Party Wall Problem

bmaxi

Looking for some advice on a party wall. I live in a 3 bed semi, about 7 years old and I've always been suspicious of the make up of the party wall. Unfortunately, my neighbours are only there now and again and it's hard to make a judgement as they are very quiet. The crux came when the battery in one of their smoke alarms failed and we couldn't get to sleep at night with the beeping.
What is the best course to take here, should I get a surveyor, a builder, an engineer or what to assess it? How is he likely to do that and roughly how much would it cost?

BE_MIEI

If you can, have a look at the party wall in the attic space. Look at the masonry and try to deduce the thickness by observation. Standard blocks are normally 100x215x440mm. The dimension that you cant see is likely to be the thickness of the party wall.

Dubstar07

A work colleague had a pretty bad problem with this. Can you get a copy of the spec on the make up of the wall? Do you know who the architect was? Bear in mind that the smoke alarm is meant to be operating at a high dB level, so I would be less inclined to worry about this. However, if you are hearing conversations or other relatively low sounding things (microwave, alarm clock etc.) then it would appear that your instincts are correct.

Mellor

As suggested above. Go into the attic and have a look at the party wall.
Take a picture and post it here if you are still unsure.

bmaxi

Away for a couple of days, I'll post a pic when I get back. Thanks.