Party Wall insulation help required please.

MaryK666

We bought a new-built mid-terrace house just over two years ago and it was built about a year and a half prior to our buying it.
To the best of my knowledge from speaking to people who were working on the houses at the time, they all have cavity walls.
Since the beginning, we have had noisy neighbours on one side while the house on the other side was unoccupied. Now that empty house is being fitted out by a couple with two young children and without flooring in their house yet, the noise from footfall, slamming doors and kids screeching is crazy.

I've been thinking about insulating the party walls on both sides in the hope that it would provide us with a little more sound reduction. I know that, because it is a recent build, we wouldn't be entitled to any govt grants.

I was just wondering if anyone had any experience of insulating their party walls and the amount of work and possible costs involved or if anyone had any advice in regard to the best way to insulate the walls. I don't want to have to lose any space from an already small house by adding any stud walls or anything on the inside of our house but would prefer something like the foam or another insulation material blown into the cavity.

Any help or advice would be gratefully appreciated.

North West

MaryK666
Sent you PM have a look at it. Should help with your problem

North West

brendankelly

The Jack wall (the wall between you and your neighbour) should be a 9 inch wall (block laid on the flat) and if so you have no options that I know of other than putting the insulation on the inside. Sorry

MaryK666

brendankelly wrote: »

The Jack wall (the wall between you and your neighbour) should be a 9 inch wall (block laid on the flat) and if so you have no options that I know of other than putting the insulation on the inside. Sorry

Thanks Brendan,

I'm curious to know, if there's sound transfer through the walls, surely putting an insulating/sound proofing layer on my side will only help to reduce the noise in the rooms that we actually insulate and the sound will still travel through in areas like stairways and the bathroom. Is there a way round that or do I just have to grin and bear it?
The house is quite a small house and I'm loath to lose any of the precious space by having to add a layer to the walls. I thought that builders were supposed to build houses to a standard where it shouldn't be possible to hear next doors tv and washing machine. I remember living in a similar style house as a teenager and the neighbours could run a pneumatic drill without us having to hear it.
Is there any way to check the party wall to see how it's put together?

brendankelly

Have a look in the attic. You should see the wall there. It will not be plastered. You should be able to see blocks 18 inches long by 4 inches high with mortar between. This should go right up to the felt under the slates/tiles.

Building standards did not exist in the past 20 years and a 9 inch block wall should give more sound proofing. ????????

slavetothegrind

op's problem is i suspect the dab and slab method of attaching plasterboard to the party wall acting like an amplifier to airborne sound.

a plastered party wall would be much better than this

Building standards my hole, the only thing the government cared about was revenue, full stop.:mad:

lods

slavetothegrind wrote: »

op's problem is i suspect the dab and slab method of attaching plasterboard to the party wall acting like an amplifier to airborne sound.

a plastered party wall would be much better than this

Building standards my hole, the only thing the government cared about was revenue, full stop.:mad:

How about using mushrooms & an acoustic board?
http://www.gypsum.ie/builders/products/plasterboard.aspx#b

slavetothegrind

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055525884&highlight=soundproofing

one of a few previous threads but you could try contacting people by pm about their experiences, there was a thread by a lad in an apartment who paid a company to do his party wall and he said the results were dramatically good.
if i find it i'll post it.

OP if you have the stuck on plasterboard the only option without losing space is to remove the plasterboard and have the party wall plastered.

this will achieve two things, fill any gaps that may be in the mortarjoints and add mass which will help.

issues that arise will be services in the walls mainly electric cables.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055643095,

i wish there was a cheap and cheerful solution as i would implement it myself!!

brendankelly

During the Boom in the late 70s some developers "to make more money for themselves" used a 9 inch cavity block instead of 2 rows of 4 inch blocks with a real cavity between them. Again to save money it was cheaper to stick the 9 mm plaster board onto the wall. These houses now are a knight mare for their owners because there is not enough room inside to insulate them properly and in my opinion many of the external insulation systems are a knight mare for the future. I do not believe it will be possible to bring these houses up to the recommended insulation level. I believe the professionals (arcts engineers etc) should lobby the expecting future government to introduce legalisation where by these houses can be demolished and re built at no cost to the owners. The present government could afford to give away trillions of Euros worth of Oil and Gas so when the great gas give away deal is re negotiated the next government can afford to make vulnerable people in our society comfortable.

Start the New year on a positive note. Happy New Year to those that are not developers.

muffler

@ brendankelly. If you wish to retain your posting privileges on this forum then please stay on topic.

This is not your soapbox for ranting about issues that are persistently dragging threads off topic.

MaryK666

I haven't been able to get into the attic to look at the brickwork on the party wall but from what I can recall. it's the standard solid concrete brick type.

Sorry to anyone out there who's reading this but I'm a complete moron when it comes to building work and terms - which is why I turned to you guys for help

From what I can tell, the party walls have the plaster applied directly to the brickwork as the walls are very solid and there's no hollow sound when tapped like you can get from plasterboard. I've also hit one of them a fair thump (by accident) when moving a coffee table and it didn't dent like plaster board.

I'm going to try and see if I can get any info out of the building company but I'm not holding out much hope. It seems to be a case that once they got the money, they washed their hands of the place.
If they can tell me how the party wall is constructed, it might help me get somewhere in figuring out how many options I have in sorting out the problems.

paddy147

Roll of accoustic grade cork board/sheeting and then a accoustic rubber solution layer,then plasterboard and replaster it.


Trust me on the above method.
I cant hear my neighbour any more.:D

brendankelly

Paddy 147 has a good system that will work and will not cost a fortune but this system is very difficult to apply to the 9 inch hollow blocks but this does not apply in your case (I believe). The stair wall is a bit tricky but can be done, however the bathroom wall could cost more to do than all the rest put together, especially if the bath/shower is on that wall.