Noise through wall
In one room in our brownstone, we hear voices from the brownstone next door. The voices and noise wake us up every morning. What can be done to fix this problem? Thanks.
In one room in our brownstone, we hear voices from the brownstone next door. The voices and noise wake us up every morning. What can be done to fix this problem?
Thanks.
It’s funny. I am reasonably sure I know how often (or not) the married couple next door have sex because their bedroom is on the other side of mine and hear it all. Sometimes I can’t look at them on the street because I am embarrassed!
We had the same problem – a vent between the houses was carrying sound between houses. We spoke to our neighbors and found they could hear us as well, so we split the cost of plugging up the vent. Problem solved.
My bedroom wall (exposed brick) used to be shared with a bedroom in an apartment in the next door building. There was a very loud, amorous couple in there, which was a little comical and occasionally annoying. They either burned themselved out or moved. We never knew one another; don’t know what they heard.
It’s shocking how much sound passes through the walls and floors/ceilings of these old brownstone buildings. It’s really interesting to hear there might be holes in the walls for workers to pass through during construction. I know in our new neighborhood many of the rowhouses were constructed 2 or 4 at a time, in groups. So it sounds like our problem is due to the holes in the walls 9:56 mentions. Even places where the holes were bricked up, it would be ineffective at blocking noise. Brick is not good that way. However the more “stuff” in your house and in your neighbor’s house you have, the better. In our previous place, we had lots of bookcases and had rugs in almost all the rooms, and our neighbors downstairs said they hardly ever heard us. 9:58’s advice to talk to your neighbors is good, because if they realize they don’t have privacy and you can hear them they might get embarrassed, put in rugs and move bookcases over to that wall.
Have you tried talking with the neighbors?
If you’re hearing them, they may also be hearing you.
You may have a common interest in figuring out a solution.
We have a similar problem.
We found that there was a 10″ rectangular hole in the back wall of our fire place.
Have you checked the hidden areas in your shared walls?
Sound shouldn’t be travelling easily through 6-8″ of brick, so you may have an opening somewhere.
Also, check around the lower levels and the foundation – when they were building brownstones 100-200 years ago they often left openings between the houses so the workers and materials could pass easily from one house under construction to the next. These holes were later bricked-up before completion of the houses, but some may not have been.
We suspect our hole could have been one of these hidden behind the fireplace.
check the archives for this topic – soundproofing – but seems “air and space” are the best noise barrier.
Also there is an article in today’s NYT real estate section about soundproofing windows. It mentions two local soundproofing companines.