Party wall thickness

[BartC]

I'm investigating noise from next door in my 1960s semidetached bungalow.

From external measurements, from the edge of my window, to the edge of my neighbour's, is 103cm. Internally, there's 27.5cm from the edge of the window, to the wallpaper on the party wall.

Assuming the same arrangements next door, there seem to be 48cm of wall and plaster between my house and next door. And from inside the loft, the wall appears to be built of breeze blocks.

Can a breeze-block wall really be that thick? (It would appear to need 4 courses of blocks.) Or is there likely to be a gap (of some 20cm?)?

At the minute the wall might as well not be there...

What's the simplest DIY solution to largely drown out the sound of two dogs barking next door? (Apart from wearing earplugs, moving house, or, my preference at the moment, machine-gunning both dogs)

Thanks,

[Nightjar]

Experience with how well builders follow plans suggests it is more likely that the distance from wall to window is not the same in both properties.

Brick up the window. With only about a metre of separation, a lot of the noise will be travelling out of his window and into yours. Otherwise you should be looking for air gaps in the partition wall, for example around floor or ceiling joists, and blocking them up with something heavy, like soundproofing felt.

Colin Bignell

[Huge]

Feed the dogs Ex-Lax until their owners get rid of them.

[Phil L]

My knowledge of party walls is this: Pre 1960: two bricks, no cavity ( 9 in solid)

1960 - 1976 - anything at all, sometimes studs and plasterboard, but mostly 100mm block 1977 onwards block - cavity - block (11in wall)

All this is dependant on where you live in the country

[nancy]

I just read this and had to write ..how awful for you I suffer the same and its soul destroying ..I have soundproof people coming tom to get options but I fear it's expensive....my latest and only option is to put tv on wall and drown them out...but sadly they are aware of their behaviour esp banging back door up until 12.30 a.m when I can finally sleep ...its changed my whole life ...I hope you know your not alone and that sadly some people you just cant talk to......at least you still have your sense of humour x

[RJH]

I realise Nancy is replying to a 10 year post, but it's always amazed me how little care is taken with soundproofing between joined-up homes. Well, disappointed more than amazed I suppose.

[Fredxx]

I strong recommend you read this before you reply again to to a 10 year old post:

Most of us will have absolutely no idea what you've just read.

[jon]

....are you saying the problem no longer exists ?

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Some people seem deaf to their own noise, honestly. Brian

[Andrew]

In a 1960's bungalow it's par for the course.

Building Regs Part E should have 'cured' the problem in newer houses and flat conversions. The sound transmission requirements for the latter are particularly strict, and expensive if you get it wrong.

[NY]

Our previous house was a 1930s terrace and we had great problems with noise (mostly of the TV) from our neighbours. Either the TV in their living room or else one in a bedroom was on so loud that we could hear every word of EastEnders or Coronation Street some days. Soundproofing standards in the

1930s were probably less stringent than nowadays - and also the neighbours in those days were probably less inconsiderate!

[Fredxx]

Who knows, the OP has has 10 years to sort out their problem, or even move.

[Peter Johnson]

If they were lucky they might have had a radio and/or a gramophone, and I don't suppose their amplifiers were very powerful. A few years ago a guy who did some work on my house told me that he had bought a plot of land and was going to build a pair of semis on it, for sale. He had been surpised, he told me, by the amount of work that had to go in to designing the party wall - it, and its construction when he came to do it, increased his build budget by an amount that he had not allowed for when he first worked up the scheme, several £1,000 was implied. Haven't seen him since, to find out how he got on.