Victorian Long Eaton
The railways and the lace trade built Victorian Long Eaton. By 1900 the population had passed 10,000, and the floors above the shops on the High Street and Market Place still show how much of the centre dates from that era. In its appraisal of the Long Eaton Mills Conservation Area, Erewash Borough Council describes King Street, Prince Street and Princess Street as mostly high-density Victorian terraces with later infill, and Lime Grove as Victorian semi-detached houses. Homes of that age were built with lath and plaster ceilings, and many have since had decades of patching. When the patches start cracking again, a new plasterboard ceiling, overboarded or fixed to stripped joists, ends the cycle.
Lining a party wall
High-density terraces mean neighbours close by, and sound travelling through a party wall is a common reason to ask about boarding. There are a few levels of answer. Acoustic plasterboard fixed directly to the wall gives a modest improvement. A better result comes from building an independent lining a little way off the wall, filling the cavity with acoustic insulation and finishing it with two layers of acoustic board, joints staggered. It takes some width from the room, which matters in a narrow terrace, so we measure up and talk through the trade-off before you commit. Sockets on the lined wall need bringing forward too, which is a job for your electrician.
Red brick walls and newer homes
The red brick lace factories along the western edge of the Erewash Canal, among them Whiteley's Mill and Harrington Mill, set the tone for the town, and red brick is the main material of the Victorian houses around them too. Where the old plaster on those brick walls has blown, boards on adhesive dabs give a straight, sound wall, provided the brick behind is dry. Away from the Victorian core, an estate of houses and flats now stands on the old speedway stadium site, which closed in 1997. In newer homes like those, plasterboarding is more about lofts, leak repairs and layout changes.
How to reach us
Call 07877 353120 or send a few photos through the enquiry form. If it is a party wall job, tell us which side the noise comes from and how wide the room is, which helps us work out what is practical before we visit. We cover all of Long Eaton, from West Park to the town centre, seven days a week, 7am to 5pm.
