Sound Proofing

Wurley · 20-01-2021 6:09pm #1

Hi, looking for some advise.

I live in an boom time built apartment, all was ok (ish) until a family moved in above me and now i can hear EVERYTHING and i mean everything. I have spoken to them and management company but it seems to be just getting worse.

I am looking into soundproofing my bedroom at first as moving is not an option at the moment. Not for the next year at the very least.

Has anyone ever done a project like this in an apartment? Are you allowed? Expensive?

I've looked at you tube videos etc but would like some real advise.

Any would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a million

21-01-2021 3:13pm

The best technique for soundproofing a room, commonly used in recording studios and other noise-critical applications, is to build an airtight room within the room. That would mean 4 walls and a ceiling airgapped from the containing room, with the floor mounted on rubber shockmounts to acoustically decouple the room from the outside. You would lose about a foot of space in all 3 dimensions. You would also need a heavy duty door and an air circulation system. That would be very expensive.

If it's only above you, you could look at rockwool as a ceiling insulator. I'm guessing you would do a false ceiling and pack the cavity, but some of the sound, particularly low frequencies, will still be transmitted through the walls to an extent.

ebayissues · 21-01-2021 3:19pm

I'm interested in this aswell.

Not sure what changed but all of a sudden I can hear my neighbours laughing when watching tv not the TV atually. In my bedroom, I can hear them in them in thir rooms. My walls are concrete making fixingg this problematic... So annoying

I feel your pain OP

Wurley · 21-01-2021 3:23pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

The best technique for soundproofing a room, commonly used in recording studios and other noise-critical applications, is to build an airtight room within the room. That would mean 4 walls and a ceiling airgapped from the containing room, with the floor mounted on rubber shockmounts to acoustically decouple the room from the outside. You would lose about a foot of space in all 3 dimensions. You would also need a heavy duty door and an air circulation system. That would be very expensive.

If it's only above you, you could look at rockwool as a ceiling insulator. I'm guessing you would do a false ceiling and pack the cavity, but some of the sound, particularly low frequencies, will still be transmitted through the walls to an extent.

I was thinking that but am I allowed “tamper” with the ceiling? Like with apartments I know what’s yours isn’t really yours kinda thing. If it dampened the noise by 30/40% it would be life changing at this stage.

Wurley · 21-01-2021 3:26pm

ebayissues wrote: »

I'm interested in this aswell.

Not sure what changed but all of a sudden I can hear my neighbours laughing when watching tv not the TV atually. In my bedroom, I can hear them in them in thir rooms. My walls are concrete making fixingg this problematic... So annoying

I feel your pain OP

I haven’t a clue what changed. 7 years I heard nothing to a new owner doing works but “not changing anything” to hearing everything down to them using the toilet. I’m at my wits end with it all. Don’t mind paying if it works but I want to know if it will or does before I invest in it.

Lumen · 21-01-2021 3:32pm

Wurley wrote: »

I haven’t a clue what changed. 7 years I heard nothing to a new owner doing works but “not changing anything” to hearing everything down to them using the toilet.

Replacing carpets with laminate floors?

Wurley · 21-01-2021 3:35pm

Lumen wrote: »

Replacing carpets with laminate floors?

Possibly. I was assured by the management company that the new owner did not change the floors. I find that very hard to believe. Floors are concrete so I’m not sure if that has anything to do with it

Fabio · 21-01-2021 3:37pm

ebayissues wrote: »

I'm interested in this aswell.

Not sure what changed but all of a sudden I can hear my neighbours laughing when watching tv not the TV atually. In my bedroom, I can hear them in them in thir rooms. My walls are concrete making fixingg this problematic... So annoying

I feel your pain OP

It might not be too bad to improve on a concrete partition wall. I assume there's an air gap between your house and their house, and you're just at opposite sides of the very same concrete wall.

You could buy some timber and construct what is, essentially, a stud wall, in front of the concrete wall. Attach a vertical piece of wood from floor to ceiling every couple of feet (attach to the current wall if you want, you might lose some of the sound insulation but, for an amateur DIYer it's easier). The connect those vertical pieces with a few pieces of your wood set horizontally (construction lads call them noggins I think).

