Home sound insulation..
 

Hello,
I moved house a few years ago to a 1970s built terrace in a little village. It's a lovely house, with plenty of space. It was perfect.

However, I can hear every single sound from next door.
It's really getting us both down. It feels like a home invasion.

With home working, it's incredibly hard to concentrate.
Further to that, I'm worried that they can hear us.

I want to get the wall insulated and was wondering if anybody else had done similar and if so, how did you do it?

I've seen some kits, but they will take up six inches of the room. That won't work because of where the doors are.

Prior to lockdown, it didn't bother me too much. I was leaving home at 5.00am and getting home at 8.00pm.
My partner had mentioned it, (as she works from home anyway) but I didn't realise the extent of it until I started working from home too.

Any advice or suggestions?

move into a detached property is my only suggestion.
At my son in laws (SIL) we can hear the microwave of next door. At my SIL and daughters first joint house we can hear the TV from next door. People don't not have to be loud for noise to be heard

you have my sympathy

macafee2

That is the long term plan.

This isn't just appliances we can hear, I don't mind that. It's conversations. Like word for word.

Do you know whether the wall between the properties is a cavity wall? If it is and it's not already filled with insulation, then getting it done should at least alleviate the problem. Also, as it's a shared wall, talk to your neighbour about dividing the cost as the result would be in both your interests.

It is almost unheard of to have a cavity wall between two properties.

Try chatting on this site diynot.com, it has loads of experts and professionals.

Lockdown has woken me up to the fact that the neighbours children are growing up, and the guy downstairs from me chooses to have internet chats in the middle of the night, and I consider myself lucky that we have concrete floors.

Good luck.

I don't think it's a cavity wall. In fact, the noise is so clear I was doubting it was anything other than plasterboard. :eek:
I don't think I'd want to bring it up with my neighbour. I think it would be an awkward conversation to have.

Thank you. I'll look up that site.

I imagine it's the same for a lot of people now that we are spending more time at home. It isn't easy.

We've even taken to watching TV with headphones if it's getting late.

You can be chasing sound penetration for years. It comes down to the frequency and resonance of particular sounds/materials and elimination is difficult.

I sympathise, it becomes increasingly intrusive as time goes on. I experienced the problem some years ago, in the end getting a firm to take readings and suggesting effective materials/methods proved a quicker and more successful way to go. There just might be records of the construction of the houses held at local authority offices which could show party wall build.

We recently had this done downstairs in our property by https://www.soundproofingrus.com/pro...ategory/walls/, and, by an odd co-incidence, are having our upstairs walls sorted this coming Monday.

Not cheap, and you will lose some room space dependant upon the option you go for, but the results, for us at least, were well worth it. I appreciate what you say about the door issue, but it may nevertheless be worth giving them a call to see if they can help with a solution for your particular circumstances.

Cliff

It has indeed progressively worsened as I've become more aware of it.
I would like to get it sorted properly. If I can find someone who covers my area.
Thank you Cliff. I'll definitely give them a call.
What sort of noise were you trying to eliminate? For us it's voices. (Mostly shouting...)

For us, it was an intrusive home cinema system in the living room, plus voices, and in the dining room, mainly voices, plus a constant hum from (possibly) their boiler system. All noises have been stopped now, apart from (oddly) their dog who can still be heard. As Wraymond says though, it's all about frequencies.

Upstairs is pretty quiet, but is in need of decorating, so I decided to have sound insulation sorted beforehand just in case. Next door is rented, so you never know when new, noisier tenants may move in.

Cliff