I live in a 1938 semi and have lived happily beside my neighbor for quite a few years.
Sadly she now has dementia. With a bit of love and time from her family and carers she is some time away from the care home we all desperately want to avoid.
BUT her tv is so loud and intrudes into my music/cinema room.Her son has tried to explain,turns the tv down but as soon as he has gone up it goes. It’s in the fireplace bay. Cupboards on my side.
DIY stores do not seem to deal with this problem. I discovered TecSound and whilst this will probably do the job within a modest budget my body would struggle getting it into position.
Would a few Asda cheap duvets packed into the cupboard help?
Any other thoughts.
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Hi Nick,
Sorry to hear about your situation. From what you have posted it seems like there is a reasonable dialog between you and the relatives?
I have one question:
If the dialog between you and her Son is good and the fireplace is not being used other than for the space where the offending article (TV) is placed - is the fireplace still able to be used as such if that were necessary?
Depending on the answer to the above, generally the best place to tackle noise problems is at the source and although the TV volume may be loud there is most likely a primary route of transmission. Given the houses are semi-detached, one place to start is to insert insulation rockwool (aka damping) in the fireplace chimney exit of the ladies home.
I am sure other contributors will be along in a while to add more suggestions…
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I doubt there’s an easy fix to this. There may be some benefit to soundproofing the back of your fireplace if it backs directly onto your neighbours, where the TV is situated, but think about how the sound is transmitted through the wall. There’s every chance that the surrounding structure is vibrating as well as the back of the fireplace, in which case the sound vibrations will bypass any insulation in the recess.
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It seems that this is not uncommon. From reading the above thread it seems that some TVs include volume limiters in their settings. Maybe your neighbour already has a suitable TV, or maybe she’d be happy to buy one. You could even offer to contribute towards it, which would be cheaper than insulation.
Hopefully the volume limiter would be buried deep in the settings so she can’t find it, indeed if she wasn’t told in the first place that the volume was limited I doubt she’d think to look. It all depends on how her dementia manifests, but overall this looks like a good option to me, which should work for both of you. Presumably her hearing is ok so that she can watch TV at normal volumes.
Just a suggestion, but perhaps the lady is going deaf and needs hearing aids? Though she might not manage with them depending on the severity of her dementia. (disclaimer - I am a retired doctor!)
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=high density mineral/rock wool, usually comes in slabs: not the lighter weight stuff sold in rolls for loft insulation which is not very effective for sound. (Think 45kg/m3 upwards.)
Otherwise on your side of wall maybe 100mm thick layer of mineral wool on wall, then a timber frame fixed only to ceiling, floor and side walls, constructed with 50-70mm thick wood giving an air gap, faced with a double layer of acoustic plasterboard (which is high density and usually 15mm thick), joints not coinciding, all joints and edges sealed with acoustic sealant. All available from builders’ merchants, less likely DIY stores. Won’t stop it, but should reduce significantly. For a better job it may need something doing at ceiling, floor and side walls as sound can be transmitted via thd structure. round. Also in a house that age the party wall brickwork may well be suspect, possibly air gaps between bricks etc, but to check and fix that becomes an even bigger job.
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Look for ‘acoustic’ on the packaging
exactly my thinking too, I’ve done it successfully but instead of timbers I used a proprietary batten system with neoprene blocks separating & isolating the battens, the gaps then stuffed with semi solid rockwool and all covered in 3 layers of overlapping acoustic plasterboard and reskimmed. Worked a treat, still get a bit of structural transmission but airborne is greatly reduced. Maybe the OP could persuade the neighbour to relocate the telly to another part of the room?
My understanding is the higher the density the more effective it is at sound absorption. I certainly wouldn’t use less than 45kg/m3 - 60 better, and you can certainly get 100. I have seen “acoustic” rolls at 10mg/m3, which claim to meet the minimum performance of UK Building Regs, which I think was intended for use between floors in single household dwelling. If I was going to the trouble of trying to resolve a problem I’d aim higher, as the last thing I’d want is cost, time and effort only to find it isn’t adequate.
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Yes, proprietary acoustic wall framing would indeed be better.
The Sound Insulation store I mentioned seems to have the gear required withan adhesive backing. I will have a session with the daughter ( cottage renewal expert) and see what she feels achievable.
It can be hidden in my chimney bay cupboard
The work will all be my side of the wall. To keep asking things of her will only add to the stress and increase the knocks on my door asking random questions.
Horrible disease. Bits of my body no longer work so well but my mind and memory are sharp(ish).
Thank you.
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I have just seen this and something I investigated for an elderly relative.
What about a remote speaker - not a soundbar. There are several aound from Bose, B&W and others. Site it close to where the person sits and they can still have it fairly load but well away from the party wall.
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