ᐅ Building a Privacy Screen for Your Terrace: Hire a Professional or Do It Yourself?

Hello,

we have purchased a newly built semi-detached house.

Our neighbors want a solid masonry partition wall made of stone instead of the standard glass divider.

We have two options for the wall.

We both want it to be 4m (13 feet) long, 2m (6.5 feet) high, and built on the property line.

Option 1

Have the builder construct it:

They would build a proper foundation for the wall and build it up (I believe with sandstone—the same type of stones used for the exterior walls of the house), finish it on the outside with the same high-quality render as the house, and place a capping slab on top.

Cost is about 6000 - 8000 € (to be calculated exactly) (price would be split between us).

Option 2

We skip the glass divider and both receive a small credit, maybe 100-200 € (to be confirmed), and then we build the partition wall ourselves using hollow blocks which can be filled with gravel or sand at the end to provide stability.

Cost: no idea but definitely cheaper 🙂

Could the wall in Option 1 settle over time, causing cracks in the masonry? Cracks usually develop inside the house over time, and sometimes even on the outside.

The high-quality render on the wall is also difficult to repair yourself. With Option 2, that should not be an issue since nothing is glued on.

First of all – hollow blocks also require a foundation! Properly done means excavating 80cm (31.5 inches) deep, then sand, gravel, and concrete. It's not a simple task.

How would you handle the insulation layer on the house in this case – would you let the hollow blocks butt directly against each other?

What bothers you about the glass partition that you would want to be different if it were a wall?

What do you mean by the insulation layer? We would leave a small gap between the cavity wall and the house wall, about 1–3 mm (0.04–0.12 inches).

Is the foundation heavy so that nothing shifts afterward?

We both don’t want the glass partition because it is made of frosted glass and you can partially see through it. There are small gaps around the glass to look through, and the sound insulation is much lower than with a masonry wall.

Pwnage619 schrieb:

What do you mean by the insulation layer? We would leave a small gap between the cavity wall and the house wall. 1-3mm (0.04-0.12 inches)

So no wall tie connecting the house and the wall.

Pwnage619 schrieb:

Is the foundation heavy, and then nothing shifts afterward?

Well, it’s basically a trench, 1 meter (3.3 feet) deep and 50 cm (20 inches) wide plus a slope, about 4 meters (13 feet) long. Depending on the soil, it can be quite hard work, so I would ask the landscaper if they could dig the trench right away.

Pwnage619 schrieb:

We both don’t want the glass partition because it’s frosted glass and you can partly see through it, with small gaps around the glass that allow peeking, and because the sound insulation is much lower than with a masonry wall.

I hate to disappoint you: The soundproofing effect compared to a glass wall won’t be as great as you might imagine... okay for bass frequencies, but not for mid-range tones (conversations, singing, etc.). Unless the listener and speaker are sitting immediately (!) next to the wall. How about using a different coating or film on the glass instead, plus a small water feature directly at the partition?

A wall tie was not planned (our own wall would need detailed planning anyway). I just wanted to first find out what makes more sense (doing it ourselves or hiring someone).

The glass partition is only 2 meters (6.5 feet) wide, and the standard patio is 3 meters (10 feet) deep (but we want to enlarge it to maybe 4 meters (13 feet) deep). The partition should ideally be as long as the patio but at least 3 meters (10 feet).

The masonry partition also looks much better aesthetically than glass and is less susceptible to scratches or damage if something bumps against it.

I had expected the masonry wall to provide much better sound insulation.

Pwnage619 schrieb:

I would have thought that the masonry wall would block a lot of sound

I’d say this: if your neighbor is having a normal conversation, you’ll still be able to hear almost every word on your side... in terms of volume, they will just sound like they are a few meters (yards) further away. However, the bass from their boombox on the terrace will be noticeably reduced. That’s all. Whether that is “a lot” and “enough” is something you have to decide.