Soundproofing party wall against TV noise

housebuyer7

Hello,

I have quiet neighbours next door (mid-terrace) but in the evenings we can hear their TV and it has an annoying interference when we are also watching TV. Not the neighbours fault - they are watching TV at a normal volume, it's just the poor construction of the party wall (built about 1895). We are wondering about soundproofing options just to make this a bit quieter. We don't need to worry about impact noises, just the airborne noise of a TV. We also don't need to necessarily completely remove it, just dampen it so we can't hear it simultaneously while watching our TV. Would prefer not to build a stud wall and lose space... would plastering over soundproofing plasterboards be effective? And using something called “green glue”? We will be plastering soon anyway!

lostone88

I would recommend checking out this video from Gosforth Handyman’s YouTube channel: 

(Edit. The system says I’ve ‘not been around long enough’ to post links. 

Not to worry. Just search YouTube for the ‘Gosforth Handyman’ channel and search his vids for ‘Sound Insulation’

Sounds like the same situation you have and includes a few variations on the basic construction. He does the living room and bedroom on the party wall. 

Hope it helps. 

All the best

Bigphil1474

OP, if you can try a cheap DIY job then it's worth a go, but noise like this might not be impacted. It could be travelling under the floor, above the ceiling and so on. I used to deal with noise nuisance complaints, and more often than not it was a case of poor or old construction rather than a statutory nuisance. Nothing really to be done about it through sound proofing, unless you spend a fortune and even then, no guarantees.

You could try speaking to your neighbours and see how they have their room laid out. Ideally you either want to your TV's back to back with each other, so sound from both is going away from the party wall, or change location of seating so that you aren't sat near where their TV outputs e.g. if their TV is at the back of the room, you might need to sit on the opposite side. Simple changes like that might address the issue, but soundproofing in old terraced houses probably won't work. I live in a 1910's mid terrace and have some experience of this - the neighbour to one side who has their living room against ours has their TV in one corner and us the other, we sit facing their wall, and they ours, and we have no problems. On the other side neighbour has a corridor between living rooms so we don't hear anything.

housebuyer7

Thanks, their TV is in the alcove next to the chimney breast. On the other side of the wall is our TV also in the same chimney breast alcove. It would be ideal to add some soundproofing boards attached with green glue and then plaster over, but yes even with adding stud walls I have read mixed reviews.

DullGreyGuy

Bigphil1474 said:

You could try speaking to your neighbours and see how they have their room laid out. Ideally you either want to your TV's back to back with each other, so sound from both is going away from the party wall

Not sure this is true, in particular if the TVs are wall mounted. 

If its wall mounted then any vibration caused by the speaker movement will pass into the wall.

Even if its not wall mounted the speaker makes a sound as it goes backwards, expensive hifi speakers do a lot to try and suppress this (hence you get odd looking snail speakers etc as leakage is hardest to suppress from corners) whereas I think most thin panel TVs dont. OK, it tends to be a little lower energy than the forward output but its also very close to the wall -v- being on the otherside of the room. 

Looking on AVS they recommend having the TV perpendicular to the party wall but not many responded to the thread as clearly most have multi-speaker setups over there. They are a good source of soundproofing recommendations, but not budget ones.

Eldi_Dos

Would thermal curtains hung in alcove provide a damper to the noise.

housebuyer7

I don’t think so, sound is also coming through the chimney

markin

Resilient bars and 2 layers of sound block with the glue in between should make a difference if its not going above or below.

As soon as i saw this guy cutting in a socket in video 2 i knew he was an idiot, £300 wasted!  Surface mount them or put them on side walls.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGR2ofMloLU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErGqRzzz_Vw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDgeIxyeZdo

Racky_Roo

I had exactly this issue as my neighbours TV is wall mounted. I bought some acoustic slat wall from this company
https://www.naturewall.com/products/slatwall-acoustic-natural-oak. It not only looks beautiful and I get a lot of compliments when people see it, but it works amazingly well and as a bonus, I now can have my TV and surround sound up louder as I know it works both ways.

FreeBear

I used to have bookshelves crammed full of books in the alcoves either side of the fireplace. Was never really aware of neighbour's TV... Having since got rid of the bookshelves and redecorated, can hear a bit of noise. It is not excessive, and if I want to drown it out, I'll turn the volume up a notch (haven't needed to go to 11 yet).

Conclusion - Mass is the key to cutting down on noise. But it is a complex subject, and what works for one place may not work in another.

newbuild2020

I’d say that the stud wall is the most effective. But if you’re looking for a cheaper solution sound proof plasterboard on the wall will help