Soundproofing

T

toni_mrphy

Registered User
Messages
68
Hi
I moved into a new 3 bedroomed semi d in cork city last year and I have been having issue's with the noise coming from next store, its not that the neighbors are very noisy its just when in the master bedroom upstairs I can hear everything even light switches going on and off I am suffering from some serious sleep depravation
Can anyone recommend a builder/plasterer that could sound proof the bedroom and would it be expensive?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated
 
Tony i've got good news and bad.
the bad news is that i get the feeling your house was poorly constructed.
not enough insulation was used, walls where not filled in and sealed behind where the floor meets the walls. I could go on..
But its the same with the vast amount of houses in ireland, due to once again very mickey mouse building regulations.
Now the good news!
I am an Interior Designer, but before that I was a professional sound engineer working in a well Known recording studio.
The reason you can hear everything next door is because the sound is vibrating through solid points of the building (someone walks on the floor next door, sound goes down along their floor joist, through badly filled bit of wall, along your floor joist) where its amplified. You need to break and dampen those points.
any or all of these will really help.
Build 2 stud walls with a gap between them, offset to each other, packed with Rockwool (bit like attic wool, made by the same co.)and on a strip of cork tiles(3 high, 4 inch wide, floor and ceiling). cork is very good sound insulator.
Fill in the gaps behind skirting boards etc with soft insulation.
lay a good carpet or wood flooring with very good insulation. you want to disrupt the vibrations as much as poss.
these are just a few low cost ideas. hope it helps. let me know how you get on.
alan - interior designer
 
Hi ala4now,

We built a new house recently and got concrete floors and block internal walls installed, all for good sound proofing. Its is actually worse than timber and stud partitions with very little sound insulation particularly in the walls. Is this likely because of possible poor construction. The house is 3,600 sq ft with hardwood and tiles on floors, maybe it needs more furnishings.Wondering how you would get a proper assessment of the sound insulation efficiency of a house. The engineer for the build really not helpful here.

Appreciate any advices. Thanks.
 
Re: Soundproofing in old houses

I've seen several threads here on how to soundproof but they all deal with poorly built new builds and all the best solutions seem to involve taking a couple of inches off room sizes and pumping in extra insulation.

However, I'm in a 1910 (approx) house where Im amazed to hear sounds (loud conversations in some cases and definitely any type of shouting upstairs to the kids) from one side - I cant hear a thing from the other side. I can only hear from my hall/upstairs landing and boxroom (as opposed to the "living/sleeping" side of my house) so its usually not too bad, and my (nice)neighbours are also aware of the problem. Still, I've lived in a series of houses from this period and never heard a thing from the neighbours - its very disconcerting to be that aware of your neighbours' movements. And because I live alone, I'm probably far more aware of their noises than vice versa. Any ideas ? I simply dont have the space to take two inches or more off my hall - this would also ruin a lot of the nice features and I assume it would be very expensive.

thanks
 
During our rennovation we used insulating plasterboards (kingspan I think) on most walls including the internal walls to the adjoining house as the neighbours had told us they could hear the TV in our house when the previous owner was there.

It's an old house so the construction is different to yours but now we hear absolutely nothing from next door, including a new baby! Unfortunately the insulating plasterboard does take about 8cm off the room but well worth it if you can spare it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top