Soundproofing Interior

rb25

Hi. We bought a new build house last year. The sound proofing is shockingly bad between our house and the adjoining house and non-existant between the interior walls.



Looking for some low-cost solutions.


Does anybody in Ireland do the blown insulation into the interior spaces between the interior walls?


Anyone have experience of using the sound proofing paint? Or could give recommendations on whether it is worth doing?



https://homeguides.sfgate.com/increase-soundproofing-existing-wall-40553.html

Calahonda52

need a bit more info on the house construction/materials used

is the stairs along the shared wall?

LenWoods

I've used 53mm thick insulated plasterboard on a neighbouring wall in our bedroom,
The purpose for us was to cover some cables instead of chasing in to the neighbouring wall we cladded over them with the insulation,
It also reduces the noise from next door and wasn't that expensive
Heres how I fitted it:
https://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/80864-living-room-project/?do=findComment&comment=716250

Idioteque

Paint and blown insulation is not going to make much of a difference in isolation. What you need is more mass first and then see how budget is for other stuff.

Someone on here a while back seemed to have a good experience with Mustwall 33B so you could have a search for that thread.

I'm surprised you're having that problem on a new build, I'd have through with all the new regs etc. that this was a thing confined to older houses. Maybe check with neighbours if they have the same issue just to rule out it's not something specific to your place.

The thing with sound is that it'll get through any slight cracks so sometimes if everything else is ok you can have some success with smaller solutions like acoustic sealant etc.

A good starting point is to do some further reading on how sound travels, absorbing vs proofing etc. and that'll at least help set expectations of what's possible and potential costs.

imp1

Anything lightweight will do nothing really, particularly paint.
Mustwall 33B is a very good product, if that is what you need.
Is it a new build, post 2015?
If so, it should meet building regs, including Part E on sound insulation, if your house is part of a larger estate, it may not have been tested itself, but a number of houses in the development should have been. Your (or the) assigned certifier should have test results.
What part of the country are you in - just generally.
Do you know what the party wall construction is?
In your own house, there tends to be little done to reduce noise transfer between rooms, mainly because it is 'your noise' which is not normally as annoying as a neighbours noise, and you can control it, but also doors etc can make it a bit of a waste doing too much - houses with block built partition walls tend to perform much better in this regard.

rb25

@Calahonda52 yes the stairs is along the adjoining neighbours wall. Not so much noise from foot traffic on the stairs but we can hear them flicking light switches on at the hall (and they can hear ours). Adjoining wall is concrete block (not sure what size or make) and is drylined partially but not all along.

@imp1 - The build was completed in the end of 2018. We're in Cork.

imp1

You should have received a completion certificate and a whole load of other certs, air tightness, BER etc as well as results from Part E testing - not necessarily your house, but results from a representative sample of the total number of houses in the development - do you have that?
Is it only light switches you hear, or can you hear conversational level noise, or the TV from next door?
Cheap light switches can make a very loud click, with a bit of luck it could be a €2 fix if that is all it is.
A drylined party wall, if done properly, can work well enough, but they are often not done well, the test results should show if it meets the regs.
Are the entrance halls back to back with each other, (stairs on the party wall suggests they probably are), what other rooms are on the party wall, what is the noise situation in them wrt what you can hear from next door.

rb25

We can hear murmur conversation but not anything that is being said. We don't hear their TV because the sitting rooms are at the opposite ends of each house. We can hear their water pump humming when it turns on because it vibrates against the joice in the attic where they installed it. The same was happening with our water pump but we moved ours and installed an expansion tank to take down the pressure (because it was making a bang when the taps were turned on/off) so it is not as noticeable in our own house. But we hear theirs still.

They are the cheapest of light switches and we are in control of our side, in that, we can replace our light switches but theirs will still be audible.

Yes the entrance doors are side-by-side. I don't recall getting anything about part E on the certs that we got. I'll check again.

LenWoods

rb25 wrote: »

We can hear murmur conversation but not anything that is being said. We don't hear their TV because the sitting rooms are at the opposite ends of each house. We can hear their water pump humming when it turns on because it vibrates against the joice in the attic where they installed it. The same was happening with our water pump but we moved ours and installed an expansion tank to take down the pressure (because it was making a bang when the taps were turned on/off) so it is not as noticeable in our own house. But we hear theirs still.

They are the cheapest of light switches and we are in control of our side, in that, we can replace our light switches but theirs will still be audible.

Yes the entrance doors are side-by-side. I don't recall getting anything about part E on the certs that we got. I'll check again.

Regarding switches;
I've changed all of ours to clipsal classic
Manufactured by Schneider electric there available from electricalwholesaler.ie
https://www.electricalwholesaler.ie/search?searchtext=Clipsal+&searchmode=anyword

Feel like a pebble stone and are a nice polycarbonate white finish very silent in operation
Can have as many as 5 switches in a single switch plate as featured in my thread ive linked earlier

https://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/80864-living-room-project/#comments

imp1

That layout of front doors works well to minimise the noise in the living spaces, i.e. the living room where the TVs are situated.
Is the only issue light switches in the entrance halls, maybe change yours and offer to do, or get theirs done, as well?
Water pump noise is not tested for part E, but guessing that as you have done, is very solvable.

rb25

@imp1 no not the only issue - just one of the examples. We can hear them on their stairs too and they can hear us of course too. There's a sun room extension on these houses too and we can hear conversation (muted) through the walls there too. They have a dog also and it might as well be barking in our hallway when it barks in their hallway.

Main query I had and reason for posting on here was how to soundproof the interior walls as our own noise internally is audible throughout the house through the walls. I'm thinking of trying the pumped/blown insulation into the interior walls but wondering if anybody in Cork does this before I go doing it myself. Also would then need to look at soundproofing doors as much as possible to reduce noise transfer between rooms eventually too. I'm thinking it will also make the house feel more solid than it does currently.

Presume though there may be downsides to filling the cavities with blown insulation too. What about existing wiring/cabling etc?

rb25

@LenWoods you've a great website there - very informative. Thanks.