Glue sheetrock to masonry wall?

[benick]

Can you do something on the other side of the wall????

Did you even bother reading the first senrence in the O P ???? I suppose he could buy the house next door...LOL...

[RicodJour]

I'm still not clear on what you are trying to achieve. Are you trying to reduce the transmission of sound from your space to the neighbor's, or from the neighbor's to yours? Those are two very different things and require two different approaches.

R

[Jay-T]

I'm still not clear on what you are trying to achieve. Are you trying to reduce the transmission of sound from your space to the neighbor's, or from the neighbor's to yours? Those are two very different things and require two different approaches.

R

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I understand the issues about sound reduction and the limited amount that can be achieved without building detached isolated walls or barriers etc. I bought the property as an investment and will be renting it out. Since I am in the process of finishing repairs, I thought maybe I could do "a little" to help make it a little quieter for my next door neighbor by slightly cutting down on noise coming from my future tenants. Knowing that the best that I could do is maybe cut down the noise transmission a little, I will only be doing this if it is an easy project -- such as glue up another layer of sheetrock over the existing party wall.

[dadiOH]

Do the next door neighbors *say* there is a problem? I ask because I lived for 16 years in a condo. The walls between units were poured concrete and each side had a layer of 1/2" drywall. I never heard a sound from the neighbors.

[RicodJour]

Now we're finally getting somewhere. If you're looking to make it quieter for the neighbors, you don't need to add mass - the block wall already has a lot of mass. You're looking for an acoustical surface, which is why I mentioned the Homasote panels. There are alternatives, but that method is the best way to save your neighbors tender ears.

Which leads to another question - do you find that there is a problem now with you hearing the neighbors activities? If not, and assuming that the construction on the other side of the partition wall is similar (a good bet), you probably don't have to do anything. DadiOH asked if the neighbors have complained, which, even if they haven't would be a good thing to ask them - do you hear me knocking about through the wall? Is there a problem with asking them?

R

[Jay-T]

Yes. The neighbor menioned that while I am doing work on the house, if there is anything that could be done to cut down the noise transmission between the two properties, that would be great. He said that it is easy to hear between the two properties -- that the sounds seem to go right through the walls. He's right about that -- it does. He wasn't complaining, and he was completely polite about it. He just said that if while I was doing the work anything along those lines that might help would be great. I said I wasn't sure what could be done, if anything, or what might work.

Since it is going to be a rental, I am reluctant to put any soft surface on the walls -- such as acoutic tiles or whatever -- and my reading and experience says that soft surfaces may not do much anyway. Soft surfaces apparently reduce echo/in-room issues but don't do much for transmission issues, contrary to popular opinion. For transmission issues, apparently the best approach is using one of the isolated wall techniques, and the second best option is increasing the density of the walls.

You wrote,

I think that is the density concept at work.

In my case, the party wall is an old-time strange type of setup. They seem to have created some kind of stud, lathe, and plaster-like combination wall, and then just filled in the spaces using stacked mostly vertical (and some horizontal) red bricks in between. It's not really a brick wall as in, lay the bricks on top of each other with mortar in between, the way that a typical brick wall is made. Instead, the bricks are just there filling up the space with a few touches of mortar here and there. I never saw construction like that before. I think maybe there was some concept that the bricks served as some kind of fire wall or barrier rather than being a typical structural brick wall. I really don't know what the story was with that, but the space is "mostly" filled with bricks piled on top of each other and also a LOT of gaps between the bricks.

[Jay-T]

Yes. The person next door lives alone, and I am only there sometimes doing work when he is there. But, in some rooms, like the upstairs bathroom in particular, it is almost like he is in the same room that I am in. People who have been doing work there for me have said the same thing -- that you can "hear everything" from next door.

The bathroom in particular is something I can fix somewhat, I think. Part of the problem is the old recessed metal medicine cabinet. I took that out and opened up the wall. I took out the goofy loose bricks in that area, and I will be figuring out how to refill that space to cut down on the sound transmission. In that one case, I have access to a fairly large hollow wall area -- maybe 4 feet by 4 feet, above the ceramic wall tile -- it's a small bathroom. I am not sure what will go in that space. Some people have said to stuff fiber glass insulation in there. Maybe that will work -- I don't know. I have also thought of using that spray foam stuff to fill most of the void plus a few other techniques, but I am not sure.

But, my original post was about the rest of the party wall between the two living rooms, bedrooms, etc.

[mkirsch1]

He could own the entire building. He may be the landlord.

It would be very unusual to buy half a house, and rent it out.

Personally, though, he is wasting his time. Unless he adds a thickness of sound-deadening matieral between the masonry and the drywall, all he's doing is giving Home Depot more of his hard earned money.

However, if he insists on going forward with this asinine idea, he can just use liquid nails or equivalent construction adhesive.

[clare]

It's like the old post and beam rubble infil houses of the early 18th century. Grandad's house had basically a barn frame with gravel and lime over loose stone and rubble infil, covered in stucco on the outside and plaster on the inside. Colder than a cave in the winter!!!

[clare]

Happens all the time. Think semi-detached homes. Or 1/3, 1/4, 1/6 etc. Think urban row-housing. Or 1/20 or more - think Condo complex.

And give home depot a lot more money than he would using the "right" material - the setting compound.

[Jay-T]

Thanks. That looks interesting. After seeing what you posted, I copied this from a different page on the same webiste. The questions are all clickable links.

Sound

1. What Johns Manville products provide the best sound control?

1. What is the difference between a thermal fiber glass batt and an acoustic fiber glass batt?

2. Can I use the Blown In Blanket System (BIBS) for sound control applications?

1. Are there advantages to using steel studs vs. wood studs?

2. What are resilient channels and where are they sold?

DanG wrote:

[Jay-T]

[DanG]

Install a resilient channel to the masonry wall with Topcon type fasteners. Install drywall to the resilient channel.