Soundproofing:I can hear my neighbours.


From my experience gyproc sound block is not a satisfactory soundproofing system to be used. . The Irish Agrement board that certifies building products , have rescinded the certificates for these so called "sound resisitant plasterboard" because of recent problems in thousands of houses and apartments throughout the country.( see homebond circular and 5th edition of house building manual in bookshops) They have no sound resisitant properties.

Tip
The "composite fibrous wool backed plasterboards" are very good for applying to existing walls, as a means of improving soundproofing.
( brandname rockwall i think)

alternatively
a thoroughly packed layer of insulation between timber studs and boarded off with ordinary 12.5mm plasterboard usually does the job. However you must be thorough with the packing around perimeter of wall i.e along ceiling wall joints, along floor wall joints and wall - wall joints at the sides.



Warning
Putting more layers against a wall exacerbates a problem . Ive seen it in many houses. The problem stems from the air cavities gaps behind plasterboard where sound waves swirl around accumulate and ultimately amplify sound. so strip back the exisiting construction and get that packing in !
 
That super duper acoustic and thermal rockwool board referred to above is called rockliner (rockwool firesafe insulation). Thicknesses range from 1.5 inches to 2.5 inches. It consists of half inch plasterboard and the rest is made of rock fibre/ glass wool. Dont know what builders merchants stock it but its out there.
 
Brooks Thomas stock something similar called calibel - not cheap though if I recall it was approx 45-50 euro per sheet!
 
When my apartment was being built, I asked if the builder would put rockwool between the two bedrooms as an extra sound barrier. This was done.

However, I was still able to hear clearly when my lodger was moving around in his room, playing music (not very loudly) and his snoring!

In my limited experience, rockwool certainly isn't the b-all and end-all.
 

OK Nothing will give block out the sound completely, BUT when this board is installed carefully and correctly , it gives good results. The problem is trying to get any builder or tradesman in this country to do anything carefully/correctly......... Remember its critical to seal any gaps along where the wall meets the ceiling or where walls intersect each other. One other important point to keep in mind, is that the sound from one room travels into the floor and between floor joists and up through the floor of adjacent rooms so installing dampening sound mats on timber supported floors is advisable. Hope thats a help Filthyrich... should be no problem for you to do all that
 
thanx to all who replied with help and suggestions. it looks as if a certain amount of deconstruction is necessary to solve the sound problems.
 
The quality of builds, the lack of that is, is appalling! And the fact that with a degree and after 10 years of hard work, I can’t even dream about buying a brand new Hyundai or Fiat after paying the mortgage and bills, while twenty-something Joe Bricks drives around in 06 BMWs or Ducati racers says it all about the sad state of affairs here!

Thanks for the info on rockliner, definitely something to look into. In my case (10 year old four bed semi-d, Shannon homes), I find the insulation between floors the worst. That is, using master or en-suite toilets upstairs are clearly audible downstairs (as I said before, really embarrassing stuff). I am yet to put in floor tiles in the bathrooms upstairs – is there anything I can do as a part of that to improve the sound insulation? Also figured out that the en-suite door is not closing that well and there are gaps between the door and doorframe all around – is there anything I can do to seal the gaps?

Thanks again!
 
Very interesting thread folks.

My situation is killing me at the moment, don't want to give too much away cos I might have to take it to court a smy solicitor is involved. Any further info would be very much appreciated.

Moved into my unit many months ago. Can CLEARLY hear people moving around 2 floors above my duplex in their sititng room, when I'm upstairs in my bedroom their sitting room is above my head - the noise is terrible.

Builders claim there's no problem, that it meets all standards, I asked them to come out and check the house, they did. They didn't do any sound tests as even a cursory listen could tell you that all isn't right. They agreed there was a deficiency and agreed to fix it many months ago but now they areignoring my attempts to get them to keep their word.

Basically I can't go on living here like this, they previously told me that it was the fault of the floor that the people upstairs have down yet there are many many other noises that are not people walking about that I can hear clearly.

I'm going to get one of these sound tests done I think and then I'll take it from there - are there any regs for something like this, specifically for a duplex which has another one above it???

Thanks.
 
sueellen said:
Hi Bobby,

This interesting post might be helpful.
Click to expand...


Cheers Sueellen, my problem is that the builders won't do anything about it, I'm getting sound engineers in though to try to sort it out.

When that happens court is my next step I reckon.
 
When that happens court is my next step I reckon.[/quote]


Make sure you get a registered letter of complaint into your local Building Control Authority after you get sound test results. Once they're given evidence of non compliance with Regulations, they have a reponsibility to serve the builder with an enforcement notice followed by prosecution if necessary.

