Soundproofing against noisy neighbours

[girasol]

Don't want to dishearten you Fozzie but she sounds like one of those twats that just complain coz they're twats. Do stuff if you like but I'd guess she moan anyway. Buy her a pair of earplugs and tell her to deal with it! Go live somewhere in a cave if you can't handle neighbours!

Not sure it's twattish behaviour... Maybe you are both suffering the effects of badly sound proofed living, which is so prevalent The flat I lived in before was quite horrendous for this, just the sound of normal living seemed to get amplified, and this block of flats I lived in had concrete walls! It's sad that bad building practices can ruin some many neighbourly relationships.

Don't hate her, hate whoever converted the house.

 

[Frances Lengel]

It's why I'd never want to live in Switzerland, where many of the cantons have legislation preventing you (on pain of a fine) from flushing the khazi after 8pm.

And pissing standing up as well apparently.

I remember my mate telling me about the time he was in Europe somewhere. Anyway, he pissed his kex in his sleep with his passport in his pocket and his passport got all fucked up, so they wouldn't let him into Switzerland - One of the border guards shook his head and went "Nix in der Sweiss". And my mate pretended to mishear him and went "What, nix in der shice?" Which must've been hilarious.

 

[girasol]

It's why I'd never want to live in Switzerland, where many of the cantons have legislation preventing you (on pain of a fine) from flushing the khazi after 8pm.

Really? Do they have legislation on how to build flats properly?

 

[ViolentPanda]

And pissing standing up as well apparently.

I remember my mate telling me about the time he was in Europe somewhere. Anyway, he pissed his kex in his sleep with his passport in his pocket and his passport got all fucked up, so they wouldn't let him into Switzerland - One of the border guards shook his head and went "Nix in der Sweiss". And my mate pretended to mishear him and went "What, nix in der shice?" Which must've been hilarious.

For him, but seeing as the Swiss are renowned for their lack of humour...

 

[ViolentPanda]

Really? Do they have legislation on how to build flats properly?

Oddly enough, yes, but given that even well-built flats can transmit the sound of flushing/the effluent surging down the pipes, I'm not convinced it matters!
T'other thing is, a lot of the apartment-type accommodation is at least 50 years old, and while it's mostly built with nice think external walls (usually 10-16 inches deep), the internals are another story entirely. I've stayed in similarly-constructed places in Germany, and while you can't really hear much noise from outside, you can hear people walking around, and the like. Me, I just stick a pair of earplugs in, and everything is fine!
Perhaps the Swiss have congenitally-deformed ear canals, and can't wear earplugs?

 

[geminisnake]

Not sure it's twattish behaviour...

From what I read, how I read it and my experience of a wanky neighbour that's what it looked like to me My joy when the old cow stopped speaking to us was great. I suspect Fozzie's neighbour is cut from the same cloth! Just presenting a possibility

 

[maya]

Have the OP (or anyone else) had any luck with d.i.y. soundproofing methods since this thread was created? I need your help.

Right now I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown due to extremely noisy neighbours on all sides (over, under, left, right- plus the whole fucking neighbourhood) and ridiculously thin walls with nonexistent soundproofing which amplifies every sneeze, cough and voice (plus everyone else's shit taste in music ), and being pretty oversensitive to sound already, this is just unbearable! I need to chill and want to listen to my own music in my own living room without being invaded by everyone else's sound all the fucking time!

It's like living in a cardboard beehive- Help...

 

[nogojones]

Have the OP (or anyone else) had any luck with d.i.y. soundproofing methods since this thread was created? I need your help.

Right now I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown due to extremely noisy neighbours on all sides (over, under, left, right- plus the whole fucking neighbourhood) and ridiculously thin walls with nonexistent soundproofing which amplifies every sneeze, cough and voice (plus everyone else's shit taste in music ), and being pretty oversensitive to sound already, this is just unbearable! I need to chill and want to listen to my own music in my own living room without being invaded by everyone else's sound all the fucking time!

It's like living in a cardboard beehive- Help...

Its time consuming, messy and costly

Start with the floorboards. Rip them all up, fit chicken wire loosely between the joists and pack rockwool insulation tightly between them. Make sure you pack out especially round the offending walls. Then lay acoustic membrane over the whole floor and replace the boards (or fit new flooring). Then move on to the walls you need to insulate. Baton them up and fit acoustic plasterboard with acoustic insulation stuck to the back of it - about an inch or two thick - it comes already attached. Check every gap and seal and make sure you fill with acoustic sealant, then skim over the top for the finish and re-fit the skirts.

