Tips for Soundproofing

[Deleted User]

Our neighbours are lovely but the bloke not only loves the sound of his own voice but he also speaks several decibels louder than normal. We can also hear them closing drawers / cupboards in their kitchen as it's adjacent to our lounge which is where we spend most of our time.

We will be decorating the lounge in the new year and I was looking online and came across soundproofing liners that you can put on a wall and wallpaper or paint over.

Has anyone used something like this? If so how well do they work?

RelievedSheff

You will have an ongoing battle trying to sound proof an existing house.

Sound travels in many ways between properties and stopping it all is an almost impossible task.

We suffered with noise from our neighbours for 12 years and in the end had to move. We now have a detached house with no neighbour noise and it is bliss. Had we known the effect it was having on us we would have moved sooner as we are so much happier in the new house now.

happyandcontented

I think if it is only at a specific spot in the house then you should be able to sort it out.

I would be interested to know if anyone has used the products you mention too as we have a similar issue which has not been that bad as our neighbours are relatively quiet, but they are moving next week...and so, we may need to revisit the issue.

I found this item when previously searching online:

https://www.coveryourwall.co.uk/latex-sound-insulation-soundproofing-liner.html

[Deleted User]

RelievedSheff wrote: »

You will have an ongoing battle trying to sound proof an existing house.

Sound travels in many ways between properties and stopping it all is an almost impossible task.

We suffered with noise from our neighbours for 12 years and in the end had to move. We now have a detached house with no neighbour noise and it is bliss. Had we known the effect it was having on us we would have moved sooner as we are so much happier in the new house now.

Thanks for the reply although not what I wanted to hear

I think the noise has been made worst in recent weeks because we don't currently have carpets down in the hallway as we are waiting to decorate the lounge so we can put new carpets in all at once.

I'd love to live detached and hoping one day we will but for now was hoping there'd be easy ways to deaden neighbourly sounds.

markin

You need 2 layers of sound block plasterboard on isolation bars or a new stud wall isolated off the main wall, and the use off green glue between the 2 layers would be good.




https://www.greengluecompany.com/products/noiseproofing-sealant

Heedtheadvice

Relieved makes an excellent point regarding the difficulties.


It is not impossible to design and install acoustic treatments. If it were many a studio or even more so anechoic chambers would not be possible. However the big problem is finding out the path(s) the sound travels. It can be a combination of holes, resonances or parts of both houses vibrating in a forced manner. Just adding some acoustic material in one specific place, such as the dividing wall might have no apparent affect!


You mention the sound is worse with the hall carpet removed. That suggests there might be a path beneath the flooring (or elsewhere!), maybe no solid wall between the houses under the floor. A solid mass that is well damped to stop it vibrating or a vacuum is very good at isolating sound.....but sometimes you need further treatment to avoid reflections!



Not saying that is the problem. It just means you have to tackle each path, reduce it's effect in turn till you get to the desired level of sound reduction. You will find it very difficult (actually impossible) to make your house soundproof but you might get to an acceptable level.


Rather than opting to buy something that may or may not cure your specific problem, find the cause(s) and then apply the appropriate cure(s)!

consumers_revenge

Having spent hours and hours learning about decibels, materials etc after the family from hell moved in next door I wouldn’t hold out too much hope.

It’s like her 3 kids were in a pkayground in my living room.

I found a professional company and they fitted a soundproof party wall 6.6 x 2.5. Cost me just over 3k

Result? 90-95% sound reduction. Worth every penny.