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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

For those who live in a semi-detached house....

169 replies

Afternooninthepark · 17/08/2019 22:21

Do you/can you hear your neighbours very much?
I ask because we have lived in our semi for nearly 20 years. Our next door neighbour lived on his own and wasn’t there much. When he was at home he was very quiet and we would hardly hear him. Sadly, he died 2 years ago and the house has been empty ever since.
However, when his family come down and stay (the house has been up for sale the last 18 months and they stay from time to time) they make so, so much noise it drives me insane. They watch the tv at a really high volume, the seem to talk really loudly and have 2 dogs who yap all the time and they seem to stomp around the house, we definitely know when they are next door.
The house is now sold and our new neighbours (a couple in their 30’s, no children) are due to move in any time.
In all sense and purpose it has been like living in a detached house for the last 20 years and it’s going to take some time to get used to hearing people going about there every day.
Before that we both came from our childhood homes which were detached.
So I’m just wondering if you hear your neighbours much? Are they noisy or do you just get used to it?
Silly, I know but I’m getting quite anxious about having neighbours.

OP posts:
brookelopez · 17/08/2019 22:23

my parents live in a semi detached house, they were next door to an elderly lady for years before she died and a new family moved in. you can hear everything, they also have a dog they leave at home whilst they work and it barks all day.

GhostofFrankGrimes · 17/08/2019 22:25

Yes, our party wall is a joke might as well be made of cardboard. Neighbour is elderly, lives alone. I can hear him but it is bearable. I dread him moving out because even if we get a considerate family moving in the noise will be too much.

ItsLateImTired · 17/08/2019 22:25

We find it fine! A couple in their 30s will hopefully be fairly quiet. I wouldn't worry (til they have a baby ...... (Just kidding, it'll b fine!))

HalfDeadHousePlant · 17/08/2019 22:25

Yes, I hear the neighbours. He is particularly fond of bringing home his latest conquest from the pub and rutting all night in the living room which is separated from ours by what seems to be a sheet of paper.
Do you get used to it? Not really but I suppose it's better than banging music.

Original poster
Afternooninthepark · 17/08/2019 22:26

Ahh, that’s my fear! That would drive me insane.

OP posts:
Hattie78 · 17/08/2019 22:27

I occasionally hear mine running up the stairs but that's all.

IDontDrinkTea · 17/08/2019 22:27

Our NDN have a baby. We hear him each time he cries...

Apparently our dividing wall is made of paper

hartof · 17/08/2019 22:28

No we don't, they're new houses (lives here 6 months) and all I've ever heard is them
Doing work on the house. We never hear voices or music/tv, their kitchen is on our front room and their bathroom is on our en suite wall so they are designed for us to not hear each other I suppose.

juls1888 · 17/08/2019 22:28

We have been here for 5 years and next door are a couple with a daughter aged about 12 and we very rarely hear them, except if the daughter runs up or down the stairs in a hurry.

They also say they rarely hear us, despite our son aged 5 having ASD and loudly stimming, meltdowns etc. I'm never too sure if they are just extremely polite or if they genuinely don't hear anything. 🤷

Original poster
Afternooninthepark · 17/08/2019 22:29

I’d better start looking for sound proofing ideas!!

OP posts:
SemperIdem · 17/08/2019 22:29

I think it depends on the age of house and how the rooms are set up within them a lot of the time. I’ve just moved into a Victorian terrace, I hear very little to nothing at all from either side. One side is a family (who I have heard when I am in the garden) , the other is either a sole person or a couple (it’s been less than a week, haven’t seen any of them).

I think if you’re used to it being very quiet, general family noise will seem offensively loud.

hartof · 17/08/2019 22:29

We did live ina mid terrace previously and heard everything from both sides!

museumum · 17/08/2019 22:29

Nope. We’re all n a mid 60s semi and have elderly neighbours. They’re a bit deaf and if our tv is off no music etc we can hear a slight burble from theirs but that’s all.
They have an upright piano on the far away wall and again we have to have everything off in our house before we can hear the slightest hint of it.
They say they don’t hear us either.

WhyBirdStop · 17/08/2019 22:30

We hear nothing but the adjoining wall is the entrance hall, staircase, bathroom and smallest bedroom which next door is a study, ours used to be but is now the nursery, the houses are mirrored in layout. Neighbours say they don't hear a peep and DS can be loud. Our house is over a hundred years old though and has very thick, solid walls.

surreygirl1987 · 17/08/2019 22:31

I'm end of terrace so basically the same as a semi. A family live next door (two little girls). We occasionally hear them but rarely!

Original poster
Afternooninthepark · 17/08/2019 22:31

Our house was built in the 60’s and fairly solid. I just hope the old neighbours family are just particularly noisy people.

OP posts:
Doobydoo · 17/08/2019 22:31

We just hear them raking out their fire and they probably hear ours..assuming they back on to each other.We live in an Airey house. When we lived in a modernish house could hear everything from rows to loo flushing and talking etc.

Ontheboardwalk · 17/08/2019 22:32

Not long after I moved into my semi next door got a parrot and a yapping dog. I spent thousands soundproofing my side.

I can still hear some noise but it’s so much better than it was

Bobbiepin · 17/08/2019 22:33

The age of the house will play a big part in the noise you can hear. I'm in a 1930s semi and never hear the neighbours. Equally they claim to have only heard the baby cry once so either the walls are thick enough or they are exceptionally polite. We only ever hear their dog bark if she's outside so I think the former.

MamaFlintstone · 17/08/2019 22:33

Our old house where the master bedrooms and main living rooms were adjoining - could hear absolutely bloody everything (including a home birth and probably the conception of that child too Confused). So one of my main house search criteria when we moved was that if it was semi detached it was the stairs that were adjoining and the main bedroom and living room are on the outside wall. Barely hear anything from our current neighbour except occasional piano playing.

IggyAce · 17/08/2019 22:34

I can hear our neighbour but it isn’t too bad usually. The way our house is joined means that we only share living room wall, stairs and bathroom. No joined bedroom walls so they never heard our newborn dcs when they cried through the night.
The only time it’s really bad is if they have a party and play music through their tv which is mounted on the chimney wall and has sound bars. The noise travels up the wall and is loud on our landing, luckily they only have a party once or twice a year.

Esspee · 17/08/2019 22:34

We rare!y hear anything through the wall but if we did the solution would be to install sound insulation. Your rooms will be a little smaller but worth it.

SmellbowSmellbow123 · 17/08/2019 22:35

I live next door to a couple in their 60s. We’ve been here 18mths. I can hear them on their stair case (staircases are effectively side by side) and if my house is quiet I might hear her on the phone. THEY, however, can probably hear me telling my kids to constantly shush and my eldest using the stairs with his ten tonne feet. I’m very aware of them getting fed up with any potential noise through the wall.

Summersunshine2 · 17/08/2019 22:36

Lived in a 60's terrace once. My elderly neighbour asked how I was feeling one day as he had heard me coughing all night.
This is why I live in a detached now.

0hT00dles · 17/08/2019 22:36

We're mid terrace and we hear very little. To be fair it's a solid, older house where the walls are impossible to drill through. We hear the odd arguments and the baby monitor picks up next doors, but sounds like we're lucky.

I don't mind hearing next door arguing with the kids about bed time, as it makes us all seem normal and that we all have the same issues with our kids😂

But, if you can hear everything next door, start thinking of ways to soundproof. I remember a rental where I was home alone and kept hearing a voice of a man stuck in the bath. Turned out to be next door 😂 and he was genuinely stuck in the bath. Dh came home and we couldn't help but laugh as we heard it all....in our bathroom.