Noisy Neighbours
The problem:

Having lived in our for home for more than 20 years without ever experiencing any noise problems, the recent arrival of a new neighbour has changed the situation dramatically. We are now frequently suffering intrusion from loud multiple adult voices, multiple adults shouting, children shouting, screaming and crying, children running and jumping around, and doors slamming.

Our neighbour’s household comprises five adults and four children, two of whom are teenagers. They frequently entertain visitors and so the overall number of people in the adjacent living space can be significantly increased. At such times (which are typically at night), the noise is extremely intrusive.

The problem has been exacerbated by the recent installation of laminate flooring in my neighbour’s property.
At present our primary concern is to undertake some remedial work to our main living space. If this proves effective, we will consider extending the works to other rooms.

The party wall:
The property is a terraced house built in 1938. The wall in question is approximately 2.64 m high and is of brick construction.
The overall length of the wall is approximately 7.4 m and comprises two chimney breasts (1.55m and 1.58 wide and 34 cms deep) and three alcoves (1.065m, 2.035m and 1.045m wide).

The floor joists run parallel to the wall.

Installing soundproofing:
Given the level of annoyance and intrusion that we are suffering, we are concerned to implement the most effective solution possible, subject to cost and other constraints.

NB The presence of electrical sockets on the sides of each of the chimney breasts will limit the total thickness of lining to the alcoves to a little over four inches (approx 10 ms).

We would like to keep the thickness of any solution to a minimum but, if a thicker treatment will provide a significantly more effective solution, then we can accommodate around four inches. We have found that we cannot relate easily relate the claimed benefits of different systems to the problems we are experiencing and can’t identify the optimal solution for our problem.

Would we realise a noticeable difference to our problem if we opted for, say, a resilient bars system rather than SS20 panels?

Could the SS20 system be significantly improved by incorporating acoustic membrane / matting?Would SS20 + membrane / matting be as effective as a resilient bars system?

After installing a recommended system, what noises / level of noise would persist?

Our response

Hi John,

Don’t let the presence of the electrical sockets limit you soundproofing. These can be moved. So in answer to the question what is the best. An independent wall is the best and we can offer bespoke products for that the makeup of that wall.
However if space really is at a premium I would suggest the best solution for you would be the following SS20 panels ( M20 as dubbed by Sound service). On to this a layer of 12.5mm acoustic plasterboard and onto that a new and highly effective membrane we stock called tecsound 50, we would suggest the self adhesive variety. The a final layer of 12.5mm acoustic plasterboard.

The net result would be the really the best combination of slim line products that we know of. We are independent of manufacturers so feel happy to recommend what we think are tried and tested best solutions.

As to the level of sound it would remove , this is very tricky. In many cases with simple solutions such as our soundstop panels we get very good results. Each house is very different to the next so sometimes we find that the simple addition of a single layer of soundproofing could result in virtually all the sound being eliminated. See  our case studies studies .

Really if your stopping all avenues of sound ( and it is not flanking around through other structures such as under the floor or via the ceiling) then the result should be very good. With many of the noises you currently hear being eliminated altogether.

If you think under the floor is a concern this area can be treated with acoustic mineral wool, filling the void adjacent to the wall.

Hope this is of help