It is hardly necessary to tell residents of high-rise buildings, especially old buildings, what poor sound insulation of walls in an apartment is. Abandoning the arguments, let's move on to practical recommendations for eliminating this problem.
The first step, which requires high-quality soundproofing of an apartment with your own hands, is a clear delineation of problem areas that should be sealed. It can be both floors and ceilings, and walls. And if the former consist of concrete floor slabs and a layer of finishing materials, then the walls between apartments can be laid out in one brick. That is why the walls are the most problematic area for soundproofing.
Of course, if financial possibilities allow, soundproofing the walls in the apartment will not take much time and effort. It is enough to find a professional team of builders who will solve the problem in a few days. But those whose financial capabilities do not allow them to use outside help should not despair either. Independent soundproofing of the walls in the apartment will not be worse, but it will require much more from the ownertime and effort.
Before you start protecting your "fortress" from extraneous noise, you must first prepare the walls. To do this, you need not only to remove the old wallpaper, but also to putty problem areas, such as cracks or holes from dowels on which paintings or furniture hung. You will also need to take care of the electrician, openings from sockets and switches will also need to be eliminated, as they are one of the main sources of noise paths. Holes near heating pipes can be repaired with an elastic sealant to avoid cracks during the heating season. And only after laborious preparation, the soundproofing of the walls in the apartment begins.
Further, a frame made of profiles, wooden or metal, is mounted directly on the walls, which will later serve as the basis for plasterboard boards. The most common mistake that home craftsmen make at this stage is the neglect of rubber gaskets under the profile. Such a base will conduct sound even more, therefore, the sound insulation in the apartment will not improve.
A layer of mineral wool is laid between correctly mounted profiles, and it is not worth saving on the amount of this material, since the quality of sound insulation depends on it. It is worth laying cotton wool according to the principle "the more, the better." Next, the walls are sewn up with drywall, and the seams and joints are treated with hermetic solutions.
A fantasy or a project of a professional designer will tell you what the final stage of such work will be. It can be either wallpapering or decorative plaster, or an original combination of various decorative finishes.
Of course, there are skeptics who will say that such soundproofing of walls with their own hands takes up a lot of living space. But aren't some 10-13 centimeters that can be hidden with decorative trim worth perfect silence?
