Sound insulation / noise transfer between houses

Larches

Hi. I'm hoping someone can advise on sound insulation between houses. This strikes me as quite a tricky aspect of house buying for those of us who are light sleepers, or work shifts, or just like a bit of peace and quiet. Obviously it's very hard to tell just from a viewing or two whether noise is likely to be a problem in any given property, and I doubt we can rely on sellers or estate agents being all that candid if asked.

Our current and last properties have both been detached and we've not had to worry too much about this, but we're now looking to move and most of the options available are semi-detached or terraced. There seems to be such a wide variation in construction though, so one semi might be a nice solid build with little noise transfer but another on the next estate might be much flimsier (or just have nuisance neighbours) and I've read some real tales of woe from frustrated homeowners, tired of suffering regular disturbances.

So, I'm wondering if the answer is to ensure we set a bit aside in our house buying budget to cover potential noise insulation improvements, but I don't know enough about it to be sure either how effective it might be or what a realistic cost would be. Probably a 'how long is a piece of string' question, depending on the house, soundproofing spec and installer.

Is there anyone on here with experience of this (either as a homeowner or a tradesperson) who could give me a few tips, please? I have found some indicative costs online, but there are different types and other variables involved so I was hoping to get some 'real world' examples. If you've had soundproofing done on your home, was it expensive and was it worth it? (Or maybe you've not had it done but wish you had?) I'd also be interested in any more general points/considerations when it comes to non-detached properties. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

tacpot12

This video might be some use: https://youtu.be/qGR2ofMloLU

Andy MacClelland also gives some idea of the costs of the specialist soundproofing materials he used in this video (at 14:25): https://youtu.be/OGUTFy49w6o

I'm guessing that the cost he quotes of £137 is for the mass-loaded vinyl and soundproofing sealant only. The plasterboard, acoustic batts and studwork will be captured in other costs, but it should be quite easy to figure out costs by calling your local builders merchants. 

For the DIY'er this is an fairly straightforward project. I think Andy said he contracted out the plastering work, which is a wise move, because plastering a real skill (or possibly an art) that few can master. It's definitely worth paying a professional to apply plaster.
  

user1977

If you're looking at semis, I would simply avoid those where the party walls adjoin habitable rooms, then you're not getting the neighbours' noise coming directly through to the rooms where you want peace.

Larches

Thanks, both helpful contributions.

GDB2222

user1977 said:

If you're looking at semis, I would simply avoid those where the party walls adjoin habitable rooms, then you're not getting the neighbours' noise coming directly through to the rooms where you want peace.

The key phrase that used to be used was "halls adjoining ". Has that gone out of fashion, as it used to be a big selling point?

Larches

GDB2222 said:

user1977 said:

If you're looking at semis, I would simply avoid those where the party walls adjoin habitable rooms, then you're not getting the neighbours' noise coming directly through to the rooms where you want peace.

The key phrase that used to be used was "halls adjoining ". Has that gone out of fashion, as it used to be a big selling point?

Can't say I've seen it so far in the (many!) ads we've looked at on the usual property portals, but I'll keep an eye out for that and it might help in discussions with estate agents, thanks.

amanda_p

About 35 years ago we had our previous  house soundproofed. It was a pretty bog standard semi with lounge/bedrooms adjoining next door. No idea what materials were used but the adjoining wall was padded out with soundproofed insulation material ,then a new wall constructed over it. It was fairly costly and unfortunately didn't have much effect.

Our neighbours were a very noisy family with three teenage boys, we could hear everything even when they were in the bathroom. The television was always on and we knew exactly what they watched. It was a nightmare we put up with for three years then moved to a detached house.

I would never want to live in a semi again.  Laying in bed night after night waiting for them to go to bed so the noise would stop, not helped by the fact they were night owls!!Thousands of people live in semis with no issues at all but if you have noisy neighbours it really is a living hell!

Windofchange

We live in a Victorian terrace and the sound proofing is non existent. I mean, we can almost join in with our neighbours conversations through the walls. I looked at sound proofing the walls when I was doing a load of refurb work to our house this past year - I don't mind getting my hands dirty with DIY. It wasn't so much the cost that was the problem, but it was the disruption. For us, our house is raised so there is a 2 - 3 food cavity under the ground floor which presumably runs all along the terrace. This meant I would also have need to insulate / sound proof under the floors too which would obviously have been a major ball ache. We will be doing a kitchen build in a few years time, so once that all comes up then I will likely get under the boards, replace any joists and the such that need doing, renew the pipework and electrics alongside a tradesman friend for sign off and the insulate etc then. I know there are solutions which as less disruptive, but that means calling in trades with the labour charges and doesn't appeal to me when I know how to do 95% of the work already, I just need the right time. 

To answer your question a bit better, I was looking at accoustic plasterboard with a thick layer of insulation underneath which would improve both noise and heat in the winter. If your house is particularly old like ours however you need to think about everywhere else that noise and the chill of winter can get into your home and that is where things get time consuming / pricey with needing to lift up the floorboards and install further insulation below. 

RelievedSheff

Our last semi has put us off living in an attached house ever again. It was a nightmare with sound transmission between properties. We could hear everything from next door.

I really do think that after living in a detached house we would struggle to go back to attached again whatever the layout of the house.

Mardle

Larches said:

GDB2222 said:

user1977 said:

If you're looking at semis, I would simply avoid those where the party walls adjoin habitable rooms, then you're not getting the neighbours' noise coming directly through to the rooms where you want peace.

The key phrase that used to be used was "halls adjoining ". Has that gone out of fashion, as it used to be a big selling point?

Can't say I've seen it so far in the (many!) ads we've looked at on the usual property portals, but I'll keep an eye out for that and it might help in discussions with estate agents, thanks.

Look at an end terrace rather than a mid-terrace. Look at the front of the house. If the front doors are next to each other potentially they have halls adjoining. Then look at floorplans to see how long the halls are, the position of the stairs and the landings. 

We live in an end terrace built in 1908. Our neighbours can be very noisy at times as the son, his girlfriend & most of her family have learning difficulties and don't 'do' speaking quietly but the rest of the time it's pretty quiet.

  

Saga

Interesting thread.  To my detriment, I am affected especially badly by the rhythmic low boom-boom of the bass and the drums in music (including of course background music in films & TV progs) which just carries. To my knowledge insulation does little to attenuate low-frequency sounds or has the state of the art massively improved in the last few years?