Sound deadening tips

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pmnz

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#289947 11-Oct-2021 13:04

HI All,

Looking for advice from people that understand this stuff a bit more than my self.

We have recently moved into a new build (townhouse) and next door have a setup with sub and the low frequency sounds flow right into our wall and over to us. It's very exhausting.

We have told them twice now and i think next time i am going to ask them to come into our house to listen as i feel from inside their place it does not seem that loud.

In the case they don't adjust it and as much as i want to go buy a sub and pump it into their wall what can i use to deaden the sound? I can't work out how it's coming in or if its coming through the floors or not, their sub is not anywhere near our wall but it does direct it.

I don't want to rip the walls down so looking for any solution that may help.

Attached crappy diagram: we are on the left an their sub is the small box on the right

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#2793273 11-Oct-2021 14:59

Wooden or concrete floor?..

i Assume its a regular 90mm wooden wall (although it will likely be firerated) between the units?

Attaching something like mass loaded vinyl to the wall may be your best bet, but you will then need to hang something a bit more attractive in front of it...

https://www.jaycar.co.nz/heavy-duty-sound-barrier-damping-material-improved/p/AX3680

pmnz

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#2793285 11-Oct-2021 15:44

Yea wooden floor with firewall in-between the walls.

So does the sound come from the floor into the wall? just trying to understand the path it takes.

Senecio

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#2793295 11-Oct-2021 15:55

Honestly there is very little you can do. Sub bass frequency will be transmitted through almost anything except a properly engineered concrete floor and walls.

alasta

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#2793298 11-Oct-2021 15:59

If you step outside and shut your door, can you still hear the noise? If so then I would be calling noise control.

wally22

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#2793299 11-Oct-2021 16:01

It is a new build so the plans should be available. Ask for them and then you have a starting point, assuming the builder followed the plans accurately. This sort of problem is meant to be dealt with in the code.

elpenguino

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#2793301 11-Oct-2021 16:05

alasta:

If you step outside and shut your door, can you still hear the noise? If so then I would be calling noise control.

From talking to an acquaintance in a similar situation, the criteria is 'can you still hold a normal conversation', not monastery levels of silence.

If your neighbour is agreeable, as a cheap and easy experiment, you could ask them to elevate the sub off the floor.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

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pmnz

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#2793302 11-Oct-2021 16:08

I can't hear anything outside no , dead quiet.

It's a new build yes. This is the wall construction I was given. I am tempted to go back to the builders to let them know the current sound leakage is not really acceptable.

I also asked the townhouse on the other side of them and they said they don't hear a thing so i was beginning to think there was something up with the wall.

wally22

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#2793308 11-Oct-2021 16:23

I can't read the text of that jpg. Are you able to post the plan pdf somewhere we can view it?

pmnz

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#2793311 11-Oct-2021 16:26

Sure, does this work?

https://1drv.ms/b/s!AiGKYuF3ZROgv1UiWFuNBXB0lxZT

MadEngineer

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#2793322 11-Oct-2021 16:42

Surely it can’t be right that even if they have the volume at a sensible level you can still hear the noise? I’ve lived in a joined flat before that had a firewall between the two units and I could have my surround sound system playing a movie and they wouldn’t notice the sound, similarly they had a loud stereo they’d play on occasion that I hardly ever noticed from inside. Our lounges were sharing the firewall.

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

wally22

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#2793323 11-Oct-2021 16:43

Yep. Code inter-tenancy wall, so should not pass the sub through. But LF sound is tricky. I would ask the builder to check.

All you need is the air gap bridged with something solid to stuff it up. The only bridging allowed is the concrete floor, the roof and those metal support brackets.

[edited]

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pmnz

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#2793330 11-Oct-2021 16:50

wally22:

Yep. Code inter-tenancy wall, so should not pass the sub through. But LF sound is tricky. I would ask the builder to check.

All you need is the air gap bridged with something solid to stuff it up. The only bridging allowed is the concrete floor, the roof and those metal support brackets.

[edited]

Thanks for checking I will ask them.

I can't hear any music/vocals just the low frequency sound coming in. I was very surprised once i found out their setup is on the other side of their living room too that i could even hear it.

Something else i forgot to mention which may be related to the wall issue is when their range hood is on our walls pulse on and off quite loudly and that also is a low frequency sound.

Batman

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#2793339 11-Oct-2021 17:11

i think once the sound is getting into your box, there is very little you can do to stop low frequency sound, or what's called sub bass.

the only thing i can think of is moving the sub around (eg to his couch, furthest away from you) maybe that can reduce the transmission to your box, though most likely not.

i like the idea of getting neighbour to hear for themselves.

i live in a standalone bungalow and i dare not use my sub apart from waking hours and even then no more than 1 movie. coz i can hear that bass from a few houses away. though my house is an airy self ventilating 70s house. in the winter you can hang the clothes in the lounge go to bed and wake up with dry laundry.

pmnz

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#2793343 11-Oct-2021 17:19

Batman:

i think once the sound is getting into your box, there is very little you can do to stop low frequency sound, or what's called sub bass.

the only thing i can think of is moving the sub around (eg to his couch, furthest away from you) maybe that can reduce the transmission to your box, though most likely not.

i like the idea of getting neighbour to hear for themselves.

i live in a standalone bungalow and i dare not use my sub apart from waking hours and even then no more than 1 movie. coz i can hear that bass from a few houses away. though my house is an airy self ventilating 70s house. in the winter you can hang the clothes in the lounge go to bed and wake up with dry laundry.

Yea that's the thing their sub is already at the furthest point away, their TV is on the complete opposite side to us but the neighbors closest to where the sub is does not hear a thing! I just don't get it.

It basically let me to believe something is not quite right with the inside of our wall

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#2793353 11-Oct-2021 17:38

hmm... that's interesting! one side is insulated fine one side is not!

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