Hello,
This might be a strange question, and I'm not entirely sure if I'm posting it in the right forum. Moderator, please remove it if it doesn't fit.
About 10 years ago, I moved into my apartment. In connection with that, we moved a wall (we tore down the old one and put up a new one a couple of meters beside the original). The new wall is, if I remember correctly, built with metal studs and plasterboards, and then plastered over with a "fasning" between the wall and the ceiling, typical for the 30s apartment.
Everything has been great until a couple of months ago when we got new neighbors above us. Since then, the wall has started creaking when they walk around in their apartment. It creaks almost like an old floor, or like when two wooden planks rub against each other, but it sounds like it comes from where our wall meets the ceiling, but not like it would be from the neighbor's floor, and that it comes from just inside the wall. It sounds like it comes from a spot in the wall.
Does anyone think they can understand what it might be? Could it be the plasterboards, or the metal stud rubbing against the ceiling? To get rid of the noise, will we need to tear down the wall to locate what it is? Has anyone experienced anything similar?
I understand this might be a very vague question, but I'm grateful for any help. I really want to get rid of the noise as it's against our bedroom.
Thanks!
This might be a strange question, and I'm not entirely sure if I'm posting it in the right forum. Moderator, please remove it if it doesn't fit.
About 10 years ago, I moved into my apartment. In connection with that, we moved a wall (we tore down the old one and put up a new one a couple of meters beside the original). The new wall is, if I remember correctly, built with metal studs and plasterboards, and then plastered over with a "fasning" between the wall and the ceiling, typical for the 30s apartment.
Everything has been great until a couple of months ago when we got new neighbors above us. Since then, the wall has started creaking when they walk around in their apartment. It creaks almost like an old floor, or like when two wooden planks rub against each other, but it sounds like it comes from where our wall meets the ceiling, but not like it would be from the neighbor's floor, and that it comes from just inside the wall. It sounds like it comes from a spot in the wall.
Does anyone think they can understand what it might be? Could it be the plasterboards, or the metal stud rubbing against the ceiling? To get rid of the noise, will we need to tear down the wall to locate what it is? Has anyone experienced anything similar?
I understand this might be a very vague question, but I'm grateful for any help. I really want to get rid of the noise as it's against our bedroom.
Thanks!
I could imagine that the wall acts as an amplifier of the sound. But the reason must be the flex in the floor structure that occurs when the neighbor walks on the floor. Whether this is because the wall you moved was load-bearing or if the floor structure is generally wobbly (not at all uncommon) I cannot determine without more information.
One needs to know a little more to be able to give a good answer. What type of house is it? Was it built in the 30s? What are the joists made of, wood or concrete? The exterior walls? A floor plan wouldn’t hurt either. It might be that the simplest solution is to open up the wall from one side and insert insulation.
If there are wooden joists between the floors, the difference between two neighbors' behavior can be significant, including due to different furnishing.
If there are wooden joists between the floors, the difference between two neighbors' behavior can be significant, including due to different furnishing.