Soundproofing your home

Scottie99

We live in a semi and can hear our neighbours:mad:. Does anyone have a suggestion on the best way to soundproof the adjoining walls?
Do we get builders to create a secondary wall with soundproofing or can you fill in between the walls with some kind of soundproofing

Can anyone recommend any reliable companies who are equipped to do the job? Ta

Kat1170

You can get gypsum wallboard that is specifically for sound proofing. Put it on your shared walls. Would probably need to be plastered/skimmed over once put up. Think it might be the blue one, though not sure.

lisaomalley10

Hi, I'm thinking of the same thing myself. I hate hearing the neighbours. I've come accross a short article on a website called pickapro.ie which gives some information about what's involved and also mentions a company which specialises in sound proofing, called Cunas. The link is:
http://www.pickapro.ie/sound-proofing/sound-proofing-tips.php
I'll be interested to hear how you get on,
Lisa.

ircoha

interesting link to Cunas.
from the site
<<Customer reference for sound proofing services as told to pickapro by Siobhan Ferguson from Tallaght on 10-Sep-2006

When was the work done?
July, 2007. >>:)

this links shows that about 3.4 inches (85mm) are lost when doing the 'full monty'
http://www.pickapro.ie/sound-proofing/Cunas/largephotobygallery/1/1/


from http://www.pickapro.ie/sound-proofing/sound-proofing-tips.php

<<According to David Fitzgerald of specialist noise reduction firm, Cunas, the process is relatively straightforward. "We add an additional layer of special soundproofing board to the party walls in your house, significantly reducing noise pollution. This process involves removing the existing plasterboard, inserting the soundproofing layer, and replacing and making good the plaster, plus repainting etc. It takes about 3 days to soundproof a 2 bedroom apartment. Afterwards, the only visible difference is that about one inch of floor has been lost at each party wall.">>

Just be aware of what is on offer. As sound is, in the main, auirborne, the more and heavier material you can add between you and your neighbour the better.
Wall vents, window vents, etc are also sources of noise.

Scottie99

I contacted http://www.sound-proof-me.com/flash/index.html the guy is coming up Monday(12th) to discuss. He says average costs are around €8k (4 bed semi), but I don't want to waste 8K :eek:
I'll have a long think and let you guys know

0lordy

How about making enough of a racket so that your neighbour decides to soundproof their house?

Scottie99

0lordy wrote: »

How about making enough of a racket so that your neighbour decides to soundproof their house?

I'm affraid its a rented house and at one point there was 13 people and two dogs living there:eek: The neighbours contacted the agent concerning the barking at night time, that got rid of the dogs. We complained about the excess tennents, thus getting rid of one of the families:D. We now think there are 6 or 7 in the house from Poland.:( Its a nightmare!!
There is light at the end of the tunnel. We will rent out(payback time for the neighbours) as we have an offer on a house at the moment. Soundproofing is just one of our options.

jdpl28

Hey Kat1170, do you know the name of that special wall board? and where you'd get it? And how you'd install it?

thanks,
J

Kat1170

Afraid I don't know too much about it. I came across it when looking for waterproof wallboard for my bathroom. It seemed to be the same as ordinary wallboard in that you stud a wall and then put up the board (or you might be able to dab and slab). If you know any plasterer's I'm sure they would know more than I do. Sorry.:(

jdpl28

just in case anyone's interested. it's called gyproc soundbloc. You can see it here:

http://www.gypsum.ie/products/plasterboard.htm

GreeBo

I put that soundbloc stuff up in my sittingroom and we can still hear the neighbours TV, a little bit more muffled than before.
Id think long and hard about it myself.
Personally I think the only way to guarantee you get what you want is to pay big bucks and get your whole house done, sound gets in everywhere.

jdpl28

Did you use resilient bars for your soundproofing? And does anybody know where to get them? Can you buy soundproofing gear in chadwicks. And accustic membrane? Or any specialist shops in Dublin?

thanks,
J

GreeBo

no, the soundbloc was just installed over the existing plasterboard. Probably not exactly according to specs but we didnt want to make a big deal out of the job either, yunno?

branners69

Is there not an option to put foamy stuff into the cavity blocks between the houses?

My sister got your 3 bed done, I must ask how they went about it!

hiscan

jack walls are not built with cavity blocks well they shouldnt be anyway there built with 4" solid blocks laid on the flat so theres no cavity

Charity73

lisaomalley10 wrote: »

Hi, I'm thinking of the same thing myself. I hate hearing the neighbours. I've come accross a short article on a website called pickapro.ie which gives some information about what's involved and also mentions a company which specialises in sound proofing, called Cunas. The link is:
http://www.pickapro.ie/sound-proofing/sound-proofing-tips.php
I'll be interested to hear how you get on,
Lisa.

