There was a story on the TV a few months ago about Bolton District Council and noise pollution.
The Council paid out over a £100,000 to install a 10 foot acoustic wall around the perimeter of a primary school playing ground to protect local residents from noise pollution at play times.
Now you might think that such a thing is ridiculous waste of council tax payer's money, but it does illustrate one particular problem that is becoming increasingly common.
That's noise pollution, particularly domestic noise pollution.
Now we can train ourselves to ignore it, or somehow manage to filter it out, but if you're unfortunate to be lumbered with noisy neighbours, then life can sometimes become unbearable.
Neighbours have been known to argue over noise, and have sometimes even come to blows.
It's understandable, if not necessarily acceptable.
So, if you're faced with this particular problem, whether that's blaring television sounds droning through your party wall, or next door's teenagers blasting out their loud music all day and all night, is there anything you can do about it? Can you insulate your home to filter out unwanted sounds so that your home can finally become your castle again? More importantly, can you do this without breaking the bank? Well, the answer to those questions is yes.
It's called domestic soundproofing.
It's easy to install and the solution doesn't have to cost an arm or a leg either.
There was a time where you were faced with limited choices when it came to combating domestic noise: you either had to move house, or spend a small fortune soundproofing your home.
Moving house is no longer viable for most of us until the market picks up, so we're left with just the one solution - installing domestic soundproofing.
People automatically assume that it's both complicated to install domestic soundproofing, but that really is a misconception.
Domestic soundproofing is a practical solution and more affordable than you might think.
Soundproofing materials can make a measurable difference to the lives of those people who are adversely affected by domestic noise.
Barrier damping mats, egg box damping sheets and barrier mats can definitely reduce the noise within domestic properties, and make your lives a little more bearable.
What's more, these improvements can be achieved with minimal disruption for both the occupiers and the property.
A barrier damping layer of 2mm thickness combined with a 12mm open cell acoustic foam can make a measurable difference to the trajectory of sound waves.
The barrier layer can reduce noise between rooms by 20 to 25 Db.
Acoustic foam can then further reduce the amount of noise transferred by absorbing the airborne sounds giving a total reduction in excess of 35 Db.
Self-adhesive blocking material can be applied directly onto the existing wall, through which plastic pads are then attached to the existing wall.
New acoustic plasterboard sheets are then attached to the plastic pads over the blocking material.
This method also creates an air gap between the block and the acoustic Plasterboard which further helps with reduction of airborne sounds.
Acoustic plasterboard will also help to block and reduce further the transmitted noise.
The total thickness of the completed wall will be 35 mm (less than 2") meaning only a small amount is lost on the room size.
The Council paid out over a £100,000 to install a 10 foot acoustic wall around the perimeter of a primary school playing ground to protect local residents from noise pollution at play times.
Now you might think that such a thing is ridiculous waste of council tax payer's money, but it does illustrate one particular problem that is becoming increasingly common.
That's noise pollution, particularly domestic noise pollution.
Now we can train ourselves to ignore it, or somehow manage to filter it out, but if you're unfortunate to be lumbered with noisy neighbours, then life can sometimes become unbearable.
Neighbours have been known to argue over noise, and have sometimes even come to blows.
It's understandable, if not necessarily acceptable.
So, if you're faced with this particular problem, whether that's blaring television sounds droning through your party wall, or next door's teenagers blasting out their loud music all day and all night, is there anything you can do about it? Can you insulate your home to filter out unwanted sounds so that your home can finally become your castle again? More importantly, can you do this without breaking the bank? Well, the answer to those questions is yes.
It's called domestic soundproofing.
It's easy to install and the solution doesn't have to cost an arm or a leg either.
There was a time where you were faced with limited choices when it came to combating domestic noise: you either had to move house, or spend a small fortune soundproofing your home.
Moving house is no longer viable for most of us until the market picks up, so we're left with just the one solution - installing domestic soundproofing.
People automatically assume that it's both complicated to install domestic soundproofing, but that really is a misconception.
Domestic soundproofing is a practical solution and more affordable than you might think.
Soundproofing materials can make a measurable difference to the lives of those people who are adversely affected by domestic noise.
Barrier damping mats, egg box damping sheets and barrier mats can definitely reduce the noise within domestic properties, and make your lives a little more bearable.
What's more, these improvements can be achieved with minimal disruption for both the occupiers and the property.
A barrier damping layer of 2mm thickness combined with a 12mm open cell acoustic foam can make a measurable difference to the trajectory of sound waves.
The barrier layer can reduce noise between rooms by 20 to 25 Db.
Acoustic foam can then further reduce the amount of noise transferred by absorbing the airborne sounds giving a total reduction in excess of 35 Db.
Self-adhesive blocking material can be applied directly onto the existing wall, through which plastic pads are then attached to the existing wall.
New acoustic plasterboard sheets are then attached to the plastic pads over the blocking material.
This method also creates an air gap between the block and the acoustic Plasterboard which further helps with reduction of airborne sounds.
Acoustic plasterboard will also help to block and reduce further the transmitted noise.
The total thickness of the completed wall will be 35 mm (less than 2") meaning only a small amount is lost on the room size.