Home DIY

Thank you. So no point in eg this ?

I think you’re assuming the hinge is on the other side (it’s visible at the bottom of the photo). It’s the top edge of the door making the indent in the plaster as far as I can tell.

Same logic though. Trim the top of the door off and build the top of the frame down to meet the door.

I guess if you layer and layer and layer and layer eventually the edges will soften, but it’s bound to end up looking all heavy and slurryish. Sanding will make it look sharper and moar pro.

D'oh! I did think it opened the other way.

An offset hinge or a parliament hinge might work, I guess. Save having to do any chopping and fixing.

Got a flat in a 1940s concrete and brick block which I'm totally renovating. Since moving I've realised that I get noise through the walls that face the common stair place. Main problem area is the kitchen, but there's definitely flanking because the ceilings and other walls are also brick and concrete. The ideal (but unobtainable solution would be for the stairs to be properly lined because it's noise from hard shoes that reverberates, not talking or other airborne noise. Can't afford (money or space) to do a full job of a suspended wall with loads of gap, sound insulation etc. Kitchen units will go against the wall which might help a bit, but wondering if it's worth me losing 20mm of space to line with a heavy vinyl mat and then green glue on some 12.5mm acoustics plasterboard. Anyone tried that? Good money after bad or worth a punt because it might at least soften the clank of heavyset people in stilettos coming down the stairs?! Any advice appreciated!!

Okay thank you! Will try and find a way to fill where there's nothing to support behind

I reckon probably not.

The sound of steps will be transmitting through the solid materials that link your flat to the stairs which is likely going to include not just your wall but the ceiling and floor too. To get a substantial reduction you’d therefore need to float not just a new wall but potentially a new floor and ceiling.

I do kinda like the idea of dynamat and plasterboard, the different materials ought to baffle a good range of frequencies but as it sounds like you know for a significant reduction you’d need a new solid wall fully isolated from the existing solid wall with air between.

Maybe carpet the stairs in the dead of night.

If you can, I'd also consider a door stop, as there's probably always going to be a point where the door will strike the plaster otherwise.

Maybe carpet the stairs in the dead of night.

You joke, but I’d be seriously considering guerrilla / gorilla gluing some rubber treads onto the stairs. Safer for everyone, quieter for you. Also a cheap experiment, and it’s not like you’d actually get in trouble for it. If I lived in the block I’d just assume the maintenance people had been told to comply with some new reg.

How does this clip on a curtain tail come off? Is it just brute force with a flathead screwdriver, or is there a trick to get it off?

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Thank both. Flat is currently without doors, furniture etc, so think it'll be better once it's fitted out but will look to guerilla line the stairs!

I bet there’s an adhesive-backed rubber sheet material out there. Pre-cut the treads and your’d have it installed in about two minutes.

Either dyna mat on the walls before putting units on, or you could do a full wall of equastrian/horse rubber floor matting. Mass, lots of mass helps deaden sounds, thick shredded rubber does make a difference. BUt as already said, that kind of foot step sound will travel through every solid surface quite nicely.

Redid a party wall in a flat. Was just 80mm stud with plasterboard on both sides and some insulation inside. Made it into 120mm stud, double plasterboard either side (fire reg), regular insulation inside and one sheet of rubber horse floor matting, and a 50mm PIR foam insulation on my side for extra warmth incase flat next door becomes empty for any time. Made a huge difference against talking/human sounds. Can still hear some stuff, but it sounds like its a whole extra room away instead of 150mm away. Lost a bit of space from room but worth it.

If you have kitchen units you could put up a chipboard wall (or even MDF) and instead of having battens (not sure if right word?) use the cabinets. Then a small gap and something like dynamat on the existing wall. Like that there would be no bridging.

Decoupling and two heavy materials should do quite some work, but sound from stairs of course also travels through ceilings and floors.

Thanks everyone - a few good options to think about. Cheers!

It's at the same height as the overflow. I'm replacing the valve as the (very) old one doesn't seal properly leading to a constantly dripping overflow (overflow pipe also needs replacing as it's perished but getting the cistern to actually stop filling seems more important). In theory, no I shouldn't need to seal it, in reality if the overflow is used then this hole will be too/first.

Ali Dymock did a YouTube on sound proofing one of his walls. Maybe also check that out.

These days you can and should be overflowing into the toilet basin. Any modern syphon will do that. Just block off the old overflow outlet.

Constant overflowing is usually a bit of dirt in the syphon preventing it closing properly. A good clean/descale May sort it.

Recently I saw a YouTube video where someone’s routing a cast iron table saw top, and so I tried to straighten the edge of the table of my disc sander - it works really good. Just in case if someone is asking if it is possible.

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A friend measured the width of their windows and bought blinds to fill the width, without thinking about fixings, assuming the window and reveals were all perfectly straight/true/plumb/whatever. Anyone tried cutting down a blind? Any tips? Was planning on breaking out the tape, clamps and mitre saw:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=_dIo3uaI3Yo

I did it with IKEA ones years ago, worked a treat. I used the exact method you suggest. Note though that I think the Ikea blinds were specifically designed to be cut down (though whether that meant anything in practice I don't know). I thought they were good blinds but they discontinued them a few years ago, I assume because people were too scared / lazy to cut them.

Perfect. Thanks!

Any tips on my course of action? Rentokill injected some stuff along the sidewall inside and out about ten years ago, and I suspect that subsequent building work has interfered with that.

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Yeah that's a good idea and limits how much I need to take off the door

External condition looks bad. Does that side get a lot of driving rain and can it dry out or does it stay damp? North facing etc?