Sound transmission in 1930's semi
 

Do 1930 semi's have a cavity wall? My house seems well built and the
party wall goes down below the floorboards. Our next door neighbours
are elderly and when they are talking or listening to the radio the
noise seems overly loud. I should add that we have knocked the
downstairs rooms into one and we (and the neighbours) have open fires.

I suspect that the fires will be the weakspot, however we have just
added some new hole-in-the-wall fires (one in each room) so blocking
the holes wont be an option.

The recesses either side of the fires are only 14 inches deep so adding
a framework and air-gap isn't really an option as we would loose the
character of the place.

Im just suprised that the house being so solid appears to have this
weakspot. Is it just typical of houses of that era and design?

In article .com,
wrote:
Im just suprised that the house being so solid appears to have
this weakspot. Is it just typical of houses of that era and
design?

I was a BCO in SW London for eight years: on my patch cavity walls
did not come into general use until the end of the 1930's, a fact
which horrified a colleague who came to us from Portsmouth where
they had been the norm since WW1 - they were adopted not for
insulation but to stop damp penetration: more of a problem at the
coast of course.

The gotcha on some of our more cheaply built houses of this era was
that they didn't have upstairs fireplaces and were therefore able to
twist the flues into the thickness of the party wall, thus just
leaving 1/2 brick deep chimney breasts upstairs and therefore only
this much brickwork between the upstairs bedroom on one side and
living room on the other.

--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk
Free SEDBUK boiler database browser http://www.sda.co.uk/qsedbuk.htm

On 17 Jan 2005 02:32:17 -0800, wrote:

Do 1930 semi's have a cavity wall?

Mine does.

Im just suprised that the house being so solid appears to have this
weakspot. [in sound transmission]. Is it just typical of houses of that era and design?

The recent "fashion" for laminate floors may have added something to
the acoustic properties of either dwelling.

--
MatSav

Tony Bryer typed:

Im just suprised that the house being so solid appears to have
this weakspot. Is it just typical of houses of that era and
design?

I was a BCO in SW London for eight years: on my patch cavity walls
did not come into general use until the end of the 1930's,

Not in the 2 1/2 bed design from 1931 on, I still own two of these, in fact
my family built hundreds of these they were all cavity wall construction.
Must have been some real cheep-skate builders on your patch.

--
Mark

In article ,
"Mark" writes:
Tony Bryer typed:

Im just suprised that the house being so solid appears to have
this weakspot. Is it just typical of houses of that era and
design?

I was a BCO in SW London for eight years: on my patch cavity walls
did not come into general use until the end of the 1930's,

Not in the 2 1/2 bed design from 1931 on, I still own two of these, in fact
my family built hundreds of these they were all cavity wall construction.
Must have been some real cheep-skate builders on your patch.

Cavity walls go back before 1900 in some windswept coastal areas,
and gradually work their way across the rest of the country over
the following 40 or 50 years.

--
Andrew Gabriel

OK, how do I check I havew a cavity? Remove one brick from my party
wall?

In fact what is a typical construction? full brick party
wall/cavity/full brick party wall?

Thanks All

How do I tell if I have a cavity wall? Remove a brick from the party
wall and check for an air space?

The recent "fashion" for laminate floors may have added something to
the acoustic properties of either dwelling.

--
MatSav

Good point. Carpet will tend to deaden sound.
Also, the OP mentioned "knocking a wall down". But that is on the OP's
side of the house --would it create more reverberation of noise from
next door, I wonder?

Bruce

I suppose it sounds worse at the moment as we have the room totally
stripped, walls are channelled for sockets and comms, bare boards and
some fresh plaster.

Im planning on gluing a sheet of soundbloc or similar plasterboard onto
the party wall with gripfill (pinkgrip better? non-slump?) recesses
upstairs and down. It cant hurt. Floor will probably be new wood with a
good underlay and rugs because the cat has the habit of coming in from
the garden and chucking up. Dont fancy spanky new 1500+ pound carpet
getting ruined within days!

Yes I know I should have an air gap, insulation, stud wall and two
sheets of plasterboard but it will ruin the character of the room and I
dont want to sacrifice the space.

In article , Mark wrote:
Not in the 2 1/2 bed design from 1931 on, I still own two of
these, in fact my family built hundreds of these they were all
cavity wall construction. Must have been some real cheep-skate
builders on your patch.

Wates mainly. But where was your family building: problems of
driving rain are far worse in coastal areas and as you go west,
as compared with sheltered suburban London.

--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk
Free SEDBUK boiler database browser
http://www.sda.co.uk/qsedbuk.htm

Andrew Gabriel wrote:


Cavity walls go back before 1900 in some windswept coastal areas,
and gradually work their way across the rest of the country over
the following 40 or 50 years.


When we talk of a cavity wall in relation to a semi, are we all talking
about the party wall, or the other three?

I would expect the external walls to be cavity, but the party wall to be
9" brickwork for 30s houses. YMMV of course, depending on location etc.

Have I forgotten/missed something?

Andrew

Tony Bryer typed:

In article , Mark wrote:
Not in the 2 1/2 bed design from 1931 on, I still own two of
these, in fact my family built hundreds of these they were all
cavity wall construction. Must have been some real cheep-skate
builders on your patch.

Wates mainly.

LOL

But where was your family building: problems of
driving rain are far worse in coastal areas and as you go west,
as compared with sheltered suburban London.

Streatham, Clarence AV area
Twickenham, Staines road area
There were others in S-London but it was slightly before my time.
To the OP measure the distance between front or back adjoining windows
outside, deduct distance between window and wall your side add the same for
next door, what you left with?

--
Mark

Andrew Gabriel typed:

Im just suprised that the house being so solid appears to have
this weakspot. Is it just typical of houses of that era and
design?

I was a BCO in SW London for eight years: on my patch cavity walls
did not come into general use until the end of the 1930's,

Not in the 2 1/2 bed design from 1931 on, I still own two of these,
in fact my family built hundreds of these they were all cavity wall
construction. Must have been some real cheep-skate builders on your
patch.

Cavity walls go back before 1900 in some windswept coastal areas,
and gradually work their way across the rest of the country over
the following 40 or 50 years.

Yep a lot of Victorian houses on the south cost are built with a cavity but,
IIRC only a small gap and no wall ties.

--
Mark

On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 23:35:55 GMT, "Mark" wrote:



But where was your family building:
Twickenham, Staines road area

Carringtons?

--
MatSav