Sound Problem

Raging Bull

Anybody experienced and successfully fixed sound problems coming from an adjoining property?

Lex Luthor

What kind of flooring do you/they have? It can make a big difference. Next door has a 4yr old with wooden floors and it's like a herd of stampeding elephants....
Also, when they moved in they worked on the house non-stop for 2 weeks sometimes late at night until I started bangin on their door and told them politely to shut the fcuk up.
What's the biggest issue you are having?

Victor

There are a varity of remedial measures you can take. Are the noises impact noises - slamming doors or airborne - shouting, etc.?

HashSlinging

Cranberries at max power for a long weekend.

Ask them to calm things down. if they don't here's what a mate suggested to me :- )

they must pay big time
its all a game and this is how
to win
frist get a old fire extinguisher
one or five gal will do
whan you pick it out
the top has to come off
and it must have a hole that
you can put air in it with a
bike pump test the psi so you can
pump it up to the max
the more psi the better

now go to the store and ask the meat man if
he will have some parts of chicken
that was going to be tossed out
or by a hole chicken and cut it up
and use the good parts to eat
next get some i dont no what ya call them
over there prob the same thing but
we call them greens/turnup/cabage/callerd/
yeast and salt
with the extinguisher take the top off and put
the greens/chicken/salt/yeast in it
just about two cups of the stuff will work
with a small extinguisher
add about 6-8 cups of water
let it sit for about 12-24 hr dont let it sit to long
cuss it will smell up your house
put the lid back on tight and pump it up to the max
do not over fill with water or the chicken
with the lid back let it sit for at least 3 to 4 weeks
make frinds with them to make it look good
and when you no they are all out to get drunk
make your move
slide the hose under the door and give it a good blast
not to long but a good blast just a good mist
when they get home and smell it will make them
throw up fast
if you do it right they mite not be able to stay the night

fatherdougalmag

I put in sound-proofing for similar reasons. It was a mix of airborne (conversation, phones ringing) and impact (subwoofer, doors, etc.). There's not a lot you can do about the latter and the sound is 'conducted' through the structures which join the properties. Here's what I did.

Glued battons/studs at 15" intervals vertically on the existing wall (screw them in place until the glue dries and then remove the screws). Packed rockwool between the studs. Laid plasterboard horizontally. Sealed the joints and edges with mastik/caulk. Laid plasterboard vertically. Sealed up again. Plastered over all of that.

It definitely improved things on the airborne sound front. The impact sounds are a bit more muffled and not as bad as they were.

In our case, the main problem was that the plasterboard was bonded to the concrete blocks which make up the dividing wall. We reckon that this cavity amplified the sounds on both sides. A more involved solution would be to rip down the plasterboard and bonding that's there, plaster the wall and then do all of the above. As it stands, the work I did is probably benefitting the neighbours moreso than us because we're also containing our own airborne noise within our property.

But before doing all of that, approach your neighbour and ask them if they can hear you. Maybe if you impart to them that you can hear them performing personal duties it might embarass them sufficiently to keep the noise down. Tell them you can hear toilets flushing, phone conversations and late night romping (even if you can't ).

Lex Luthor

Originally posted by fatherdougalmag

Glued battons/studs at 15" intervals vertically on the existing wall (screw them in place until the glue dries and then remove the screws). Packed rockwool between the studs. Laid plasterboard horizontally. Sealed the joints and edges with mastik/caulk. Laid plasterboard vertically. Sealed up again. Plastered over all of that.

did you lose much in floor space with the extra battens & plasterboard?

when we moved in first to our house, it was new and the adjoining neighbour complained to the builders that he could hear everything from our house and said it to my face that he could even hear us rompin away. I told him I couldn't hear anything from his place so I more or less said that he mustn't be doing it often enough. Shut him up for a while and has since moved out. New neighbours much better and glad to be rid of the to$$er

fatherdougalmag

Lucky you. We're in a similar enough sort of situation but we're awaiting their departure.

Anyway, regarding loss of space. We've had people around with similar problems to inspect our handywork and they find it hard to believe that we've got S/P installed at all. If you think about it, you've got 2x12mm plasterboards + about 5mm plaster + stud-depth. We've lost about 2.5/3 inches of depth and it's not noticable at all. I believe it's all to do with the finish and how it looks against the existing walls.