Hi Lisa, Did you go with the soundproofing? Or has anybody used Cunas. I'm in the same bost with the poor soundproofing.... , I talked to the guy in Cunas and he seems to know his stuff. I think spending the money longterm is best but I want to make sure that the end result is worth it! I've come across lots of cowboys when it comes to getting work done lately. Any feedback would be appreciated?

peepingtom

Anyone used cunas yet? .... i got a quote from them for 2 rooms a couple of months ago for €6500 ish ..... the noise is literally sending me mad.

The bloke seemed sound, but there are too many cowboys around these days to let go of that amount of cash without independent verification that they will do a proper job!

This Govt has a lot to answer to for allowing developers to get away with building shoddy houses!

ircoha

jdpl28 wrote: »

just in case anyone's interested. it's called gyproc soundbloc. You can see it here:

http://www.gypsum.ie/products/plasterboard.htm

Just had a look at this and at the tech spec here:
http://www.gypsum.ie/pdf/productmanual/2_Gyproc_Plasterboard/2.1.pdf

The std 12.5 board weighs about 9.7 kg a sq meter where the soundbloc is 10.9: the one I like is the 19mm plank at 16 kg a sq meter
it is almost as dense. [ 10.9/12.5 vs 16/19]

Mass in the key to sound proofing along with reducing the airpaths so if I was doing this I would use multiple layers with the joints filled and STAGGERED.
In addition all joints on the first layer need to be screwed and filled: ie support the board on all edges
In a small apt might be easier to use the 4 by 2 boards.

Mark on the floor where the timber battens are and just make sure the screws dont clash, each layer will require longer screws

However if u have internal stud partition walls coming off the party wall, then it is going to be harder to get a good result as the stud partion will act as a sound carrier.

Use plaster to seal the joints where u meet the ceiling /walls and not expanded foam as it does not have the density.
In terms of pricing, a quy posted elsewhere that he got boards fixed for 9 euro a board
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055262054

so that will give a basis for the costings.

Ps from peepingtom: with my emphasis

Anyone used cunas yet? .... i got a quote from them for 2 rooms a couple of months ago for €6500 ish ..... the noise is literally sending me mad.

The bloke seemed sound.......

jpb1979

hi my wife and i are living ina 3 bed semi detached house and we are having are having a lot of noise problems from our neighbours espically with subwoofers.
we were just wondering if any one had the same issues and have sound proofed their house and what were the results like

inchydoney

Hi I decided to give David the work around November 2014. The house was being renovated at the time. Previous to the work being carried out the radio and conversations in adjoining house could be heard clearly. David and his two boys did a superb job.they worked until 10pm at night to get it finished for me. They soundproofed the kitchen and living room along with chimney breast. They use special battens that absorb vibrations along with insulation and plasterboard. I can't recommend David enough. He was so grateful for the work and such a kind man. I live in stillorgan. His soundproofing works. All the best. Ruari

SarahMollie

inchydoney wrote: »

Hi I decided to give David the work around November 2014. The house was being renovated at the time. Previous to the work being carried out the radio and conversations in adjoining house could be heard clearly. David and his two boys did a superb job.they worked until 10pm at night to get it finished for me. They soundproofed the kitchen and living room along with chimney breast. They use special battens that absorb vibrations along with insulation and plasterboard. I can't recommend David enough. He was so grateful for the work and such a kind man. I live in stillorgan. His soundproofing works. All the best. Ruari

Hi Ruari,

I live in Stillorgan myself (just bought) and as soon as I got my keys and went in to mooch around I noticed a LOT of neighbour noise. (I don't plan to move in for another month so I've a window to do some work)
Spoke to David @ Cunas today and he seemed credible however I'm nervous about the whole thing as I didnt anticipate this work and it seems its going to cost me a fair bit to get done, so I'll spend if I have to but I want value for money.

Can you share any information on costs of the project and also why you only chose to get certain rooms done? Are they the only rooms adjoining another property or did you just make a judgement call on what rooms were most important?

Good luck Lady

Can anyone reccommend a company that carries out soundproofing in the Kildare/Dublin area?

Emma2019

I contacted Cunas and got a quote but then they stopped replying to mails/answering the phone. They were definitely much more expensive than other quotes I got.

Haven't gotten the work done yet so cant recommend anyone I'm afraid.

TimHorton

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gosforth+handyman+soundproofing Have a look at this - DIY is Possible