ᐅ Thin exterior wall in an old building, 12 cm (approximately 5 inches) exterior wall
Created on: 21 Sep 2012 12:39
M
MekeHello dear forum readers,
we are renovating a house from the 1970s. According to the plan, the bedroom (which borders the neighbor’s garden) has a 12 cm (5 inch) exterior wall. No wonder you can hear every sound as if you were “right there.” We ordered good windows, but if all noises pass through the wall, that doesn’t help much. How can we best achieve soundproofing, from the inside or by adding an exterior cladding? And with what materials? Thank you in advance for your help!
PS: In front of the bedroom is a “small storage room,” which we insulated with mineral wool and insulation foil fixed with Isofix. Previously, you could look through small gaps in the bricks directly into the garden—it was that open. The room is about 1.50 m (5 feet) wide, then comes the 12 cm (5 inch) bedroom wall.
Kind regards
we are renovating a house from the 1970s. According to the plan, the bedroom (which borders the neighbor’s garden) has a 12 cm (5 inch) exterior wall. No wonder you can hear every sound as if you were “right there.” We ordered good windows, but if all noises pass through the wall, that doesn’t help much. How can we best achieve soundproofing, from the inside or by adding an exterior cladding? And with what materials? Thank you in advance for your help!
PS: In front of the bedroom is a “small storage room,” which we insulated with mineral wool and insulation foil fixed with Isofix. Previously, you could look through small gaps in the bricks directly into the garden—it was that open. The room is about 1.50 m (5 feet) wide, then comes the 12 cm (5 inch) bedroom wall.
Kind regards
B
Bauexperte21 Sep 2012 13:02Hello,
This is airborne sound, and there is basically only one effective way to reduce it. You would need to cut grooves into the screed in front of the wall and build a second wall—preferably made of sand-lime brick—directly on the structural floor slab (check structural stability carefully). This is not exactly affordable, and it probably won’t block all the noise completely.
Find an architect or structural engineer you trust and discuss possible solutions with them; anything else would be just guessing.
Kind regards
Meke schrieb:
We are renovating a house from the 1970s. According to the plans, the bedroom (which borders the neighbor’s garden) has a 120mm (5 inches) outer wall. No wonder you can hear every noise as if you were "right there." We have ordered good windows, but if all sounds pass through the wall, that doesn’t help much. How can we best achieve sound insulation, from the inside or by adding an outer layer? And with what?
This is airborne sound, and there is basically only one effective way to reduce it. You would need to cut grooves into the screed in front of the wall and build a second wall—preferably made of sand-lime brick—directly on the structural floor slab (check structural stability carefully). This is not exactly affordable, and it probably won’t block all the noise completely.
Find an architect or structural engineer you trust and discuss possible solutions with them; anything else would be just guessing.
Kind regards
Although the question concerns sound insulation, thermal insulation should also be considered for a 12 cm (5 inches) exterior wall. This becomes especially important when changes are made to the building envelope system, such as the planned installation of new windows. It is not uncommon for building physics issues to arise after partial energy upgrades—specifically, mold growth can occur at the transition between well-insulated and poorly insulated components.
Caution is also advised regarding whether a building permit (or planning permission) may be required, for example, when adding an additional outer layer. For maintenance or renovations, this might not be necessary. However, in many regions, modifications to a building require approval. Depending on the scope of the changes, one should verify whether a building application is needed—even if this sounds excessive.
I recommend having a concept developed before installing the windows, outlining how insulation (sound and/or thermal) and the window installation can be sensibly combined. If an outer layer is added, the windows should be positioned closer to the exterior side of the wall for better building physics performance.
Overall, structural stability should not be overlooked. For a masonry wall, 17.5 cm (7 inches) is considered the minimum thickness for load-bearing walls—I assume the exterior wall is load-bearing. Consulting a specialist is my strong recommendation.
By the way, calcium silicate bricks are likely good for (airborne) sound insulation, but they are also quite heavy and not very effective regarding thermal insulation.
Caution is also advised regarding whether a building permit (or planning permission) may be required, for example, when adding an additional outer layer. For maintenance or renovations, this might not be necessary. However, in many regions, modifications to a building require approval. Depending on the scope of the changes, one should verify whether a building application is needed—even if this sounds excessive.
I recommend having a concept developed before installing the windows, outlining how insulation (sound and/or thermal) and the window installation can be sensibly combined. If an outer layer is added, the windows should be positioned closer to the exterior side of the wall for better building physics performance.
Overall, structural stability should not be overlooked. For a masonry wall, 17.5 cm (7 inches) is considered the minimum thickness for load-bearing walls—I assume the exterior wall is load-bearing. Consulting a specialist is my strong recommendation.
By the way, calcium silicate bricks are likely good for (airborne) sound insulation, but they are also quite heavy and not very effective regarding thermal insulation.
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