To think halls adjoining semis are all nice and quiet?

[NotJustACigar]

DH and I are house hunting and, while we could potentially stretch to a detached house, would rather get a smaller mortgage and not have to worry about money as much. So we're thinking about buying a semi, but we're both fairly sensitive to noise. Therefore we're looking for one with halls adjoining.

So please could you tell us, if you have a halls adjoining semi, how noisy is it? And what period is it from? We're thinking of a Victorian house with cellar but would noise travel through the cellar? Any advice would be brilliant as we made a mistake on our last house and can't afford to make another one.

We are end of terrace with houseswhich is laid out the same (not mirror image) we are joined to their hall stairs , bathroom and box room .
They are lovely neighbours (best we have had) but noise from them using stairs is quite loud .
Mind you I am sure it is better than if we were mirror image and had living room and kitchen joining .

We live in a hall to hall semi and have absolutely no problem with noise. We are always apologising to our neighbour if we see her and the kids have been a bit noisy but she tells us she hasn't heard a thing!

She looks after her three young grandchildren during the day and I never hear a peep!

Before this house we lived in a detached house and had more problems with noise. Mainly due to loud music and families shouting out to each other.

I think it's down to how thoughtful your neighbours are really.

ohone thats a bit sad poor dog sounds very unhappy :(

PumpkinPositive no, the turquoise bathroom suite set into white tiles, the bonkers shower stall with saloon-style doors, and the strip lighting in what looks like a false ceiling...it's bizarre!

We are in a new build and the soundproofing is non existent. On one side it is stairs to stairs and we can hear them walking up and down the stairs (to be fair, sounds like they keep their shoes on inside). On the other side there must be a toilet against our living room because we can hear him weeing!

I live in a detached after years of semi, and I love the lack of noise. I also love making as much noise as I like. So I'd have to recommend detached if you can stretch to it

Yes furbaby, I do feel sorry for him.

We're in a 1950's semi with halls adjoining. It's really quiet, and it's not often we can hear our neighbours' tv (they are elderly and hard of hearing, so it's a pretty good test). Sometimes we can hear voices if they have visitors during the day. I have no idea what it would be like if they were a young family with a baby crying in the night though.

WE live in a 1932 substantially built semi with living rooms adjoining .WE live next to a family with 3 young children and never hear anything .There are big chimney breasts though so that probably soundproofs a lot and then a bookcase in one of the alcoves.Upstaits we have big fitted wardrobes against the party walls>we have noticed that teh bricks are very hard and the walls thick - I think build quality make a big differencet

WE once lived in a newbuild semi with halls adjoining, but I really didn't like the front doors being so close together- we were only allowed a 3' fence and I just felt it lacked privacy

That house looks older so the soundproofing is probably better, the newer builds are the ones to avoid as they're often built to low standards. I am extremely sensitive to noise and lived in a similar type house when I lived alone, I could never hear their music or voices (but that could have been because they kept it at low levels) but when I first moved in I used to wake several times a night in a panic because I'd hear them walking up and down the stairs and it sounded like someone was walking up my stairs!!! That was the only noise I ever heard.

The downside of course is that your peace will depend on your neighbours, while you may have reasonably quiet, considerate ones when you move in, that could change.

In saying that, I've had more noise pollution in my current detached house than I ever had in my former semi. Winter is always quiet but last summer we had a very noisy group of singles move next door, despite their house being at least 20 feet from ours, we could hear their music, even with all their doors and windows closed, when they opened them in the heat it was as if the music was in my own house Got them kicked out but in the meantime had to listen to their nonsense for a couple of months. I felt really bad for the young family in the house attached to theirs, I can't imagine how loud it must have been for them.

If you do move into a semi, check the soundproofing first and you can always add to it. The neighbours will be the most important part though.

We live in a halls adjoining semi about the same age as that one (and in the same town!) and we can REALLY hear next door in our bedroom and the bathroom. They also have a very loud phone we can hear in the hall itself.

It's strange that a PP said that a new build has no sound insulation as it should comply with Part E of the building regs and be fairly well insulated.

halls adjoining is quieter surely? It's space between the two houses - in my mind the more neutral parts of houses are best being at the astounding side - it keeps the living noise at opposite ends?

We live in a 1950s semi but our house is wide rather than deep so there is less shared wall than in a normal semi. We occasionally hear when they're hoovering but not a lot else.

adjoining halls can act as a resonance chamber and make life much worse.

And just because they where built with adjoining halls doesn't mean that they still have adjoining halls.

We live in a 1930s end town house. Our living room/dining room/2 bedrooms adjoin the neighbour's hall and landing. The only thing we ever hear is them setting their burglar alarm, which is on the party wall. So their hall/our living room. It drives us mental as the cycle of bleeps goes on for about a minute and they set the alarm even if they leave the house to take the bloody wheely bin down the street and then deactivate the sodding thing three minutes later! We know the code off by heart

Hungry; I'm not in Britain but assume those are EU rules? Do those new rules include soundproofing because while all the new builds near me have very high levels of heat insulation, they are shit for sound.

Our semi is early Edwardian and no noise ever. Might be halls adjoining actually - the halls adjoin but so do two of the bedrooms...

Not sure if they're EU, definitely England and Wales though.

Part E is specifically relating to sound insulation. Part L is to do with thermal insulation. I used to sell the stuff; it's thrilling! But there are decibel levels which must be confirmed to, as well as thermal, U, values.

The house I grew up in and where my parents still live, is a semi with adjoining halls. While we were young it was an older sibling couple that lived there and they were very quiet, so we didn't hear a peep from them. Now my parents are the elderly ones they have a youngish family next door. They have been there since they were just a newly married couple and now their 3 kids are all teens. When I stay at my parents I can hear them but only in the hall or bathroom (both adjoining) but my parents biggest complaint is the noise in the garden.

If it isn't too horrendous financially I would always plump fo detached to be on the safe side!

BTW I am intrigued by the front bedroom ceiling of doom! Who would choose dark brown for a bedroom ceiling?? Someone with water penetrating perhaps? Check out the roof space above that ceiling.

Depends on the layout as said above. We used to live in an end terrace with halls adjoining and whilst the living room at the front was very quiet, our neighbours had knocked the kitchen space through to create a larger kitchen diner so could hear them pretty loudly at the back of the house.

We have a link detached now which is great! We only vaguely hear the neighbour putting his car in the garage when we're in the house and otherwise no neighbour noise at all. If you're sensitive to noise definitely go for detached if you can afford it.

Like the wood burning stove with drying rack.

That's my hometown! Nice area.

If you can stretch to a detached then stretch to it The house you have linked to would bring me out in hives through lack of privacy - particularly in the garden.