Soundproofing Party Wall, Looking for testimonials

[Ryan Kew]

My wife and I just bought a condo in San Diego. Reading over the forum here ive come to the conclusion that we are very fortunate to have a top floor unit, escaping the elephant escapade from above. In addition we have an end unit so we only share one common wall with the neighbors next door, excluding the people below which we never hear. However the neighbors next door love to play their music loud with lots of bass. Its a funny thing because we never actually hear any of the music like voices, instruments etc.  We only hear the Bass.  



We've gone over there several times to try and fix the situation. We've even explained that its not the volume just the Bass. But they are foreign and i dont know that this is translating, i dont think they get the difference between volume and bass. They just turn it down, but the bass is still there just not pounding anymore, more like a thud and still very annoying. So I will have to try and work this out some more with them. Luckily they are reasonable people and we might be able to work it out.



When we purchased our condo they provided a bunch of paper work on the wall structure as well as sound transmission data. The makeup of the party wall is a staggard stud design with 1/4" plywood on the studs with 2X .6in type X Gypsum board.  The air gap between the two walls/staggard studs is 3.5in.



According to what ive read so far this is a good setup and according the the sound testing performed has an FSTC rating of 52.  But considering the bass we can hear relative to the volume of their music i dont know if the info they gave us is at all correct. I'm considering drilling a couple holes into the wall to inspect the true structure of the wall.





I'm looking into options for blocking out their bass. I've been considering using the MLV but i have my doubts on if it works or not for bass issues. Has anyone used it here and had success?







I've also been looking at Quiet Solutions Quiet Rock  but i have my doubts there too.  







I think i'm like everyone else here, i want to do somthing that really works so if anyone has had any experience successful or not please share them.

[Ryan]

I really wish somone would post more on what has and has not worked for them. I am still up in the air on what to do. After researching this subject ive found one theme is repeated. In order to stop bass you need mass. Basically if the wall cannot vibrate so sound will be transmitted. I am now working on a plan to add 5/8" or 3/4" high density particleboard over my existing wall with a layer of sheetrock over that for finishing. Untill i hear from somone who's used the Quietsolution sheetrock i cant justify the premium, especially if just the added mass will suffice.

I'm still trying to figure out what the current design/construction of my current party wall is, whether or not its staggard stud and whether or not it actually has a layer of plywood over the studs followed by 2X .6in layers of gypsum board. My guess is that the documentation i have is totally wrong and the wall is more like 1 layer of gypsum on bare studs. I'll post more soon.

[supersoundproofing]

Zachary and Ryan.
Ah yes to soundproof or not to soundproof that is the question?
I really wonder what the builders are putting in your walls that qualifies as sound proofing?

How is the music from next door? If you have not already, make a friendly visit to your neighbors to tell them of your situation, only this time bring an interpeter.

Where low frequenceis are concerned, lead is really  a terrific sound barrier with some stc's as high as 31.

To add mass cut pieces of tile board and wedge between your studs. Even consider using the two pound variety of Mass Loaded Vinyl. These combinations are commonly used in music recording studios where sound isolation is paramount.

I hope this helps!

Marc Saldana
Super Soundproofing Inc.
Marc@soundproofing.org

[Ross]

Hello All,

I am in the same sort of situation, I hear everything my neighbor says.  I am looking at FOMO polyurathen foam.  Has anyone heard of this or used in it in practice.  

Tearing dowm the whole wall is not someting I want to get into, but this is pour in place so it may be a simple solution.

Any advice?

Thanks

[supersoundproofing]

Hello  Ross. I have not heard of FOMO polyurethane foam. What is it used for?
There are several types of foam being used for soundproofing.
Please elaborate on your sound proofing problem. So, we can address your situation.

Sincerely,
Marc Saldana
Super Soundproofing Inc.
Marc@soundproofing.org

[dojsha]

Well we've been at this condo for nearly 4 years and I still have not done anything to the party wall. Here's what i ve learned, the s***head neighbors who were kind of foreign but really just inconsiderate dicks would come home each and everyday and play their crappy euro-tecno and horrible 80's crap at what would seem like impossible to listen to volumes. At times you could hear it at the bottom of the stairway 3 floors down it was beyond description. At the very beginning we were friendly and asked them to turn it down then they would do it the next day again and again. I was ten seconds away from moving. Then I contacted the HOA and complained continuously. Each day i kept a log of the noise. I called the police, that did nothing.  HOA was useless they wrote a couple of letters to the homeowner as the people in there were renters. And finally one day guess what,  the stupid bastards moved out. 
My new neighbors lived there for over 2 years and i never heard them! They were so quiet that i thought the place was vacant but i would run into them every few months or so. I started to think they were running a meth lab or somthing but who cared since they were soo quiet.  Then about 8 months ago poof they left and i got some more new neighbors. So far they are mostly quiet, we still get a little bass from them but its hardly worth mentioning and only happens on a rare occasion. So what did i learn?  If you have the worst neighbors in the world to start with all others will seem like the best neighbors in the world even if they do make a little noise from time to time....... that and if you can afford to move it may be a good idea but who knows who your new neighbors are going to be.

[johnbergstromslc]

If I were king, I'd implement the death penalty for multiple, egregious noise violations.  But that's just me....