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AIBU?

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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:
Pharlapwasthebest · 17/08/2019 22:55

I live in a new build (2 years old), I rarely hear my neighbours, occasionally hear them running up the stairs.

june2007 · 17/08/2019 22:55

Sometimes but not much. But my neighbours son has issues and could not cope with crying kids which was difficult for all for a while.

Jamiefraserskilt · 17/08/2019 22:55

We are semi detached 1930s house.
I can hear the baby crying when it goes full tilt and their extremely yappy dogs yapping when they are there. When they are at work all is quiet, even the dogs.
When we moved in and the kids were tiny, we used rooms that were on the other side or the one lined with wardrobes for them, to keep noise to the minimum.

PhDone · 17/08/2019 22:57

Hmm we live in a townhouse (Victorian?) and I worry about this because one side of ours is empty... Although the other side is converted into flats and we don't hear much from them - water running in pipes, and I'm fairly sure there's a kitchen next to our bedroom wall because I'm sure I've heard spoons clinking in teacups.

I used to live in a Victorian terrace where next door's stairs were right next to ours (through the wall). I used to wake up panicking when home alone because it sounded like someone coming up our stairs...

Elieza · 17/08/2019 22:58

New build semi

Noisy as hell: thundering elephant kids, parents arguing, tv especially in the hot weather when windows are open, eldest kid screaming and swearing at fortnite. Damn dog yowling all bleeding day when they go out, their alarm clock buzzing for one hour on sleep mode. Crying babies in the night. And music sometimes if the kids put it on as it’s always too loud.
Can’t wait to move.

Waspnest · 17/08/2019 23:00

Our last house was a 1930s semi and the noise was dreadful. The DH was in a band which practised there and they had two toddlers - the mum would play bloody kids songs loudly and all three would sing along at the top of their voices. I was glad to leave and when we moved our only criteria were off road parking and that the house was detached.

Now we've got a child I'm also glad that we're detached so that we don't drive neighbours mad by subjecting them to Dr Who every day.

fortheloveofPete · 17/08/2019 23:01

Yes. With the Brain of Britain, his wife Gob Almighty, their three kids, Loud, Louder and Deafening, we hear EVERYTHING.

Every scream, threat, argument, phone call, toy, washing machine, shower etc. It doesn't help that he thinks he's a fucking builder too.

It's soul destroying. On the upside, I don't bother with being considerate as they clearly don't give a shit. I have heard neighbours 6/7 doors down complain about their noise.

They're a nuisance.

Next house will be a detached house. I'm not even going to contemplate anything else.

fortheloveofPete · 17/08/2019 23:02

Sorry, it's a 1950's house.

puppy23 · 17/08/2019 23:04

Ironic timing here, I'm currently hearing my next door neighbours hen party through the wall! That said, she lives alone (for now) and so is generally pretty quiet unless she has guests round, so I guess I can forgive the odd noisy night.

Lunafortheloveogod · 17/08/2019 23:05

I think it’s a house to house thing like how they’re built but also how they’re laid out. Like if their stairs are against your living space it’ll feel like thundering elephants because it’s as close, Dane with living spaces onto bedrooms or kids onto master bedrooms.

We’re lucky, I can hear our neighbour if he’s having a party or diy but nothing else, stairs are both on external walls, living room to living room, kitchen to dining room and our bedroom onto his “spare” room as is ds’s. So our general living noises drown any of his out or blend them in and at night we’re a whole room apart so there’s nothing.
House before I could hear their every step but they had spiral stairs in their living room onto mine but living rooms had a longer party wall, kitchen was fine but our bedroom was onto theirs and they had the tv on the party wall... I could hear him watching dodgy dvd’s 😂. I knew it wasn’t his wife by the voices 😂. Made us very aware of our own noise too.

MadisonAvenue · 17/08/2019 23:05

We live in a new build and rarely hear our neighbours (a couple in their 40s with a 10 year old boy).
Before moving here we lived in a 1920s semi and didn't hear much of the elderly couple next door and they didn't hear much from us either which surprised me as our children were 13 and 10 when we sold it and we'd bought it before we had them. Apparently the people who bought it from us were very noisy and if ever I saw our previous neighbour she'd say that she wished we hadn't moved as we were so quiet.

