Soundproofing alcoves either side of the chimney breast

bannanna

Hello all
Would like to fit some cupboards into the alcoves either side of a chimney breast. Is it possible to soundproof behind the cupboards or will the cupboards themselves go some way towards dampening noise (and if so presumably they will need to be full height?)? Is there even any point in soundproofing if I'm not going to do anything to the chimney breast itself (gas fire)? 
Any pointers or insights anyone can offer would be gratefully appreciated!

Ebe_Scrooge

Why do you want to soundproof it at all?  Is it to muffle the sound coming from an adjoining house?  If so, then yes, the cupboards themselves (and more so, what's in them) will do a reasonable job of soundproofing.

You can buy purpose-made soundproofing foam sheets, or you could use something like insulation boards - basically, anything that adds mass to the walls and traps a layer of air will help.  The slight downside is that anything you attach to the wall will reduce the available space, as well as making it a bit more fiddly to attach the cupboards to the wall.

bannanna

Thanks Ebe Scrooge, yes to muffle the sound.  Probably will have half of the alcove as a closed cabinet and the top bit as open shelves, so popping some foam sheets or otherwise behind them to 'reinforce' the muffling is probably what we'll end up doing. Hoping the joiner will have done something like this before, just wanted to sound it out on here before going to him with what might be a very silly/expensive suggestion that simply won't be worth it.

Deza789

Hi bannanna - did you go ahead with your cupboards and did it work? Asking as i would like to do the same thing? 

grumbler

bannanna said:

Is it possible to soundproof behind the cupboards or will the cupboards themselves go some way towards dampening noise (and if so presumably they will need to be full height?)?

The best way is to build a 10 cm thick stud wall with studs fixed to the floor and to the ceiling (not to the wall) and the gaps between them filled with sound insulating mineral wool mats.

Is there even any point in soundproofing if I'm not going to do anything to the chimney breast itself (gas fire)?

Only you know. My friend didn't want to hear the neighbours talking and didn't want to disturb them - and he built a wall as I described above.

Doozergirl

The chimney itself is probably a weak link for sound transmission, especially with the fashion for attaching TVs to chimney breasts. 

I think the chimney itself can act as a bit of an amplifier.  I used to be able to hear next door's TV upstairs in my bedroom than we could downstairs in the lounge.  

You can't block a chimney though, it needs to breathe.  

Mutton_Geoff

Two year old post and despite visiting the forum recently, the OP hasn't posted in a while.

Doozergirl

Mutton_Geoff said:

Two year old post and despite visiting the forum recently, the OP hasn't posted in a while.

No, but we are adding for the person that raised it again... 

grumbler

Doozergirl said:

The chimney itself is probably a weak link for sound transmission

I don't think so. The main full-brick wall remains with only a small area uninsulated. In other places it's much thicker with a small chimney channel.

Doozergirl

grumbler said:

Doozergirl said:

The chimney itself is probably a weak link for sound transmission

I don't think so. The main full-brick wall remains with only a small area uninsulated. In other places it's much thicker with a small chimney channel.

I know what chimneys look like.  

They don't all look the same either.