Just realised my house has NO sound insulation

[Baptiste11]

My 1970s terrace has zero sound insulation. For years I thought the walls were really thick and felt sorry for friends who shared horror stories about hearing noise.

This all changed when my new neighbours moved in yesterday. I can now hear everything. Music, TV, talking on the phone, laughing, running up the stairs you name it. It sounds like they’re rugby tackling the walls. Not helped by the fact they’ve been ripping up every inch of carpet and replacing with laminate. I can hear every bang and was woken up to the sound of them hammering.

I’ve had two other sets of neighbours live there, both with children and never heard a thing. It’s so strange. Have a neighbour on the other side and also never hear anything.

All I can think to do is move. Was trying to relax in the bath and could hear one of them on the phone talking so loudly but it was in a bedroom the furthest away from my window!!

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I’d request some consultations and quotes for options to insulate the house - there are often financial benefits to doing so, either in the form of utility cost reduction or direct discounts funded by the government to improve energy efficiency.

We had something similar when we had new upstairs neighbours. The previous girls were very quiet, whereas the new guys have loud music and loud conversations we can hear! Lived there years and never had issues before!

I agree, look up sound proofing options. I don't know if a very large, material, wall covering would help in the interim?

There is nothing worse. I would soundproof all the attached walls. I did this in one of our houses and the difference was striking.

It’s the carpet being removed it really dampens sound though I suppose they are just noisier people. I know that sound insulation isn’t cheap but it must be less than moving house. If you have a search on here there have been many threads recommending how to soften noise posted. You have my sympathies,

No helpful advice but we experienced the exact same thing in our old apartment and it was really hard to deal with.

We lived there for three+ years next to two different couples and never heard a peep from either of them and we just assumed the flats were well sound insulated.

A third couple moved in and it was like night and day. We now heard every single tiny thing (talking, going up the stairs, slamming cupboard doors, making food in the kitchen, watching TV).

If we went from one set of quiet neighbours to loud, I would have just assumed the first couple were generally quiet people but what are the odds that the second couple were also perfectly quiet? We moved out less than 6 months later because the woman was an absolute cunt and I don’t use that word lightly and we couldn’t live there any longer.

I feel your pain, wait until they put carpets down and see if that helps. If not I agree with others sound proof the joined walls.
I'm going to have to do that in my current house, one wall which is part of a newish extension done about 20 years has no sound proofing, and I can hear everything.