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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

If you live in a terraced house, how much do you hear your neighbours?

151 replies

Cheapcookies · 18/04/2023 07:02

I am fed up of living in a terraced house but can't afford to move to a detached.

We don't hear from one side at all.
The other side I can hear all day...from about 6am, screaming children (I know kids make noise, I have them too), crashing about, the dog barks all day, weekends can include a lot of banging...I don't know if I am becoming less tolerant of it or what but is this the norm for a terraced house? MIL lives in one and I can never hear her neighbours.

We had a house sitter in a while ago and they were shocked by the level of noise from that side (I did warn them so they could try and mask some of the noise so it does not unsettled our own dog, mainly the barking, as there is only so much the poor lad can take).

I know that with terraces come neighbour noise and they will be able to hear us sometimes as well (hopefully not 6am!) but what is the general experience?

Also not a new build house with thin walls. I will also clarify that the children are not babies crying, which of course I'd understand.

OP posts:
Justleaveitblankthen · 18/04/2023 07:49

Growing up, elderly neighbours both sides and only the occasional happy chuckle at the telly.
This made me feel all warm inside as everyone knew everyone else (in a street of 38 houses) and you felt ', safe' 🙂

Bk1000 · 18/04/2023 07:49

One side elderly couple hear nothing other than coughing and occasional diy, other side man living alone, wfh next to adjoining living room wall and hear every word of his phone calls/ work meetings all day and I’m assuming online gaming conversations until quite late at night. I’m sure the noise he make pales into insignificance compared to the noise that comes from our house though. I know how much noise travels but it’s really difficult to keep 3 kids quiet inside, half of what neighbours hear is probably me shouting at the kids to be quiet😳

We used to have really noisy neighbours and I preferred that because it meant i didn’t have to worry about how much noise we made!

MaryJean87 · 18/04/2023 07:50

Not a lot. I can hear them when we're both in our kitchens with windows open as they face each other. I don't hear a lot through the walls, only the occasional shout or baby cry.

Didtheythough · 18/04/2023 07:52

I'm end of terrace, 1960s build, I never hear them and I moved in when their kids were pre-school age, they're now teens. But the layout of our houses helps eg they are mirror images of each other and the rooms that are either side of the shared wall are: hallway/stairs, bathroom and kitchen - kitchen units cover both sides of shared wall (eg theirs and ours). So no living spaces near shared wall. Or maybe it's the 1960s ex-authority construction which seems really solid.

Original poster
Cheapcookies · 18/04/2023 07:53

No they don't rent, they own it

OP posts:
Original poster
Cheapcookies · 18/04/2023 07:54

Growing up, elderly neighbours both sides and only the occasional happy chuckle at the telly.

So cute

OP posts:
Moraxella · 18/04/2023 07:55

Used to have a mid terrace new build and could hear the neighbours TV word for word

whatkatydid2013 · 18/04/2023 07:57

We have a family on one side and we regularly hear their dog and on other side is a flat and a maisonette. Upstairs has their living room next door to husbands study and you can hear the tv in the background (they have it v v loud as elderly and a bit deaf) but since they join our stairs/the study on that floor it doesn’t bother us overly. None of it is disruptive

TheFireflies · 18/04/2023 08:01

Victorian terrace, hardly hear anything. Elderly couple one side, heard them have a shouting argument once and occasionally hear their cocker spaniel whuffing. The other side is flats - young couple downstairs, never heard them, older couple upstairs, equally quiet although sometimes their son stays over and I can hear him laughing/gaming sometimes (he has one of those loud laughs) but not often.

Fridaysgirl17 · 18/04/2023 08:14

We are the same as you,one side we hear little to nothing,door closing when home from work that's about it,now & again you hear them out the back if it's nice weather but it's not loud just low chatting. The other side is another story,the guards (Ireland) have been called untold times for different things, when her kids were there it was much worse not so much the kids but her shouting & banging doors etc, the kids are with grandparents now but visit one day a week & honestly they don't make much more noise than her alone. The front door bangs,banging on the stairs,doors banging all hours,music, I had to report her for drilling on my kids bedroom wall at 10 30 at night,this was after multiple night waking of her screaming & such when drunk,I just couldn't do it anymore. I'm hoping to move soon into a new house so hopefully I'll get nice quiet neighbours,I'm not perfect but I try keep my 2 rowdy boys quiet as I can,& I've been known to raise my voice but try not too as it's not good for the kids 😔

StopStartStop · 18/04/2023 08:14

Very little now that I have less than half normal hearing.

