Elderly Neighbour Given ASBO For Causing Excess Noise

How to Reduce Noise from a Neighbouring Property

Noise from a neighbouring home can be distracting, particularly when it is heard regularly in bedrooms, living rooms or home offices. Common examples include conversations, televisions, music, footsteps, doors closing and furniture moving.

In many cases, the person creating the noise may not realise how clearly it can be heard next door. Differences in routines, hearing, floor coverings and building construction can all contribute to the problem.

A calm conversation may therefore be a sensible first step where it feels appropriate. However, when ordinary household noise can be heard too easily because of the construction of the property, home soundproofing may help reduce the amount of sound passing between the two spaces.

The correct approach depends on the type of noise, the building construction and the route through which the sound is travelling. It is important to investigate these factors before choosing products or beginning work.

Start by Identifying the Type of Noise

Neighbour noise will normally involve airborne noise, impact noise or a combination of the two.

Airborne noise

Airborne noise travels through the air before reaching a separating surface. Common examples include:

• Conversations and raised voices
• Televisions and radios
• Music and home entertainment systems
• Dogs barking
• Kitchen appliances
• Children playing

This noise may pass through a shared wall, floor, ceiling, doorway or gap around services. Treatments for airborne sound commonly use additional mass, improved airtightness and some form of separation from the existing structure.

Impact noise

Impact noise is created when something makes direct contact with the building. Typical examples include:

• Footsteps from a flat above
• Furniture being moved
• Doors closing
• Objects being dropped
• Exercise equipment
• Children running on a hard floor

The resulting vibration can travel through floors, joists, walls and ceilings. Impact noise often requires resilient layers or structural separation rather than simply adding more board to a surface.

Find the Main Sound Path

Noise does not always travel directly through the surface where it appears to be heard. It can also move through adjoining parts of the building.

Potential sound paths include:

• Party walls
• Floors and ceilings
• Joists, beams and structural frames
• Chimney breasts and fireplaces
• Loft spaces and floor voids
• Electrical sockets
• Pipes, ducts and service penetrations
• Doorways and communal corridors

Sound that travels around the main separating surface is known as flanking transmission. For example, a party wall might be upgraded, but noise could continue to travel through the connected floor, ceiling or adjoining wall.

Listening at different points in the room may help reveal where the noise is strongest. More complicated problems, particularly in flats or converted properties, may need a more detailed assessment.

Soundproofing a Party Wall

Conversations, television noise and music are often heard through a party wall. The appropriate wall soundproofing system will depend on whether the wall is solid masonry, blockwork, timber stud or another construction.

A suitable system may combine:

• Acoustic insulation within a cavity
• Resilient bars or isolation clips
• Dense acoustic boards
• Separation from the original wall
• Careful sealing around edges and penetrations

Products such as JCW Silent Board Plus may be incorporated into certain wall systems. However, one board should not be treated as a universal solution. Performance depends on the complete build-up and how it is connected to the surrounding structure.

Wall-mounted televisions, speakers, shelving and kitchen units can also create rigid connections or direct vibration into a shared wall. Moving these items may help in some situations, although it will not replace an appropriate soundproofing system where the wall itself is weak.

Reducing Noise from a Flat Above

Noise from an upstairs property often contains both airborne and impact sound. Voices and television noise may travel through the floor and ceiling, while footsteps and furniture movement can generate structural vibration.

The preferred place to reduce impact noise is generally at the floor above, close to the source. A suitable floor soundproofing system might use an acoustic underlay, resilient deck or floating floor construction.

Where access to the floor above is not possible, ceiling soundproofing may help. Options can include insulation between joists, resiliently mounted boards or an independent ceiling beneath the existing structure.

It is important to set realistic expectations. Treating the ceiling from below can reduce noise, but impact vibration may continue to travel through surrounding walls and structural elements.

Noise Travelling Up from a Flat Below

Music, voices and televisions from a lower property may travel upwards through the ceiling and floor structure. Gaps around pipes, floorboards and service routes can also contribute.

