Using book case for noise reduction!

[Okigen]

Hello, my party wall is paper thin and my neighbor is a bit hard on hearing, so I'm looking for a way to reduce the noise until I can afford a proper noise insulation firm.

Searching on Mumsnet I think some of you mentioned putting bookshelves up to the wall. A relative is going abroad and happy to lend me lots of his books, so this looks like a viable approach. For those who have been successful with this method, did you attach the shelf to the wall, or did you leave a gap in-between?Just asking because I have skirting boards so may not be able to get the shelves attached to the wall, unless I use a bookcase that doesn't have a back 🤔

Not done it for noise reduction, but with eg IKEA bookcases, you can usually cut out a bit of the bottom back in the shape of the skirting, so it sits flush with the wall. Or neatly cut out a bit of the skirting, if it's going to be there long term.

My bookcase doesn't fit flush to the wall because of the skirting but it's fixed to the wall with a bracket (hardly noticeable).

if you are doing something like IKEA Billy bookcases, then you should also buy some Egg-crate foam - it is v cheap as a mattress-topper. Fix a sheet of foam to the back of each Billy bookcase & push them up to the wall for extra sound insulation.

All our bookshelves are shaped at the bottom to fit around the skirting and so are flush against the wall. I have a billy bookcase too, they come with a bit cut out already but it was too low for our skirting, so I just sawed off a bit more to the correct height.

I can't offer advice on putting bookcases against a party wall to reduce sound transmission, but if in the future you are considering soundproofing the wall(s), my advice is to do thorough research before committing. Read any online reviews - if there aren't any positive ones for the company, best to leave alone. Soundproofing is expensive, and you don't want to be making a costly mistake.

We have had floor-to ceiling bookcases in several rooms when in a previous semi. I think it may help a little, but I'd not expect very much benefit. A lot of noise is transmitted through joists- via ceilings and floors.

Do you have a fireplace in the room? I found a lot of noise came through the chimney (badly pointed brickwork), but echo @BlueMongoose above in that much impact noise comes through joists etc. I like @parietal 's idea of Billy + egg foam.

But soundproofing is generally most effective if done on the side the noise is coming from, not the 'receptor' side.

I don't know but I have noticed that since I moved my IKEA shelving unit (one of those 2x4 Kallax things - not fitted and not flush to the wall) out of my living room that I can hear my neighbours much more. It was in alcove, not sure if that makes any difference?

We have some Ikea bookcases (Ivar, because they're big enough for my big textbooks and are very strong and adjustable) but they don't have backs, and have to sit in front of the skirtings- though books can be pushed back against the wall behind. We have also got some we made- we just fix solid plank verticals (with cut-outs for the skirting) to the walls almost to the ceiling, and we have shelves we fit in between with brass shelf supports like little 'eyes' that fit in brass collars on the verticals. The books on those sit right against the wall- for this, the walls must be very dry, of course. I use those for small paperbacks, they sit snug against the wall and above the skirtings, with no space between shelves because they're all the same size, so they take up almost no space and house a vast number of books per yard of wall. I think they gave more sound insulation than the Ivars when we had a neighbour who occasionally did some sound mixing for his DJ job- not very loudly, and not very often, because he was considerate, but we could hear it....

Whichever bookshelves you get, do make sure they are firmly fixed to the wall.