Terraced/semi - how thin are your walls?

[Trulyatraditionalman]

I rent a very small 2 Victorian terrace. The walls are so thin, you can hear talking from next door and the occasional clear word (if the voice is raised). I know his is all part and parcel of living in a period terraced house. HOWEVER. New neighbour has just moved in (guy in his mid 30s) and was obviously keen to "christen" the house with his girlfriend this morning, so I just woke up to them having rather loud sex! Off to purchase some earplugs...

Just wondering, is this standard of most Victorian terraced houses? If you live in a terraceded/semi, how much can you hear your neighbours?

YABU - Can't hear much
YANBU - Can hear conversations and more

Late Victorian. We don't hear everyday noise unless windows are open. We'll hear it if someone next door is kicking off. And we hear the vacuum hitting the skirting. And any construction work can be really loud, especially if it's on the party wall.

If I remember rightly ours were built by the kind of industrialist who cared (somewhat) about workers' living conditions, and were built for not the very lowest paid anyway, so they've obviously been done to a decent standard.

I think a lot of it depends on your neighbours, which is an obvious point to make but just to give you an example;
My in-laws used to say (slightly smugly) how well built their 1930s semi was, as they very rarely heard their neighbours (a couple older than them who lived there for decades).
Fast forward 30 years, the couple sadly passed away, and a mum and son moved in. Cue hearing music, 'animated' conversations, banging, slamming doors etc.
I guess some people are just naturally quieter than others, and the lack of noise is sometimes chalked up to the house build.

90s terraced house and I can hear everything. It’s hell. We have different routines so they are awake until the early hours and then wake a couple of hours later at 5am. We can hear them banging around all day and night, talking, sneezing, farting you name it. We never get any peace or a full night sleep. I would never live in a terraced house again.

Modern town house, can't here either set of neighbours - we are concerned however that they are quiet and we are noisy . Haven't got to know them yet so no idea if they are seething about us. No children though

Previous house was 20
Years old, could heat them rowing all day long.

@incywincyspiders we're exactly the same in our new build terrace. Cannot hear a single thing from either side, we have young kids and both do each side, so you'd expect some level of noise, but nothing! Complete opposite to our old 60's terraced house which we could hear absolutely everything in... Coughs, walking on wooden floors, toilet flushing etc. You hear about how badly built new builds are, but ours seems so solid and well insulated compared to our old house.

My house is a 1990's terraced house and I cannot hear anything through my walls.
They were built by a local builder who insulated them really well. The previous owner enjoyed playing his yamaha home organ which was right up against the wall and the neighbour told me they could only hear a very faint sound of music.

Not a euphemism

Victorian mid-terrace. For the first decade I would have said very thick. Then within 6 months, I got new neighbours each side. Turns out, I actually had AMAZING neighbours who I did not appreciate until they left...

The walls are usually only 1 brick thick the same as an internal wall in a house.
You can add some sound insulation to your side which would reduce the amount of noise heard from next door

So thin. Over a decade here and I am still gobsmacked at the low quality of walls between houses.

I used to live in a mid terrace built in the early 1900s and it was awful, although this was almost entirely down to the fact that my neighbours on one side were arseholes who thundered and jumped down the stairs, blared music, shouted a lot, had frequent parties, had a dog who barked incessantly all through the day and night (they dealt with this by shouting at it...) etc. I dreaded every day and never felt comfortable in my own home and was always worried I wouldn't get enough sleep before work because of them, it did a number on my mental health tbh.

I've since moved into a semi and the only noise we can hear is their toddler galloping about and squealing for about two hours a day, and what I think is the sound of hoovering once or twice a week. It is a HUGE improvement on what I had before, although I still secretly wish we'd been able to get a place where the layout was such that our living rooms didn't share a wall. I am pretty sensitive to noise though tbf.

@Trulyatraditionalman

I rent a very small 2 Victorian terrace. The walls are so thin, you can hear talking from next door and the occasional clear word (if the voice is raised). I know his is all part and parcel of living in a period terraced house. HOWEVER. New neighbour has just moved in (guy in his mid 30s) and was obviously keen to "christen" the house with his girlfriend this morning, so I just woke up to them having rather loud sex! Off to purchase some earplugs...

Just wondering, is this standard of most Victorian terraced houses? If you live in a terraceded/semi, how much can you hear your neighbours?

YABU - Can't hear much
YANBU - Can hear conversations and more

I don't know if it's because I'm used to it or what but my view is that it's a part of life in a terrace to hear the odd copulation. I'd let it go unless it becomes a frequent activity. Our neighbours have the odd argument and a colicky baby, as well as two other children who do their usual screaming, crying, giggling, stomping kid life stuff but I'm not fussed. It doesn't impact our sleep at all and they're lovely people. It's a slice of life

In a well insulated new build semi. Very occasionally we hear running down the stairs but absolutely nothing else.

I live in an old terrace and I don't hear much. On one side I can very occasionally hear music through my bedroom wall if their radio is in a certain place but the lady is hearing impaired and must have it full blast. On the other side I don't hear anything at all from them downstairs but upstairs I can hear them but only when they're shouting.

The only think we hear is the odd shout if the football is on. Otherwise absolutely nothing. 1930’s semi with very thick walls. So thick it’s almost impossible to drill into them.

Ours is a 1900 terrace. Don't hear much from either side except the dog barking.

Our semi is a post-war pre-fab house. The walls are super solid: you need a hammer drill just to put a picture up. You can't hear much between the rooms but you can occasionally hear a conversation from next door or when they plug something in. It's not that loud or intrusive though.

1990s end terraced. Next door is a townhouse. Rarely hear any noise from them - only loud DIY, occasional hoovering. But think that's because we live on different levels. Our living is ground floor, theirs is the middle floor. So that probably helps.

I don't want to hear my neighbours copulating though @BeagleEagle.
Victorian terrace here.
I have no issue with regular day to day sounds, voices, footsteps etc etc.
Lived here for 30 odd years with no issues until last 3 years or so.
Have had a few neighbours in that time, some of whom have had babies while living here without subjecting us to the baby making process sounds.
Current neighbour has a new girlfriend - and don't we know it!
It feels very uncomfortable - a bit like the aural version of a voyeur......but we didn't ask to join the club.
They don't live together, thankfully, but I always know when she's coming( in every sense!) as he gets the vacuum cleaner out.

Judging by what everyone has said, you really don't know what you're going to get until you live there. There seems to be no hard fast rule.

I wish there could be an official sound measurement taken when you sell a house, like the energy thing. They could use equipment to make a certain level of sound in the next house and then measure it in yours and give it a rating. Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could know how well sound travels before buying the house!

Our last house was a 90s DETACHED house and in my living room with the TV off, I could hear my next door neighbour sneeze, vacuum, and the phone ring. They were a quiet, older couple or no doubt I would have heard more.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could know how well sound travels before buying the house!

omg @hennybeans can't even describe how much I would back that idea When I viewed the mid terrace I mentioned in my other post there actually wasn't any noise in that particular short time period so I was unawares, if I'd known what utter hell it would end up being I would have kept looking!

While I agree with @hennybeans in theory, in practice, I don't know how it would help.
As my 30 year experience demonstrates, it depends who's on the other side of the wall, and what they're doing.

Victorian 2 bedroom terraced. Well end of terrace so can only hear one side. Can hear everything. It's grim. Can hear conversations, sex, tv, music, lights and plugs being switched on/off, alarms going off etc. Hate hate hate it!

Edwardian semi can't hear anything, it's hallway adjoining though and the only other rooms that connect are bathrooms and third reception rooms