Is there anything we can do to retrofit soundproofing?

[MeeThree]

we moved to a standard Victorian terrace a few months ago. Before moving here, we had only lived in Victorian terraces so it's not a new thing for us.

we just had the house redecorated, one bathroom moved and a few of the sash windows refurbished - we haven't changed much but the sound proofing of the house has completely changed and we can hear each other, particularly through the floors. It may be that it was this bad when we first moved in and we just didn't notice.

we're at a bit of a loss as we've never lived in a house that carries sound as well as this one does and we'd like to try and do something about it. To make matters worse, our neighbours have a drum kit and play it for up to 2 hours a day.

has anyone retrofitted some soundproofing into their house that wasn't at great expense? I've been reading about filling the floor cavities with some sort of acoustic wool. I'm guessing there isn't much we can do about the walls.

Can I ask a stupid question - does the house have carpets?

We're in a massive 12 yo house that has none whatsoever, and I can hear the OH pissing on a different floor on the opposite side of the house, or his phone vibrate on the beside table a floor down, and I'm convinced it's because there are no carpets.

(and my LL probably did things on the cheap - it looks very fancy but she definitely cut some important corners)

no it doesn't and we can't have because of all the asthmatics in the house unfortunately. We've never had carpets in any of the terraces we've lived in but you are totally right, carpets make a massive difference!

without carpets, or at least another layer in the cavities, I think the sound does just travel around argh. Sorry to hear yours is so shite!

That's alright. We don't own ours and aren't stuck here.

Are there no carpets suitable for asthmatics? Or at least massive rugs?

There are specialist companies who can do this - anything's possible but it just means expense.
The hardest form of noise to stop is the 'bass' - eg. thuds from footsteps - higher frequencies are much easier.

From a DIY perspective and without carpets, it'll be a case of simply laying as much acoustic insulation material as possible underneath the floorboards (preferably with some air gaps, which act as further absorption).

To help with the drums from next door, you'll basically need to build a 2nd insulated wall - not massively expensive but you'll lose some room size.

(....or you could add a 2nd insulated floor over the floorboards to the room upstairs)