses.

Grenage

My first house was a 70's ex-council mid-terrace; it has a cavity wall either side.

The only time I ever heard a noise was when they dropped a massive TV. If you ever heard music from one side, it was because it had traveled through the windows - not the walls.

I can't speak for others, but that was one solid house.

Dan-Dan

Grenage wrote: »

My first house was a 70's ex-council mid-terrace; it has a cavity solid wall either side.

The only time I ever heard a noise was when they dropped a massive TV. If you ever heard music from one side, it was because it had traveled through the windows - not the walls.

I can't speak for others, but that was one solid house.

What is a cavity solid wall?

27col

I've worked on quite a few old houses in my time. The last thing that I would call them is well built. I suspect that they were all thrown up in a hurry by speculative builders. As for the quality of the bricks, well "rubbish" springs to mind. No two bricks are the same. Wooden lintels, if they bothered at all. Mortar and plaster both made with lime and extremely prone to deterioration.

System

Dan-Dan wrote: »

What is a cavity solid wall?

an oxymoron :money:

Grenage

Dan-Dan wrote: »

What is a cavity solid wall?

A really well-built cavity wall.... I've corrected my typo. :)

Davesnave

Grenage wrote: »

My first house was a 70's ex-council mid-terrace; it has a cavity wall either side.

As I said earlier, that would be unusual, although I believe some houses may have been built using wide blocks with a hollow centre in the shared wall. I'm sure I've seen that on 'new builds' in the 1970s/80s, but someone else will know much better than me.

JustAnotherSaver

It's getting late & i need to head to bed as i'm up early so can't comment on some of the things i was going to.

Just to the chap who has worked on a few old houses...

Like i said, my mothers was built in 1805. The walls are thick & i mean THICK. Big solid lumps of stone.
What's your view of those houses in comparison?

The only issue i ever really had with my mothers house was the damp. It was terrible for it. Really bad. But 200 years on, it's still standing perfectly fine.

jackyann

Unless you go back hundreds of years (in which case, the ones still standing are the well built ones!) then broadly I would say modern houses are much better.
Yes, a lot of it is to do with insulation (again, really old houses often have enormously thick walls, as pointed out above).
I have lived in houses of all ages, and even mass built modern houses trump old in my book. In the 1970s I lived in the kind of cottage that caused friends to exclaim about its "character" (aka: draughty & damp). I moved into a new house, twice the size, detached, and spent less than half on heating it, to a greater standard of comfort.

DRP

jackyann wrote: »

Unless you go back hundreds of years (in which case, the ones still standing are the well built ones!) then broadly I would say modern houses are much better.
Yes, a lot of it is to do with insulation (again, really old houses often have enormously thick walls, as pointed out above).
I have lived in houses of all ages, and even mass built modern houses trump old in my book. In the 1970s I lived in the kind of cottage that caused friends to exclaim about its "character" (aka: draughty & damp). I moved into a new house, twice the size, detached, and spent less than half on heating it, to a greater standard of comfort.

it is a constant source of debate here (new build v old) - the flip side of the coin is that for a relatively small increase in bills & running costs, you may often get bigger rooms, taller ceilings, bigger garden, you won't pay the 'new-build premium', and you can get a house in a more established part of town.

There is no better, only more suitable to the individual.

princeofpounds

So out of interest, what would be the approach to remove the sound travel from next door, or at the very least minimise it as much as possible?

It really depends on the type of sounds that are coming through.


To put it very simply, different sounds travel better through different types of materials (air, surfaces, joists and so on). That issue aside, sound transmission can be dampened by sufficient 'acoustic mass' placed in the way and partially reflected by interfaces between different materials.


Generally-speaking, controlling sound is about getting material of the right types, of sufficient mass, preferably in multiple layers and with complete coverage.


In practical terms, you are probably looking at some kind of acoustic boarding of the relevant wall, maybe some sub-floor and ceiling work around the perimeter too (Although hopefully that wouldn't be necessary).


But specifically what structure to use I have no idea - you can see from the link below just how varied the different types of insulation are. And which to use is as much an art as a science.


http://www.insulationexpress.co.uk/Insulation/Acoustic-Insulation.htm