LT2 · 18/04/2023 08:15

Hardly ever.

One side we have never heard him. The other side we occasionly hear DIY.

VestaTilley · 18/04/2023 08:16

We live in a 21 year old modern terrace. We can hear mum and young son being loud next door sometimes, and on the other side teenage children running up their stairs or turning on the vent in their bathroom, but luckily both sets of neighbours are nice and considerate, so it never goes on too late.

The little boy next door does sometimes wake up at stupid o clock in the morning, and that wakes me, but it’s not forever (I hope!)

Worse is the noise in the street!

Coffeeandcards · 18/04/2023 08:17

I live in a terrace, we can’t hear anything except weirdly next door’s microwave pinging! I assume there’s a weak spot in the wall behind it- either that or they’ve got the loudest microwave in the world 😁

Ringmaster27 · 18/04/2023 08:21

One side, I hear nothing.
A single woman, around my age lives there alone and works shifts in some sort of healthcare environment based on the uniform she wears. I occasionally hear her car but never any noise from the house.
Other side is a young couple with no DCs, just a couple of dogs. All I hear is the dogs running up or down the stairs a few times a day.
I have apologised to both sides for any noise they may hear from my house! There’s me and 3 DCs here, but they both reckon they don’t hear any noise from us. They must just be being polite 😂 because my house is like a circus 🤯

CampsieGlamper · 18/04/2023 08:26

1960s end terrace. We heard a little. We got Rockwall sound insulation in 4 rooms, £2000 total. Heat saving as well as sound saving. We did the same in the loft and the energy savings are great.

Wilkolampshade · 18/04/2023 08:27

Victorian terrace: one side occasional scuffling in the fireplace when they're laying/stoking a fire, occasional baby crying... after 2nd child born a brief increase in tantrums... Other side we hear their little girl running around with mates when having a play date.
It's lovely tbh.

Notfeelinglikemyselftoday · 18/04/2023 08:28

Victorian terrace, not too bad. I can hear one neighbour's posh coffee machine, which just makes me envious and the odd bit of hoovering or animated phone call. I worry we're the loud neighbours Blush

BarrelOfOtters · 18/04/2023 08:29

Inside nothing unless DIY….outside. We moved in large part because of the outside noise from one side. Hot tub, parties, screaming kids, v loud MIL, swearing…all in a tiny terrace back yard that echoed. Previous owner had been on her own and quiet so I could sit out and potter in the back yard I’d made into a lovely garden.

anyway we moved to a semi. Never hear anything from neighbours.

Sunshineandrainbow · 18/04/2023 08:31

I am always surprised by how little I hear. One side has small children other side is person on there own with the stairs on my wall.
All I occasionally hear is the washing machine spinning.
I hope they don't hear us.

gogohmm · 18/04/2023 08:31

Never. Good noise insulation (15 years old house) baby next door and never heard her

JorisBonson · 18/04/2023 08:32

Every word and scream. Like you OP, I live next to a children and a parent who can only communicate via screaming. They're screaming in the garden on nice days from 7am and we have to keep the windows shut, or screaming indoors from 6am every single day. I love it when they go to their dads.

Other side also can't speak quietly and have occasional parties / music nights but doesn't bother me as much as the screaming.

cecinestpasunepipe · 18/04/2023 08:32

Only when Liverpool are playing!

Skybluepinky · 18/04/2023 08:32

Only in one I rented, it was awful I could even hear them changing tv channels, and people 5 doors up had a row it was like they were in my house, all the houses had laminate flooring throughout.
Every other one not had an issue with.

Alsonification · 18/04/2023 08:35

Mid terrace here. The houses are made of precast concrete & even the upstairs floors are concrete so we hear very little. Great for insulation but terrible if you want to hang anything on the wall lol.

We'd hear a drill if doing work but otherwise nothing.

In an previous house which was way more expensive to buy & was a semi, I could hear conversations from the neighbours. Not even loud ones, normal voices. I could hear them laugh, sneeze, even pee.