Soundproofing party wall!

[Okigen]

Hi all, the flat next to mine has been empty for a long time and now is being put up for sale. A few buyers came by; I quickly realise that I can hear them talking quite clearly 😭I suspect it's because our party wall is thin and the plaster is dot and dab which can amplify the sound.

I love my flat and can't afford to move in a the next few years. Has anyone soundproof the party wall recently? How expensive was it and did it take you a lot of space? I don't expect complete silence. I think if the soundproofing solution can cut down the volume of conversation/TV into sort of a distant/small sound I would be rather happy.

Expensive and it didn’t work!
sound travels through joists, not just walls.

I'd like to explore this too. I've kept putting it off but it's probably going to be quite a good investment I suspect.

The sound might reduce once carpets and furniture are moved in next door. Empty living spaces are really loud. We used bookcases on the party wall, which helped a lot.

Oh my god, let's hope the new owners aren't minimalist!

We did and it work well enough but it was done as part of a massive revamp. We had a frame built and acoustic insulation fitted in three rooms, with ply or plasterboard facing. Ply then painted in alcoves of living room, and left bare as backing for full wall sliding wardrobes. Plaster skimmed and painted in other bedroom. We didn't do it in kitchen because we didn't want to lose the space (width of frame and facing) and we don't care about hearing stuff there.

Or neighbor got a dog recently and whilst we can hear some woofing it sounds like it's from down the street. Iirc base sounds travel through joists but higher frequencies less so. If it wasn't for the sound proofing we would have moved, so it was worth it.

Sorry, couldn't tell you a price as it was part of much bigger works and mates rates with carpenter. Have a loft half full of spare insulation boards I can offer you cheap tho 😂

We did it and it made a huge difference. We bought the stuff on line and had a builder install it and then a plasterer to put the plaster on. I think it was about £2k.

Yes, it worked great. I used to feel like my neighbours were in the same room, now it's very muffled and no where near as bad. Built a stud wall 1" from the brick wall, packed as much acoustic insulation in as I could, then put acoustic plasterboard on top. It was a couple years ago but probably less than 300 for materials. Then cost of a plasterer for the finish.

@user1471538283 @Treecreature Amazing! Can you please give me the name of the shop/materials that you bought from? And how much of the space it took (I guess the question is how thick the new studwall with insulation is?).

Out of curiosity, why did you not get a soundproofing company to do this and instead you bought the materials online and hire builders/plasterer separately instead?

Make sure you use a Rockwool type insulation as the air gaps in the structure will absorb the airborne sound. A hard, solid type insulation will not do anything at all.
don’t fully fill the timber studs, an air gap will help and use two layers of acoustic plasterboard if you can.

www.rockwool.com/uk/products-and-applications/product-overview/floor-solutions/flexi-en-gb/?selectedCat=downloads

download the data sheet and there are typical constructions on there

Sure. I bought wood from homebase and acoustic insulation / plasterboard from wickes. I did what I could myself, i.e build the stud wall, pack it with insulation and screw plasterboards to it. Then I got the plasterer to finish it, as plastering is not in my ability. I was going to build the stud wall straight against the other wall, but was told I needed a void or the noise would go through the wood. I probably lost around 4" of the room by the time you have a void, the stud wall and the plasterboard.

Following with interest. Recently moved to a 1940s semi and the party wall seems so thin - we can hear clear words, many of which we'd rather not hear 😬!

I have had soundproofing installed on two of the party walls (1970s end terrace) by a soundproofing company, and it has reduced airborne noise in the lounge by quite a bit, but it was very expensive - and impact sounds are just as loud, if not louder. I wish I'd done more research before buying. The best website I've come across that offers advice on soundproofing is Quietco, who are based in Leamington Spa.

Thank you! Is there any website that you can recommend to teach me how to do it? I think it'll be my project in summer/winter. I'll do small things first, like soundproofing the door, my walk-in wardrobe (which I use to practice singing!), and then once I improve I'll move to the party wall.

my neighbours have stripped off wallpaper put down laminate floors and now I can often hear clearly what they are saying. They new before they did it the walls weren’t good as we had discussed it. But they went ahead and made it worse. Having raised the issue they now blank me don’t want to know. I’ve booked a soundproofing company to put up a stud wall in living room at great expense. Will report back on its effectiveness

Had my soundproofing done, with very good results. Took 15 cm off the room. Had a metal stud wall, filled with rock wool and a layer of heavy loaded vinyl finally plasterboard. Can’t hear voices tv or anything much except I have only had living room done so can still heat them in dining room end. Massive improvement though, cost £2000 plus redecorate costs.

We’ve done this. It is quite effective. Basically you build a new wall about 10-15 cm in front of the party wall. Creates a void and then use two layers of ultra dense acoustic plasterboard. It could be done yourself with help (the plasterboards are very heavy) but personally I’d pay a professional. Costs will be in the thousands, and depends on area you need to cover.

Thanks for update Catstaps and input Mger2.

Someone mentioned something about joists. It is true bumps and thuds are harder to prevent travelling. But airborne noises can be reduced

Absolutely mgr .. I can still hear thuds and the child running up and down but less than before, the airborne noise completely blocked though. It was being able to hear what was said that drove me mad and them being able to hear us. Didn’t feel private.

Catstaps who did you get to do your soundproofing? I know Quietco are the best but £16k per room ( guaranteed and thorough tho)

i got a local company from Gateshead called DHL soundproofing. I think they travel about a bit.

Oops, didn't know the thread is still active after 1 year long!

To be honest after 1 year I kind of get used to it so the neighbours' noise actually doesn't annoy me anymore. That is a whole family with two children crying and screaming! When only the adults are in it feels rather quiet. So I reckon I don't need to do anything for now (plus, they are renting, and have been complaining about the property so will probably move out soon anyway!).

@ladybarb 16k is such a staggering figure! That plus 10cm loss of my wall probably mean I'll just move elsewhere....