Hi,
We're in the process of getting ready to put up 2 stud walls with insulation and sound board in our first floor bedrooms that adjoin the neighbours as the noise carries. I thought I would lift some floorboards to put some noggins in and some sound insulation whilst at it.
The house is a victorian terrace and has a guinell/alley running between the two properties. Our bedrooms span half the guinell and the neighbours the other half.
When lifting the floor there was no party wall underneath. Instead there are 2 metal girders running parallel with the guinell in the middle and the brick party walls for upstairs are built on these. Underneath the girder is just a void. I can put my hand all the way under and feel their joists. There's a pic below - at the top of the picture are the 2 girders and the bricks you can see is the guinell side of the neighbours house. This is like our side and the bricks don't edge up to a joist or the boards and there is a void again. Basically I think noise is coming under the floor and travelling up any gaps like in the dot and dab plaster.
View media item 72688View media item 72689
I'm going to try putting some expanding foam between the girders and between the girder on our side and the nearest joist (about an inch gap. I was then going to pack the space with insulation.
Is there a better way to cut the noise out?
Secondly do I need to worry about air ventilation - will packing it with insulation cause an issue down the line? I'm wary if I leave an air gap then noise will just come down that.
There's one place I can see the neighbours electric cable so I'll be careful not to cover these and just insulate up to them.
We're in the process of getting ready to put up 2 stud walls with insulation and sound board in our first floor bedrooms that adjoin the neighbours as the noise carries. I thought I would lift some floorboards to put some noggins in and some sound insulation whilst at it.
The house is a victorian terrace and has a guinell/alley running between the two properties. Our bedrooms span half the guinell and the neighbours the other half.
When lifting the floor there was no party wall underneath. Instead there are 2 metal girders running parallel with the guinell in the middle and the brick party walls for upstairs are built on these. Underneath the girder is just a void. I can put my hand all the way under and feel their joists. There's a pic below - at the top of the picture are the 2 girders and the bricks you can see is the guinell side of the neighbours house. This is like our side and the bricks don't edge up to a joist or the boards and there is a void again. Basically I think noise is coming under the floor and travelling up any gaps like in the dot and dab plaster.
View media item 72688View media item 72689
I'm going to try putting some expanding foam between the girders and between the girder on our side and the nearest joist (about an inch gap. I was then going to pack the space with insulation.
Is there a better way to cut the noise out?
Secondly do I need to worry about air ventilation - will packing it with insulation cause an issue down the line? I'm wary if I leave an air gap then noise will just come down that.
There's one place I can see the neighbours electric cable so I'll be careful not to cover these and just insulate up to them.