Hi guys,

Just a mundane problem for which I need some suggestions.

I've attached a photo of a section of our apartment and I'd like to partition off this area beyond and set it up as my son's bedroom. Does anyone have suggestions on how to create a (non-permanent) partition here? And where I can get it? Ideally, it'll be something that blocks a fair amount of noise from getting through.

The only thing I can think of is to stick some fairly large wardrobes there (there is another entrance round the other side so access won't be a problem).

Thanks

Curtains, room dividers, etc

But none of them will stop the noise... Maybe the wardrobes or big libraries.

Thanks Nil but those are mostly too light, and with small kids running around the house i think they'd end up damaged and destroyed in no time.

What about installing rails on the ceilings with sliding a doors? You could put rails on the floor too but using a piece of wood on top of the floor to preserve it and not make holes in the original floor.

Or something like this:

If you want to block the noise, then you need a complete barrier. I'd go with back-to-back shelves or wardrobes, and some sort of 'interface' between them, cut to size...

Maybe even a cheap foam mattress cut to fit the upper space, on top of the shelf or wardrobe, would muffle the sound...

But I think, this would be better

I don't know the age of your son but, if you install a free-standing wardrobe, you'd need to be careful that rampaging kids couldn't pull/push it over and hurt themselves.

That looks good. Functional, streamlined, doesn't take up room space and looks easy enough to install ( and dismantle before leaving if necessary. I persume the same system could be used for wooden doors if the OP doesn't want glass.

Yes, I think it would be the best option. The problem of kash is the wall and the other piece of wall next to the windows aren't even with the wall. In this case, I would do the same but using two slides doors as the wont be able to slide back parallel to the wall but could slide one door on the other one.

We had the exact same issue when we lived in Hamburg, although our opening was more like an alcove opening. We did the following - bought some hard foam type insulation and cut it to size. We then put wallpaper on one side (so it would match the surrounding wall) and the other side we covered the foam with an armoire (to help with noise level as well as keeping the make-shift panel better protected, as it was just wedged into the space. It worked perfectly for us, and the following tenants even chose to keep it in place! And not one nail was used...
HTH

Thanks guys.

Mistrale, your solution sounds interesting. Is it this type of foam that you used?

http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j0...ation-Slab.jpg

I don't believe so but I would imagine that it would work just as well. My recollection (and this was about 15 years ago) was that it was the white foam that when cut can break into round balls (not sure if that makes sense or not). Like what you would find when unpacking a tv or something, that is used to keep the item from shifting in the box. However, you would want it to be thicker (like what your picture shows). HTH and good luck with your project!

You can use these large "blocks" that are normally used to insulate the outside of the house. They can easily be cut to shape. You can glue them together (where they lock onto one another) and ideally, glue them onto a thin wood panel of some type for more stability.

Have a look at Hornbach. You might find some other ideas.

http://www.hornbach.ch/cms/media/ch/...CH_complet.pdf

You could build a temporary wall using panels of plaster-board (most DIY stores have it; 2 metres x 3 metres panels I think), fitted into a frame.
It's avaliable with built-in foam insulation to help with noise/heat transfer.
It should be possible to fit the frame so that you only drill into the walls and ceiling and would then be easily removed when you leave.

This is what I would do as well. It looks much neater (exactly like a permanent wall) and you can even mask the edges with small strips of moulding so it really blends in and looks like a permanent fixture. When you leave, get out the sledge hammer and tear out the drywall, unscrew the mounting screws, and patch the small holes in the plaster of the original wall.

This is an easy weekend project. Good luck!

Thanks guys - all helpful posts, especially the last few.

Next weekend: CERN.
Weekend after: wall building!

Hello Kash_Z,
Have you managed to build the partition wall? If you haven't, I might be able to help you by explaining how this could be done WITHOUT HAVING TO DRILL HOLES in the floor or in the ceiling or in the walls.