Soundproofing Party Wall

DaveyDave

Apologies if this isn't the correct forum for this, searched though posts and didn't see any recent threads but most seem to be in the accomodation and property.

Bought a new build a few months ago, lovely house. Our neighbors have a domestic every other day, full on screaming at each other. I work shifts so need an early night or to sleep in.

Looking for some advice on soundproofing the party wall in our main bedroom. Party wall is just block and plaster.

4m wall approx. There's a built in wardrobe on the wall so hopefully that can be maintained but no sockets or radiators for at least 300mm in front of it so shouldn't have an issue losing space to a cavity wall or anything.

Any advice on ballpark figures and what can be done? The house itself is decent with sound. I can have the surround sound on at a normal volume and it can't be heard in the bedroom above living room, even going to the kitchen with the doors cuts out a lot of sound. It's a surprise the party wall is ****e in comparison.

the_syco

How artsy are you? Would you consider studiofoam wedges? Perhaps make a design with them.

BrokenArrows

Is the built in wardrobe taking up the full wall?

Yellow_Fern

Please tell us more about themake up of the wall. Go into the attic to get a good sense if it. I guess it is dry lined with steel studs with block? Is the block on its side? Has the block a thick coat of cement plastered on it?

There are very DIY solutions dense rubber like panels that you can stick on but I think your situation is probably a defect in the wall. There maybe cement missing from some of the wall. If you open it up you can track this down and fix, then decouple the wall with something like genieclips, fill with dense rockwool slab, not roll and then use acoustic plasterboard.

This retrofit may make your house warmer too. Depends.

kokiyou

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

Please tell us more about themake up of the wall. Go into the attic to get a good sense if it. I guess it is dry lined with steel studs with block? Is the block on its side? Has the block a thick coat of cement plastered on it?

There are very DIY solutions dense rubber like panels that you can stick on but I think your situation is probably a defect in the wall. There maybe cement missing from some of the wall. If you open it up you can track this down and fix, then decouple the wall with something like genieclips, fill with dense rockwool slab, not roll and then use acoustic plasterboard.

This retrofit may make your house warmer too. Depends.

Hijacking a bit here, but I have a new build with timber frame. Is it worth getting some additional sound proofing in the bedroom party wall while its being built? Or getting it checked out now while there is easy access? I assume there won't be any issues but if its 10x easier now would be interested

DaveyDave

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

Please tell us more about themake up of the wall. Go into the attic to get a good sense if it. I guess it is dry lined with steel studs with block? Is the block on its side? Has the block a thick coat of cement plastered on it?

There are very DIY solutions dense rubber like panels that you can stick on but I think your situation is probably a defect in the wall. There maybe cement missing from some of the wall. If you open it up you can track this down and fix, then decouple the wall with something like genieclips, fill with dense rockwool slab, not roll and then use acoustic plasterboard.

This retrofit may make your house warmer too. Depends.

As far as I know the party wall is 215mm block laid flat, don't know anything more than that for the bedroom but I can contact the developer to find out if necessary. Here's a picture from the attic, sorry it's not great as it was taken for size reverence after getting a ladder fit.



The ensuite shares the same party wall and the toilet and shower are on that wall, not sure if this will effect the impact of the soundproofing much. For what it's worth the internal doors are solid, keeping the ensuite door closed should reduce some of the sound.

Regarding the wardrobe, it doesn't fit the entire wall. About 20-30cm of space above and about 60cm beside it.

Yellow_Fern

kokiyou wrote: »

Hijacking a bit here, but I have a new build with timber frame. Is it worth getting some additional sound proofing in the bedroom party wall while its being built? Or getting it checked out now while there is easy access? I assume there won't be any issues but if its 10x easier now would be interested

While its open to take plenty of pictures. I think normally its hard to get builders to add in details like this but adding a good layer of dense rockwool slab (not roll) and something to decouple the furring strips from the party wall would hurt things. The most important thing is making sure the existing details are executed right, for example tapes are on carefully, no gaps, no missing insulation etc.

Yellow_Fern

DaveyDave wrote: »

As far as I know the party wall is 215mm block laid flat, don't know anything more than that for the bedroom but I can contact the developer to find out if necessary. Here's a picture from the attic, sorry it's not great as it was taken for size reverence after getting a ladder fit.



The ensuite shares the same party wall and the toilet and shower are on that wall, not sure if this will effect the impact of the soundproofing much. For what it's worth the internal doors are solid, keeping the ensuite door closed should reduce some of the sound.

Regarding the wardrobe, it doesn't fit the entire wall. About 20-30cm of space above and about 60cm beside it.

Yeah defo ask them is the wall is parged with sand and cement. You can see it often but looking under the insulation or behind power outlets. With these construction details, your neighour's conservations should not be so noticable at all. Maybe be places where the blockwork is poorly pointed with no parge coat or some issue with joists. The price of work can vary a lot if you design a solution yourself or get sound specialists.