It cost me for a 2 bed house about £2k and a couple of weeks work. I'd say it reduced the noise by about 30%. I still have one weak point at the top of the stairs where the bedroom door liners were too close to the party wall. There wasn't enough depth for the acoustic backed plasterboard so I just had to go with normal acoustic high density plasterboard (its shit - get the stuff with additional insulation on the back)

If you're in a flat with people above you you're gonna find it more difficult as it's unlikely your upstairs neighbours will be keen on you lifting their floorboards and it will be fucker working from underneath.

 

[joustmaster]

a friend offered to sound proof the floor of his upstairs neighbour, as she was annoying him with her stamping about.
he did it himself, didn't have a clue what he was doing and put a nail through a water pipe and flooded his own flat.

the sound proofing made no difference.

 

[maya]

Its time consuming, messy and costly

Start with the floorboards. Rip them all up, fit chicken wire loosely between the joists and pack rockwool insulation tightly between them. Make sure you pack out especially round the offending walls. Then lay acoustic membrane over the whole floor and replace the boards (or fit new flooring). Then move on to the walls you need to insulate. Baton them up and fit acoustic plasterboard with acoustic insulation stuck to the back of it - about an inch or two thick - it comes already attached. Check every gap and seal and make sure you fill with acoustic sealant, then skim over the top for the finish and re-fit the skirts.

It cost me for a 2 bed house about £2k and a couple of weeks work. I'd say it reduced the noise by about 30%. I still have one weak point at the top of the stairs where the bedroom door liners were too close to the party wall. There wasn't enough depth for the acoustic backed plasterboard so I just had to go with normal acoustic high density plasterboard (its shit - get the stuff with additional insulation on the back)

If you're in a flat with people above you you're gonna find it more difficult as it's unlikely your upstairs neighbours will be keen on you lifting their floorboards and it will be fucker working from underneath.

Ah, wow- that sounds like a massive task! Looks like I'm stuck with the noise for a while then, since the housing association need to approve of any d.i.y. work and I doubt the neighbours will approve (there's no way they'll bother spending silly money on fixing their flat just because i need peace and quiet, so i can just forget that straight away unfortunately) Looking at some sort of soundproofing panels like we used to have in the music room at school, sort of loose panels you secure from the roof in a wire, but that too costs a bit I'd imagine... For regular walls, I'm putting up bookcases and filling them with my collection of mostly hardback books, so that'll help a bit I think!

(BTW, somebody just told me the reason why it was so popular with people from central asian/old soviet republics to decorate their walls with colourful old woven rugs wasn't because they loved rugs so much- although maybe they did- the main reason they did it was because the rugs helped soundproof the walls a bit, which came in handy in those massive highrise buildings with thin walls... never thought of that!)

a friend offered to sound proof the floor of his upstairs neighbour, as she was annoying him with her stamping about.
he did it himself, didn't have a clue what he was doing and put a nail through a water pipe and flooded his own flat.

the sound proofing made no difference.

- ouch! poor bloke... they wouldn't have needed to do all that if he'd just managed to walk a bit softer across the floor, though- soft slippers and thick floor rugs go a long way!

 

[Manter]

Ah, wow- that sounds like a massive task! Looks like I'm stuck with the noise for a while then, since the housing association need to approve of any d.i.y. work and I doubt the neighbours will approve (there's no way they'll bother spending silly money on fixing their flat just because i need peace and quiet, so i can just forget that straight away unfortunately) Looking at some sort of soundproofing panels like we used to have in the music room at school, sort of loose panels you secure from the roof in a wire, but that too costs a bit I'd imagine... For regular walls, I'm putting up bookcases and filling them with my collection of mostly hardback books, so that'll help a bit I think!

(BTW, somebody just told me the reason why it was so popular with people from central asian/old soviet republics to decorate their walls with colourful old woven rugs wasn't because they loved rugs so much- although maybe they did- the main reason they did it was because the rugs helped soundproof the walls a bit, which came in handy in those massive highrise buildings with thin walls... never thought of that!)

Also great heat insulation- nomads use it in yurts

 

[nogojones]

a friend offered to sound proof the floor of his upstairs neighbour, as she was annoying him with her stamping about.
he did it himself, didn't have a clue what he was doing and put a nail through a water pipe and flooded his own flat.

the sound proofing made no difference.

I managed to put a screw through a central heating pipe when I done mine as well. Only noticed when we turned the heating system back on. Had to rip up the new carpets, flooring and dig through the acoustic membrane to sort it