Has Anyone had soundproofing done?

[Mirage]

We have been in our new house for about 6 weeks & it is down a little country lane & very quiet.

However we are in one of a pair of semi's & the house next door is owned by the people who sold us this one.They are absolutely lovely & never complain about the dd's noise,although I know that they must hear it.They just laugh & say that they never hear a sound & even if they did,they wouldn't mind as they have grandchildren.The thing is,we can hear their TV through the party wall,and although it isn't loud (they are very quiet people),it is a sort of mumbling in the background & quite noticeable,especially in our bedrooms,at night.

My guess is that its coming up through the chimney breast & due to the fact that it is so quiet here,no traffic,people walking past ect,it is more noticeable than it would be otherwise.

I know that the easiest option would be to tell them,but it isn't loud & we must be a lot noisier than they are,so I feel awful about complaining when they have gone out of their way to make us welcome & our family make far more noise,ie baby crying ect.They said today how happy they are that we live next door.

I am looking into soundproofing the walls on the affected side & wondered if anyone had any experience of soundproofing.My dad suggested putting built in wardrobes along the wall to deaden the sound-do you think this would work?

I know that its not a major problem & that I'm lucky to have such good neighbours,but it is a niggling problem that I'd like to sort out if possible.
Thanks.

you can buy plasterboard which is extra thick which will solve this it's actually called soundbloc by gyproc so if you were planning on decorating you could have it replastered with this??

Great-thanks Janbo25.That sounds the sort of thing we are looking for.Have you used it?Was it effective?The whole house needs gutting,all the plasterwork is shot,we will be doing plenty of replastering/redecorating,so plasterboard would be a good idea.

about to move into a terrace and am expecting baby so am really interested in this - any advise?

well we have just had a dormer extension and we have used lots of this plasterboard it is slightly more more expensive than standard plasterboard but works out way way cheaper than soundproofing and it really does work, we put it on our bedroom wall to so that our ds can't here anything! lol

For some products and good advice (but not good web site design) try:

www.soundservice.co.uk/

www.customaudiodesigns.co.uk/index.htm

www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/sound_proofing_in_the_home.htm (links off to Custom Audio Designs)

I've purchased soundproofing products from Sound Service - but to stop noise going through the ceiling from the living room into my DS room. It worked well but do follow their advice...

The smallest air gap is enough to let a lot of sound through. (Staggered overlapped plasterboard can help here as can a sealant around the edge of the plasterboard.)

Having a break in the sound path stops vibrations passing through (use their Resilient bar to help with plasterboard) So can making sure the boards don't toch edge or floor if you can avoid it - a flexible sealant will do instead.

Also bear in mind that very low bass frequencies are much harder to block.

Good luck!

Thanks Janbo25 & The Doughnut,those suggestions are great.

Barefootmama,we moved out of a terrace to this house & rarely heard our neighbours-on one side we had a passageway between the ground floor of the 2 houses & could only hear very faint noises from next door.On the other side we had our hallway between us & next door.It had to be said that both neighbours were very quiet though.However,we could hear music from next door but one & feel the reverberations of them slamming their doors at all hours!

I think older houses are far better built than modern ones hope the move goes well.