Let the County Council take the heat in building regulation enforcement and subsequent messing in court. Its their job. They like to keep it a secret that its their job

Sound tests cost around 600 euro . dont pay any more!

However if the dwelling has been completed for more than 5 years. enforcement does not apply
 
Cheers Rexo, will do as you say.

I've noticed that there are fairly strong regulations in the "ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ACT, 1992 SECTION 108" which states that:

108.—(1) Where any noise which is so loud, so continuous, so repeated, of such duration or pitch or occurring at such times as to give reasonable cause for annoyance to a person in any premises in the neighbourhood or to a person lawfully using any public place, a local authority, the Agency or any such person may complain to the District Court and the Court may order the person or body making, causing or responsible for the noise to take the measures necessary to reduce the noise to a specified level or to take specified measures for the prevention or limitation of the noise and the person or body concerned shall comply with such order.
(2) It shall be a good defence, in the case of proceedings under subsection (1) or in a prosecution for a contravention of this section, in the case of noise caused in the course of a trade or business, for the accused to prove that—
  • ( a ) he took all reasonable care to prevent or limit the noise to which the complaint relates by providing, maintaining, using, operating and supervising facilities, or by employing practices or methods of operation, that, having regard to all the circumstances, were suitable for the purposes of such prevention or limitation, or
  • ( b ) the noise is in accordance with—
    • (i) the terms of a licence under this Act, or
    • (ii) regulations under section 106.
(3) Before a complaint is made to the District Court under subsection (1) the local authority or the person concerned, as the case may be, shall serve a notice in the prescribed form of the intention to make such a complaint, within such time as may be specified in the notice, on the person alleged to have made or have caused or have been responsible for the noise.
(4) This section shall not apply to noise caused by—
  • ( a ) aircraft, or
  • ( b ) such statutory undertaker or local authority, as may be prescribed, in the exercise of powers conferred on it by or under any enactment in such circumstances as may be prescribed.
Hope this is of help to others.
 
REXO said:
When that happens court is my next step I reckon.
Click to expand...


Make sure you get a registered letter of complaint into your local Building Control Authority after you get sound test results. Once they're given evidence of non compliance with Regulations, they have a reponsibility to serve the builder with an enforcement notice followed by prosecution if necessary.

Let the County Council take the heat in building regulation enforcement and subsequent messing in court. Its their job. They like to keep it a secret that its their job

Sound tests cost around 600 euro . dont pay any more!

However if the dwelling has been completed for more than 5 years. enforcement does not apply[/quote]


I've been quoted over 1,800euro for the sound test!

Does anyone know anyone that will do it cheaper???
 
Guys,

I got the sound test done... and it failed, so my unit has not been built to specification.

Any recommendations for next steps???
 
Question for BS81, afraid I don't know your next steps:

did your sound test people have to gain access to duplex above to do test? I decided to have a rethink when my contact told me he'd need access above as I didn't really want to have to do that.

Solving an upstairs downstairs sound problem seems more complicated, especially when upstairs doesn't belong to you!
 

Hey pal,

Yes he had to go upstairs, it's not possible to get it done otherwise. Thankfully my neighbours were fine about it. It was blatantly obvious though that there were problems, a cursory listen to anything happening in their duplex would be enough to know that things were not right.

However, it was also in my neighbours interest to let me in to do the test as the developers were trying to blame him for the noise, saying it was the type of flooring he put down. It wasn't and it's not the problem now as the sound test has proved. In essence the deveopers were trying to get me to go after my neighbour when it was them at fault.

It only takes about an hour to get the test done in your neighbours part and disruption is quite minimal. I did get the carpet taken up in one of their rooms though but all was agreed beforehand.

If you are in the same complex as me I will be making the results of my sound test available for all in the complex. Many people have complained about the noise issues but I am the furthest down the road of doing something about it and I'm more than happy giving out the info I have for nothing if it helps people.

I am based on the Northside of Dublin within the M50 and in very close proximity to it.
 
appreciate the offer - not same dev methinks. I'm in (north) west Dublin, just outside M50 & trainline.

I suppose I'll just have to decide if it annoys me enough to justify the cost. My dev is approx 5 years old & I'm there 3 years. My neighbours are actually not that noisy - it's the sound of water flowing through downpipes from their place through my livingroom walls that gets to me.

At least once you've failed the test your builders will have to cover the cost of the test I presume.
 

Yup, they should. This is still ongoing but seems to now be quite close to being sorted.

Not bad eh? Only took them 2 years to admit there was a fault and to fix it.
 
the Building regs should be improved to make builders put in proper insulation first day when it would be relatively cheap. To put in insulation after construction costs a few grand a room.
 
Is there nothing covering this http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentandHousing/BuildingStandards/ (already)?
 
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