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Restoration & Refurbishment

Victorian semi-detached - ok to dril into internal party wall?

Anonymous user 03/03/2024 - 3.40 PM

Hey all, not sure if this has been asked, tried looking but couldn’t find a specific answer. I live in a maisonette in a Victorian semi-detached house. Our walls are brick with lime mortar, and a kind of crumbly plaster over the brick. I need to drill into the living room wall, which is the shared 'party' wall with our next-door neighbour. From what I could see in the loft, its two bricks thick (brick on our side, and a brick on their side). I’m unsure if there is a gap between our walls (probably not). Like mentioned, I need to drill 3 holes (80mm deep) into this wall to hang a tv bracket. I know it’s not the best place for it as it could cause noise vibrations; to clarify, I'll be using speakers facing into the room, so there won’t be any sound from the TV itself (resolves the vibration issue?) The other day, I started drilling the first hole into the wall, and suddenly I heard my neighbour knocking from his side shouting ‘STOP!’. Obviously, this startled me, so I went and spoke to him. First thing I asked was if the drilling caused damaged to his side, and he said no. So that’s good. I then enquired what the issue was, and he told me (paraphrased) that he “could hear rubble running down the inside of the wall, and that this is an old building and the hole you want to drill is too deep for this brick. Its 120 years old, it could cause damage”, etc. He even mentioned, which seems over the top to me, that for such a small thing I need to get advice from a structural engineer. I remained polite and told him I will give it a think. Doing some calculations, the screw is 80mm long. Each brick is around 150mm deep? There is also 25ish mm of plaster in front of the brick, so I’m only drilling 1/3 of the way into my brick wall. Considering the age of the property, I guess there is a risk the bricks I drill into could crack. Would this cause issue with the integrity of the wall? I mean, worst case scenario my TV could just fall over some time with the strain? Was my neighbour being incredibly cautious and over the top? Or is there something I’m missing here? Is there a risk to the surrounding bricks, and/or his side of the wall at all? Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated, thanks :)

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3 Answers

RLC Home Improvements

Rating: 5 out of 5

Bognor Regis

I suspect you were using the hammer setting when you drilled. This has a hammer effect when drilling which can crack bricks down hole and cause the noise your neighbour heard. I would suggest maybe when you neighbour is out, drilling without the hammer setting and a quality masonry drill bit. It will take longer but cause less damage. Is it ok to drill into a part wall? yes Will pointing your speakers to forward make any difference to nuisance noise for your neighbour? No. Get ready for some complaints. You might want to consider sound proofing the wall first.

Answered19 October 2021

ADB Services UK Ltd

Rating: 4.9 out of 5

Moorgate, London

It’s unlikely theres a cavity within the party wall, more like the noise he can here is where the plaster is debonded off the wall and the noise being heard is behind the plaster as bits are dropping down behind it as the drill vibrates it

Answered20 October 2021

Upcycle Interiors Limited

Rating: 5 out of 5

Weymouth

Its a party wall but you don't need permission for such a minor thing. Crack on and drill it on "hammer" setting, it shouldn't cause any damage. If you don't put it on hammer setting then you'll probably not get very far and just wear the drill bit out. If you want to be really cautious then do it when yoyr neighbour goes out

Answered31 October 2021