Soundproof Walls

How do I soundproof a wall?

I have limited room to soundproof the wall between my house and my neighbours house. I can hear conversations and TV what can I do?

Public Comments

1. Well, you can go to home depot or lowes and get the spray can foam and use that for installation between the walls. The foam will seek every crack and hard places for coverage. If used heavily you can maybe reduce by 50% from what your hearing. Screaming, yelling and banging won't stop it.
2. Armstrong makes sound proof panels you can attach to your existing wall that would work fine here. They look like the walls you see in offices and schools but they really work well. Contact a local Gypsum dealer in your area or go online to Armstrong and you can see pictures of these panels. They will have installation instructions also.
3. Not easy to do. If you can spare about six inches, you can install a second wall interior to the outer one, with fiberglass insulation and sheet rock. Do not let the studs of the new wall line up with the studs of the old one, and preserve at least a fraction of an inch separation between the two. This will cut down the noise considerably.
4. You can get sound damping drywall and hang it. Take down the existing sheet rock and replace it with the sound proofing sheet rock. You can order this from Lowe's, Home Depot or your independent lumber yard. Also make sure you insulate between the studs. If you have windows on this wall you can order new sashes with a laminated glass (triple pane) this will cut down on noise as well.
5. There are 2 commonly accepted methods for residential "sound proofing". The first and probably the easiest is to build a conventional wall, then cover it with sound deadening board before installing drywall over that. Any supply house or home improvement megastore will sell this in 4x8 sheets. The second is to frame a wall using 2x6 top and bottom plates and then using 2x4 studs, staggering them from side to side every 8 inches. Once this wall is framed, take a roll of R-13 fiberglass insulation and weave it in between the 2x4s like in the picture below. If you REALLY want to deaden the sound, you can now put sound deadening board on the new wall before putting the drywall up.
6. I have heard of a drywall mounting system that uses horizontal metal channels attached to the existing wall to hang a second layer of drywall over the first. The channel supports the new wall but keeps it decoupled enough to prevent most sound transmission. Such a system would be less work than taking down part of the wall and rebuilding with new studs, but it would still be a fairly big project.