Just wondering if anyone can help or has any ideas on what is causing our issue. We live in a three bedroom semi-detached house, built in 1980/ 81. The living rooms for each house are on either side of the partition wall, while the front doors are at either end of the front wall., ie. not along the partition wall. I think the partition wall is 4x9 bricks on the flat. Joists run into partition wall. Upstairs floor is a bit of a joke, so sloped it’s ridiculous.
Here’s the issue, when our neighbours close their front and back doors the noise is louder than when our own doors are closed. When they walk up their stairs it can be heard throughout our whole house. We also hear them walking throughout their house, in all the rooms upstairs and downstairs. Once again this is nearly louder than when someone walks around our own house. We realise there is always going to be a bit of flanking noise but this is excessive.
Due to this constant disturbance we got a bit of work done. Our builder put “Calibel” on the partition wall and along most of the external walls front and back. It’s about 40mm thick in total, it’s basically glasswool on a piece of plasterboard. It was put on to the brick with dot and dab. The chimney breast in the living room downstairs had nothing done to it. Also, a friend pulled up the floorboards and sprayed in foam between our joists and brickwork. I realise now that it should have been concrete put in.
All the work we had done has deadened the airborne sound but has done little or nothing to stop the impact noise of footfall or flanking noise. Recently I found two small holes in our chimney breast. It was as if the cement was flaking away. The more I scratched at it, the more it came away. Our builder says he’ll come out and put some fire cement in.
The house next door is rented and we haven’t been able to gain access to assess the chimney from their side.
I don’t know what is fully causing our issue and would appreciate if anyone could advise us on causes and hopefully remedies! Other neighbours in the estate complain of the walls being thin at times but not of the impact or flanking noises. I'm wondering if the chimney is amplifying impact noise around the house.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, I'd appreciate any opinions. Just as a bit of backround, I lived all my younger life in a terrace house so am well used to a bit of noise but this is significantly loud.
Daidí31
Here’s the issue, when our neighbours close their front and back doors the noise is louder than when our own doors are closed. When they walk up their stairs it can be heard throughout our whole house. We also hear them walking throughout their house, in all the rooms upstairs and downstairs. Once again this is nearly louder than when someone walks around our own house. We realise there is always going to be a bit of flanking noise but this is excessive.
Due to this constant disturbance we got a bit of work done. Our builder put “Calibel” on the partition wall and along most of the external walls front and back. It’s about 40mm thick in total, it’s basically glasswool on a piece of plasterboard. It was put on to the brick with dot and dab. The chimney breast in the living room downstairs had nothing done to it. Also, a friend pulled up the floorboards and sprayed in foam between our joists and brickwork. I realise now that it should have been concrete put in.
All the work we had done has deadened the airborne sound but has done little or nothing to stop the impact noise of footfall or flanking noise. Recently I found two small holes in our chimney breast. It was as if the cement was flaking away. The more I scratched at it, the more it came away. Our builder says he’ll come out and put some fire cement in.
The house next door is rented and we haven’t been able to gain access to assess the chimney from their side.
I don’t know what is fully causing our issue and would appreciate if anyone could advise us on causes and hopefully remedies! Other neighbours in the estate complain of the walls being thin at times but not of the impact or flanking noises. I'm wondering if the chimney is amplifying impact noise around the house.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, I'd appreciate any opinions. Just as a bit of backround, I lived all my younger life in a terrace house so am well used to a bit of noise but this is significantly loud.
Daidí31