Depending on the floor construction, a treatment may involve acoustic insulation between joists, additional mass, resilient floor layers or a combination of measures.

Lifting an existing floor can be disruptive and may affect skirting boards, fitted furniture, doors and finished floor heights. Some systems may therefore require an experienced installer or competent tradesperson.

Check Gaps and Service Penetrations

Even a well-constructed wall, floor or ceiling can be weakened by untreated gaps. Common areas to inspect include:

• Pipework passing through walls or floors
• Cable openings
• Board joints
• Gaps beneath skirting boards
• Junctions between walls and ceilings
• Back-to-back electrical sockets

A flexible acoustic sealant can be used around appropriate perimeter joints as part of a complete soundproofing system.

Sealant on its own will not block noise passing through a lightweight wall or floor. Its purpose is to support the main construction by reducing small air paths that could otherwise weaken its performance.

Any service penetration may also require appropriate fire stopping. Soundproofing work should not compromise the fire resistance of a separating wall, floor or ceiling.

Doors and Communal Areas

In flats, noise may enter through the front door from a shared hallway or stairwell. Internal doors can also allow sound to move between rooms within a property.

A soundproof door may be suitable where the doorway has been identified as a significant weak point. Door mass, perimeter seals, the frame and the threshold all contribute to its performance.

Replacing a door is unlikely to solve the problem if most of the noise is travelling through a wall, ceiling or structural connection. The doorway should therefore be considered as part of the complete sound path.

Flats, Apartments and HMOs

Noise problems can be particularly complicated in flats and converted buildings. Several homes may share the same walls, floors, ceiling voids, beams and service routes.

A property conversion may also contain hidden gaps or lightweight separating structures that are not obvious from inside the finished room.

Our guidance on flat and HMO soundproofing covers some of the typical challenges found in multi-occupancy buildings.

Before altering a leasehold property, it may also be necessary to check the lease, obtain permission and consider the fire and building requirements affecting shared structures.

Soundproofing and Sound Absorption Are Not the Same

Soundproofing helps reduce noise passing between separate spaces. Sound absorption helps control echo and reverberation inside a room.

Acoustic foam or absorption panels may make a room sound less lively, but they should not be relied upon to block conversations, music or footsteps from a neighbouring home.

Soft furnishings, curtains and carpets may provide some internal acoustic benefit. A carpet and suitable underlay can also help reduce impact noise at its source, but these measures do not perform the same role as a properly designed wall, floor or ceiling system.

Communication and Considerate Behaviour

Soundproofing can improve the acoustic separation between homes, but it should not be treated as the only possible response.

Where appropriate, a polite conversation may help establish whether the noise can be reduced through simple changes such as:

• Moving speakers away from a shared wall
• Using speaker stands or isolation pads
• Adding rugs to hard floors
• Avoiding furniture movement late at night
• Closing doors more carefully
• Adjusting the position of televisions or exercise equipment

People may be unaware that sound is travelling clearly between properties, and the issue may not be deliberate. Communication should remain calm and considerate, particularly where a person may have additional needs or different daily routines.

Set Realistic Expectations

Soundproofing can reduce neighbour noise, but it cannot guarantee complete silence or prevent every disturbance.

The result will depend on:

• The source, level and frequency of the noise
• Whether the problem is airborne or impact-based
• The construction of the property
• The condition of the separating surfaces
• Flanking transmission
• The products and system selected
• The quality of installation

Low-frequency music and structural impact noise can be especially difficult to control. It is often more useful to aim for a meaningful reduction than to expect the neighbouring property to become completely inaudible.

Choose the Correct Soundproofing System

Before ordering soundproofing products, establish which surfaces and junctions are contributing most to the problem.

Effective systems normally combine mass, resilient separation, cavity absorption and careful sealing. Mixing unrelated products without understanding the building construction may add cost and reduce room space without addressing the main sound path.

Call Acoustic Supplies on 01204 548400 or contact the team online to discuss your soundproofing project.