If you ensure the wood beams you have attached to the wall give you a depth of about 50mm, you can then buy a roll or two of Rockwool insulation and fit those within the frame you have made. Then fit plasterboard over that frame (acoustic plasterboard if you want, it's heavier, a bit thicker and made to absorb sound). You can buy special tape for the joints which you can either have plastered over or just throw up some wallpaper or paint it.

This is very much a DIY solution - professionals will use special fixings that help stop sound vibrations transmitting to your frame and they'd recommend against fixing to a wall, they'd fix to the ceiling and floor (and use some sort of rubber matting on either end to avoid transmission from ceiling or floor going through the wall) and have an air gap or perhaps more insulation. However, this uses more space and is hard to DIY.

If you try the method I did, you may well get results, it'll be fairly cheap and, with a bit of help, you'd have it done in a day. I did my concrete chimney breast using this method to stop TV noise coming through from a TV hung on the other side of that chimney and, so far, it has worked.

Wurley · 21-01-2021 3:57pm

Fabio wrote: »

It might not be too bad to improve on a concrete partition wall. I assume there's an air gap between your house and their house, and you're just at opposite sides of the very same concrete wall.

You could buy some timber and construct what is, essentially, a stud wall, in front of the concrete wall. Attach a vertical piece of wood from floor to ceiling every couple of feet (attach to the current wall if you want, you might lose some of the sound insulation but, for an amateur DIYer it's easier). The connect those vertical pieces with a few pieces of your wood set horizontally (construction lads call them noggins I think).

If you ensure the wood beams you have attached to the wall give you a depth of about 50mm, you can then buy a roll or two of Rockwool insulation and fit those within the frame you have made. Then fit plasterboard over that frame (acoustic plasterboard if you want, it's heavier, a bit thicker and made to absorb sound). You can buy special tape for the joints which you can either have plastered over or just throw up some wallpaper or paint it.

This is very much a DIY solution - professionals will use special fixings that help stop sound vibrations transmitting to your frame and they'd recommend against fixing to a wall, they'd fix to the ceiling and floor (and use some sort of rubber matting on either end to avoid transmission from ceiling or floor going through the wall) and have an air gap or perhaps more insulation. However, this uses more space and is hard to DIY.

If you try the method I did, you may well get results, it'll be fairly cheap and, with a bit of help, you'd have it done in a day. I did my concrete chimney breast using this method to stop TV noise coming through from a TV hung on the other side of that chimney and, so far, it has worked.

Thanks for that response. I’m in an apartment and it’s coming from above. So would the solution work? I’d give anything a go if it worked.

mosii · 21-01-2021 4:59pm

You could buy some timber and construct what is, essentially, a stud wall, in front of the concrete wall. Attach a vertical piece of wood from floor to ceiling every couple of feet (attach to the current wall if you want, you might lose some of the sound insulation but, for an amateur DIYer it's easier). The connect those vertical pieces with a few pieces of your wood set horizontally (construction lads call them noggins I think).

If you ensure the wood beams you have attached to the wall give you a depth of about 50mm, you can then buy a roll or two of Rockwool insulation and fit those within the frame you have made. Then fit plasterboard over that frame (acoustic plasterboard if you want, it's heavier, a bit thicker and made to absorb sound). You can buy special tape for the joints which you can either have plastered over or just throw up some wallpaper or paint it.

This is very much a DIY solution - professionals will use special fixings that help stop sound vibrations transmitting to your frame and they'd recommend against fixing to a wall, they'd fix to the ceiling and floor (and use some sort of rubber matting on either end to avoid transmission from ceiling or floor going through the wall) and have an air gap or perhaps more insulation. However, this uses more space and is hard to DIY.

Hi, the above method is what i more or less tried for a party wall in a semi d.
Using acoustic plasterboard. To be Honest it reduced the noise by about 25 % to .Which was something, but i expected more. I looked at various methods, on the internet, and to be honest ,i think its just because its such close proximity ,as in my case ,is why overall you can hear them
. I know how your feeling ,as its annoying to hear other people living, but thats my honest opinion.