BobbinThreadbare123 · 17/08/2019 23:06

I lived in a terraced house and we heard everything! Stompy feet, crying baby, the lot. Then into a detached and it was joy. Then I got divorced and had to go back to terraced. Very thick walls, very old houses. Could hear everything because of the bloody chimney! Loud TV, shit music, smokers on one side coughing all the time (plus the smell came through). I was overjoyed to move back to a detached, although now we're next door to squeaky trampoline shouty grandkids yappy visiting dog eternal barbecue people. Silence in winter!

ishouldntsaybut · 17/08/2019 23:06

I lived in 70's semi all fine until one evening lying in bed I heard the next door neighbour cough as if he was in bed next to me - and I don't mean a big deep cough I mean a little throat clearing cough! If I heard him do a little cough I know what me must have heard Shock so we moved to a detached house Wink.

whattodowith · 17/08/2019 23:06

The noisiest house I have lived in was a Victorian terrace. It was bloody awful. One side had a baby (I had three DC myself so sympathised but none of mine ever cried quite as much as that baby did...) and the other side had a yappy cocker spaniel. The cocker spaniel side were also very DIY happy so most weekends were filled with drills, hammers etc.

Lived in semi’s ever since and it’s always been fine. Maybe I just got lucky with the NDN’s but barely hear a peep.

StripeySocks29 · 17/08/2019 23:08

Yes, ours is a1960s brick build with a chimney so not paper thins walls but our neighbours have 3 primary aged kids and they’re not good at parenting so we get a lot of screaming at 7am.

theconstantinoplegardener · 17/08/2019 23:09

Mid terrace here. On one side is a young woman who works nights. Our hall is adjacent to hers and we don't usually hear her at home. However on warm days she sometimes lies in the garden with her music on and we can hear that.

On our other side is a family with two young children. We can hear the cupboard doors being opened and shut in the kitchen, and the washing machine. It doesn't disturb us and I find it eerily quiet when they're away now, as I have grown used to the sound of other people close by.

BrendasUmbrella · 17/08/2019 23:12

We hear shouting, thumping up and down the stairs, the parents having "intimate time" in the living room when the kids are in bed, and piano playing (though two years on still no skill at all, it's literally an instrument of noise.)

And yet they made a noise complaint against us to the council because of our squeaky floorboards...

BuildBuildings · 17/08/2019 23:14

I live in a terrace an hear very little from either side. Our houses are old (1880s) so I think construction has a lot to do with it. Although the original plaster is shit, but may be soundproof?!

Lonecatwithkitten · 17/08/2019 23:15

New house-built 2011 we hear nothing, but the houses are cleverly built we are on a slight slope so I am slightly lower than them ( 2 courses of bricks), the stairs are on the outside of the house. High end builder, lots of windows and space.
Used to live in Edwardian terrace house we heard everything, but I think we shared beams and they carried the sound. These were mill workers cottages thrown up as extra cottages were needed, probably done on the cheap.

hamstersaremyfriends · 17/08/2019 23:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

oldfatandtired1 · 17/08/2019 23:16

3 years ago (on divorce) I moved from a large detached house to a beautiful, small, semidetached modern cottage. I did worry about noise from neighbours but I might as well be living in a detached house, I haven’t heard a thing.

Iwantacookie · 17/08/2019 23:18

30s semi here. Ndn. Couple with 4 dc ranging from 10-18
I hear them plug something in the bedroom.
A drawer opening and closing in the kitchen.
Dog barking (but soon quietened down so no issue)
Occasional arguments but not enough to make out the good stuff.
Basically not alot and certainly nothing that irks me.

rasberryandlime · 17/08/2019 23:19

As others have said, it completely depends on the house. Our first house was a Victorian terrace, the noise from both sides was unbearable and we struggled to sleep due to the noise in our bedroom (which attached a bedroom either side), we never felt we could mention it to the neighbours as they weren't doing anything inconsiderate, just normal talking or tv watching in the bedrooms. Our next house was a 1930s semi and we literally hardly heard a thing, our neighbours had a baby and we honestly never heard him cry once, I think a combination of thicker walls, and the layout of adjoining rooms made a huge difference.
There are lots of soundproofing options available though, which we looked into when living in the first house, from simple things to putting wardrobes etc on adjoining walls to getting full soundproofing installed which meant loosing a few inches of room.

Bambamber · 17/08/2019 23:19

Our neighbours are elderly and we never hear them except when they bicker in the garden. They have commented how lovely it is when they hear us singing to our toddler so they must hear us quite a bit Blush

Doormat247 · 17/08/2019 23:20

I had a similar experience to you OP, I lived next door to a quiet old lady - then had to live with noise that I really wasn't expecting.

I love silence but sadly the scroat that lives next door to me screams, shouts and swears pretty much non-stop. I constantly hear doors slamming repeatedly and I end up with all their fag smoke getting in through the cat flap and letterbox.

Hopefully the new couple will be pretty quiet if they've got no kids. Good luck OP.