Does soundproofing ever work?

[ilovefood643]

We live in a semi that was built in 1959. The walls are very thin. Our neighbours are not unreasonably loud at all, but we can still hear them and it is driving me insane. Voices are the main concern.

The house has floorboards rather than hard floor which I imagine doesn't help.

I have seen a company called Soundproofing store which has some reasonably priced DIY options, but the house is not massive and I have a small budget so I'm dubious of losing space and money for no actual benefit.

Has anyone had soundproofing work done and it's actually worked? And if so, what route did you go down and how much did you spend? Thank you!

Bump

We soundproofed our upstairs rooms along the adjoining wall. All airborne noise has gone but it didn’t change structural noise like stairs / door slamming / machine vibration noise.

What sort of solution is it?

We are thinking of soundproofing between the upstairs bedrooms as the internal walls are thin. Is it a plasterboard?

We're in a semi with soundproofing.
The only time I can hear my neighbours is if my house is in complete silence and they shout. Then I can hear a muffled sound but can't make out much. I can also hear doors closing if my house is in silence. I think it works very well.

My husband built a stud wall in our semi lounge. He insulated it with special soundproofing 'stuffing' (like the insulation in lofts) inbetween batons and plaster boarded over it.

Didn't work.

@Dutchesss

We're in a semi with soundproofing. The only time I can hear my neighbours is if my house is in complete silence and they shout. Then I can hear a muffled sound but can't make out much. I can also hear doors closing if my house is in silence. I think it works very well.

What soundproofing is it? Did you install it? I'm in a similar position as OP and interested

Unfortunately I have no idea. It was soundproofed when we bought the house around 10 years ago.

That's a shame. But thanks for replying - it's good to know it can make a difference. Previous owners wouldn't have installed if there hadn't been noise.

I had plasterboard on wooden battens over all the walls in my kitchen (Victorian terrace), with about a 3-inch gap. There was nothing in the gap - no insulation; it was just empty space. The plasterboard was wallpapered. By the look of it, it had been put in in the 70s. This got semi-destroyed when the old back boiler broke down, and I had to have that taken out and a new boiler put in, so I had it all stripped out. Before, I couldn't hear anything all all from next-door's kitchen ... now I can hear their television loud and clear. It was really, really effective sound insulation. I wish I'd realised.

@middleager that’s a shame because that seemed like the obvious choice!

@Dutchesss glad to hear there is hope at least

@Time40 this is very interesting!

I have been researching genie clips as the first layer which get some good reviews for soundproofing. We’d have to do it direct to wall to avoid too much space being lost

I had some put in and yes, it does reduce things like voices but not door slamming. But overall it was worth it. I am now thinking of getting it done downstairs as I can hear my neighbours’ conversations when they are in their kitchen, which is really very annoying.

@Notcontent voices are the only thing that bother me tbh! What sound proofing method did you use?

Mine was done by my builder so not exactly sure but it was some special board they used and I did lose a few cm of space. Sorry that’s not very helpful. But I think they key thing is that if you are doing it, use the best possible materials and just a basic diy job is probably not worth it.

OP, I don't think it helps that my neighbours' house has wooden floorboards, blinds but no curtains downstairs. The noise must carry through the joists/chimney breast.

It's now a rental, so have unfortunately have been able to test it with four different sets of neighbours in five years!

One the home improvemnet shows put felt on the walls as a sound insulation.
I have no idea if it worked or not but sound studios use it I have been told.

I’ve just had a soundproof wall done. Brilliant can no longer hear any voices..bliss

Yes it really works. Got it done in last two houses, for shared walls. Makes a massive difference if your neighbours are just ‘normally’ noisy.

we used a local company, I think it’s about 1.5k a wall. Maybe less depending on the options you chose.

all the soundproofers I have met have been South African and lovely.

deffo worth it.

How does it actually work - what do they do? Is there a lot of patching up and redecorating afterwards?

I had a new stud wall put in. They put a metal framework in place 15 cm from original wall so you lose some space. Then filled with rock wool , a layer of heavy loaded vinyl and then sound proof plasterboard. They then put skirtingboard along the bottom and a plaster skim to finish. They had to move a couple of plug sockets . There was minimal mess and it took one and a half days an then a few hours for plasterer. Expensive though. I also had a a bit of a corner fireplace boxed in and it came to 2200 . But worth it as I can’t hear any voices, tv or hairdryer etc. I can still here child running on wood floor but minimal.

@ACJane they basically put in a fake wall over the existing one, there are a variety of options depending how much space you can lose. We're in a small terrace so went for losing like the least amount of space but added wool insulation and green glue to make it more sound proof.
My lot left it all clean and tidy, they were great. I just got them from checkatrade and they knew the bloke we'd used in our previous house in a different area. Had to wait a while tho as they were booked up.

If I could be arsed I would set up a soundproofing company. Gotta make a fortune.

Both side of us are rentals and the neighbours are quiet but if the next lot aren't then we're protected. Would do it again in a heartbeat, all our shared walls are now soundproofed in one wall or another, or hallways.

oh yeah they had a plasterer for afterwards - he was a indie looking guy in his 20s. Very different from the tattooed plasterers of yesterday year.

There were also options on the plasterboard - cheap to expensive.

I had the same done on one wall, the builder insisted it would be a great sound barrier. It hasn't worked at all, I'm really pissed off about it to be honest.

We had a stud wall made of soundproof plasterboard filled with rockwool. Cost was £1.5 k per wall. I think it really has worked- I can only hear dull sounds if they are really shouting, and only if I am.very close to the wall. However it doesn't stop sounds like doors opening etc, just dulls them.