Wurley · 21-01-2021 5:03pm

mosii wrote: »

You could buy some timber and construct what is, essentially, a stud wall, in front of the concrete wall. Attach a vertical piece of wood from floor to ceiling every couple of feet (attach to the current wall if you want, you might lose some of the sound insulation but, for an amateur DIYer it's easier). The connect those vertical pieces with a few pieces of your wood set horizontally (construction lads call them noggins I think).

If you ensure the wood beams you have attached to the wall give you a depth of about 50mm, you can then buy a roll or two of Rockwool insulation and fit those within the frame you have made. Then fit plasterboard over that frame (acoustic plasterboard if you want, it's heavier, a bit thicker and made to absorb sound). You can buy special tape for the joints which you can either have plastered over or just throw up some wallpaper or paint it.

This is very much a DIY solution - professionals will use special fixings that help stop sound vibrations transmitting to your frame and they'd recommend against fixing to a wall, they'd fix to the ceiling and floor (and use some sort of rubber matting on either end to avoid transmission from ceiling or floor going through the wall) and have an air gap or perhaps more insulation. However, this uses more space and is hard to DIY.

Hi, the above method is what i more or less tried for a party wall in a semi d.
Using acoustic plasterboard. To be Honest it reduced the noise by about 25 % to .Which was something, but i expected more. I looked at various methods, on the internet, and to be honest ,i think its just because its such close proximity ,as in my case ,is why overall you can hear them
. I know how your feeling ,as its annoying to hear other people living, but thats my honest opinion.

I understand and thanks for the feedback. Nice to hear other people’s solutions and tried and tested methods. I’d take 25% to be honest. Anything would be better than the way it is. Thanks again

BrokenArrows · 21-01-2021 6:31pm

How tall are your ceilings?
You could add a new ceiling and fill the gap with specialised sound insulation.

Wurley · 21-01-2021 6:39pm

BrokenArrows wrote: »

How tall are your ceilings?
You could add a new ceiling and fill the gap with specialised sound insulation.

I could afford to loose some space. Yeah I could try that also. Great advise. Not the neighbours fault just the building.

keithdub · 21-01-2021 8:21pm

Slab over what's there and reskim. Get in contact with a plaster and they will recommend what slabs to use

Idbatterim · 21-01-2021 8:33pm

handiest thing to do is soundbloc slab over existing plasterboard, assuming its timber battons holding existing plasterboard to the concrete above. assuming whatever the plasterboard is currently fixed too, can take the extra weight. that is the the cheapest quick solution. before skimming, if it does not make enough of a difference, then a frame, containing rockwool, and soundbloc board again, then skim...

Wurley · 21-01-2021 8:43pm

keithdub wrote: »

Slab over what's there and reskim. Get in contact with a plaster and they will recommend what slabs to use

Thank you

Wurley · 21-01-2021 8:44pm

Idbatterim wrote: »

handiest thing to do is soundbloc slab over existing plasterboard, assuming its timber battons holding existing plasterboard to the concrete above. assuming whatever the plasterboard is currently fixed too, can take the extra weight. that is the the cheapest quick solution. before skimming, if it does not make enough of a difference, then a frame, containing rockwool, and soundbloc board again, then skim...

Thanks a million. Will be contacting a plasterer asap.

mosii · 21-01-2021 9:06pm

handiest thing to do is soundbloc slab over existing plasterboard, assuming its timber battons holding existing plasterboard to the concrete above. assuming whatever the plasterboard is currently fixed too, can take the extra weight. that is the the cheapest quick solution. before skimming, if it does not make enough of a difference, then a frame, containing rockwool, and soundbloc board again, then skim...

Use soundbloc plasterboard its blue, put double layers on. Get acoustic sealant, its like a silicone sealant, but with higher db blockage, and do around all joints. Then plaster over. You could also mix bonding and fill the tapered joint between boards {dont forget screed for joints}flush with the boards,and then wallpaper over. I done this and it worked out fine ,just another option.

Sound Proofing

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