Can you hear your neighbours

[AlwaysSomethingThere]

Those of you in semi or terraced. How much activity can you hear through your walls? Screaming kids, barking dogs, slamming doors, music etc. I'm looking for a house (unfortunately my budget doesn't stretch to a detached house on an island with a moat, a 12 foot fence and a drawbridge) and the first thing I do on viewings is pin my ear to the party wall as I'm so terrified I'll end up with a shit neighbour.

I suffer with anxiety and EXTREME misophonia so I find it very hard to judge when it's me being irrational or them being inconsiderate.

Interested to hear the measure of what other people think \ have to cope with?

[Lauren83]

I'm in a fairly newish build 3 storey town house that's a row of 4 so terraced, I have neighbours either side and only occasionally hear someone running up the stairs, shutting an outside door or hoovering, never hear voices, the TV or internal doors etc. I have a 1 year old and they say they never hear him (hopefully that's true) before that I was in an old stone terrace and didn't hear a thing from either side

[isseywithcats]

emi detached 1930s build and we are lucky next door neighbours generally quiet bu their two year old has a scream that would put a banshee to shame usually around 8pm im guessing bedtime she no want to go bed, but in the scheme of things i just laugh and say i guess its bedtime next door

[yomellamoHelly]

We hear next door's piano practice (but timings are random and it's never for very long). Is quite a muffled sound. When they have party we'll hear indistinct voices and laughing. That's about it though. They say they don't ever hear anything from us. (Ds past practising his musical instrument in between lessons.) Semi.

[BentNeckLady]

When we lived in a semi we occasionally heard our neighbour playing his music but only once or twice a month. We never heard any general living noise. In my parents house you can hear the neighbours kids shouting at each other and thundering up and down the stairs but nothing more really. I guess some neighbour noise is unavoidable and people have to live their lives.

[tierraJ]

I live in an eighties semi. I can definitely hear my neighbours.

[KitsandCaboodles]

If they are having work done to the walls or using a hammer then I hear them. I can also hear the front door being slammed at night when it's quiet(The man isn't too careful about it) but otherwise no, not a peep. I'm in a new build house that's 5 years old if that's relevant.

[KitsandCaboodles]

Using a hammer on the walls I should say.

[Milly90]

5 year old semi
Practically never hear our neighbour's. I picked a style of house where the living spaces don't exactly match up like they would with a traditional semi (eg living and dining rooms side by side) our living area and theirs run against opposite sides. Further to that their master suite is at the front of the house whereas mine is the back and backs onto their bathroom
However I do very occasionally hear toilet flushing and dining chair scrape along their tiled floor!

I'm just about to move to a detached but that's just personal preference because I want to have big loud parties more often and not bother my neighbours

[thatsmyspace]

Semi detached here. I here loads when I'm in the living room, their tv,kids,dog barking. But it doesn't bother me. We have 5 kids so our house is loud too 🙈 we're probably the nightmare neighbours 😂

[megletthesecond]

Yes. I can hear sneezes, music and shouts. And their dishwasher. There's only two of them though so limited opportunities for noise.
I reckon a family with kids would be noisy.

[Justanothernamechange2]

My neighbours are extremely loud...all..the...bastard...time.

[MissMarplesKnitting]

60's semi.

We can hear them especially the bastarding yappy dogs but we have two kids so it's probably worse for them 🤣

[Insomnibrat]

Yes. I'm in a semi on a new build mews style affair and honest to god I'm SICK of hearing next door cough and cough and cough and cough.

Lay off the bong, love.

Also, even though you portray your 'perfect life' on social media, I hear you both screaming at each other, the things you call each other and the threats you both make. Just separate, please god, don't bring children into the utter fiasco of a relationship. It's terrifying.

[totallyliterally]

End terrace built in 70's with walls made of rice paper apparently.

Hear everything. Tv, chatting loudly. Toilet flushing. Shower on. Them bathing kids. Highlight this week was one of them throwing up a lot (obviously not their fault)

But they can obviously hear exactly the same back. We are both families and chat when we see each other and just pretend we can't hear it all.

But I also dream of a detached house!

[ShesABelter]

My neighbours now two year old screaming all day and night long and the kids up running around at 5.30 am.

Its a nightmare to be honest and my husband wants to move but our house is bought and there's is rented so I don't see the point when they may move.

At the same time they must hear us but they won't be woken up every night and am and kept awake when trying to get to sleep.

[Freshprincess]

50s semi. My neighbour is a lady who lives alone, so don't really hear much most of the time. When she has people round I can hear some low level background noise but it doesn't really bother me. She probably gets the raw end of the deal tbh.
I can hear her playing the piano sometimes but that's quite nice.

[DiaryofWimpyMumm]

My house is 5 years old. I can hear when my neighbours little boy runs upstairs and can hear when their front door slams but nothing else. In my sons bedroom you occasionally hear the neighbours music but only when they blare it which isn't often, thankfully.

[bluebump]

90’s semi, we can hear raised voices, kids screaming, toilet flushing (and the man weeing if it’s really quiet dead at night) and stomping up and down the stairs. Slamming of the doors is awful too. We never hear tv or music or general chat unless it’s loud or it’s summer and the windows are open.

My neighbours are generally a loud shouty family but the house is on the market at the moment so for all I know I could end up with worse, I certainly have done before!!

[MrsPear]

I’m sorry op but you are my ideal of a hellish neighbour who would send me mad. My anxiety would go through the roof. If you are living in a home that is attached to another the odds are you will hear other everyday noises and the occasional row or kid shouting. That is life. You can’t expect others to be living in silence.

In answer to your question 1960s house - one side is being renovated so most days we have power tools from 8 until 4. The other side are retired musical Quaker’s. We are a family of 4. Probably all 3 are your idea of hell. And yes we hear each other.

[gggrrrargh]

I live in a newish 12 year old house with neighbours either side, and I can’t hear a peep, it’s bizarrely quiet

[AlwaysSomethingThere]

A quiet, respectful and house proud woman who is a considerate person to live next door to.

Yes what a nightmare neighbour I am 🙄

[InteriorLulu]

Walls are thin here. We hear our neighbour's TV and the one the other side in the bath. Suspect they hear our kids thundering up and down and the occasional argument DH and I have.

We are terraced, houses built 1978. I think we're all good neighbours to one another though and would never mention the noise.

[Redshoeblueshoe]

I live in a 60s semi. Never hear a peep, even though they have a toddler.
If they move you'd be welcome to live next door

[Greydog]

Live in a victorian terrace, which was originally built as a barn, then converted into houses. We have an older couple next door, so we always know whats on tv, can hear when they have visitors, dog barking. Other side is a lovely lady, can hear when she has grandchildren round, hoovering etc. It's a vast improvement on the other three people who lived there. One was a DIY fan, who did alterations in the middle of the night, another couple used to drink, and row - in the end we treated them as a comedy act and used to sit at the top of our stairs laughing at them, and then we had a Spanish lady who used to scream at the children that were there. I nearly got to the point of ringing social services, but then they left, and our lovely neighbour came. I hope she never leaves!

[Lala503]

Live in a semi- yes I hear the neighbours. Dog barking, teenage son kicking off, tv at night. Weirdly it doesn't bother me- and I say this as someone who suffered absolute misery for years when I lived in a flat and had a noisy neighbour above.
Think it's because in that situation there was no escaping it. Here I can go to a room on the other side of the house and it just doesn't feel like it consumes me.