Anyone know how to soundproof a wall?

[EDGE]

I've just been in to our neighbours house (they're away so I'm looking after the post, cat, fish etc).  

As an experiment, I put the music on in my office as loud as I'm ever likely to have it (I sit about 12" away from the speaker!) and did the same downstairs with the surround sound with a dvd on.

Fooking loud in our house I tell ya, but, when i popped next door to see what they would be able to hear it was surprisingly loud, for a brick house.

In their spare room/store, you can CLEARLY hear what I'm playing, sing along and generally not have to have your own radio on at all!!!

Downstairs in the lounge you can hear the bass mostly from the dvd but nothing else, proabbly muffled by the stairs inbetween.

so... I'm thinking of sound proofing my wall in the office, but I'm not prepared to loose more than 1 1/2" of room.  I was thinking, 1 inch batton on the wall, 1 inch think polystyrene insulation and then 1/2 plaster board, a skim of plaster and paint...

unless anyone knows better ??  hence the post...

any tips, experience greatly listened too

yes, i know turning the music down would be cheaper/free/easier... but lets face it....... not gonna happen....

[F Body]

Quoting: EDGE

unless anyone knows better ?? hence the post...

Wireless Headphones

[Roadkill]

Quoting: EDGE

I'm thinking of sound proofing my wall in the office, but I'm not prepared to loose more than 1 1/2" of room. I was thinking, 1 inch batton on the wall, 1 inch think polystyrene insulation and then 1/2 plaster board, a skim of plaster and paint...

T'is what I'd do.

EDIT

( T'is what I'd do with the 1 1/2" limitations )

FURTHER EDIT

You'd be surprised at how difficult it is to buy 1" batons . . . more likely you'll find 21mm or 33mm planed or 38mm sawn.

Polystyrene sheet is, however readily available at 25mm thickness.

Also you could get away with 9mm P/Board if the wall doesn't see much abuse . . . saves a few quid and, more importantly 3mm.

Don't forget skrim-tape if you're skimming it yourself and use P/Board screws - not nails - trust me on that.

FINAL EDIT

Brick / stone walls are shockingly bad for that as their density allows easy transfer of soundwaves, whereas introducing multiple cavities (rockwool or polystyrene) inhibits them.

[EDGE]

you're right on the wood sizing, i had hat problem down stairs when i re did the hallway wall that some utter GENIUS had built from sigle skin brick... mmmmm condensation inside... lovely....

i was hoping that the polysyrene would insulate against sound, not sure how effective it is.  We used 2" thick in the hall and its AWESOME for heat retention!

[Roadkill]

Quoting: EDGE

not sure how effective it is. We used 2" thick in the hall and its AWESOME for heat retention!

The exterior walls of the garage extension are insulated with 50mm Polystryrene . . . . during a LAN I stood outside with nearly a dozen noisey gamers inside, plus my itunes playing . . . . next to nothing came through . . . . The metal roller-shutter on the front-end was a completely different matter, though . . it may as well not have been there at all !

[Gator]

you can get accoustic plasterboard as well mate

[art b]

soundproofing walls rarely works, unless you have a seperate wall that is not connected to the existing, as most vibrations pass thru the battons and screws,

[daveyboy]

buy your neighbours house, end of problem

[EDGE]

Quoting: art b

soundproofing walls rarely works, unless you have a seperate wall that is not connected to the existing, as most vibrations pass thru the battons and screws,

i was concerned about that, but it must be better than not doing it at all, do you think ?

[Roadkill]

Quoting: EDGE

i was concerned about that, but it must be better than not doing it at all, do you think ?

Yup, better than nothing for sure - although timber will transfer sound it won't be as bad as the brick wall so will act as a insulator . . . albeit a bad one.

[EDGE]

hmm... how about if i dont use timber battons and just use soundproof magic of some kind

[Roadkill]

Quoting: EDGE

if i dont use timber battons

You can get pressed steel "top-hat" sections that help with sound deadening as there's minimal contact cross-sectional area.

But that's overkill I'd say . . . .

[philoldsmobile]

one of the best methods of soundproofing is an air gap - solid walls work like giant sounding boards, its far harder for sound to pass though an air gap (think listening to rail tracks to hear a train coming way before you can otherwise hear it...)

soundproofing is very difficult, because there are so many points that can transmit it, beams in the floor, walls, anything.. any point that contacts your neighbours house can transmit sound.

[FUBAR]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

(think listening to rail tracks to hear a train coming way before you can otherwise hear it...)

<== is now concerned that Philo keeps putting his head on railway tracks