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

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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.

Edwardian terrace (2 up, 2 down), and can hear pretty much everything from both sides. Family on one side moved in 2 years ago, and it has been an absolute nightmare ever since. Constant shouting and screaming from the mother, she has no self-control.

The terrace is on a hill so our houses are tiered, makes it hard to sound proof as the joists are in different places. Is your house like that, op?

Not all terraces are the same. Ime the worst are the Victorian single brick ones especially if there is just a yard rather than a garden because all the noise bounces off hard surfaces and echoes around.

Your neighbours do sound noisy but the type of noise is "regular" (albeit loud) household noise so in that circumstance I wouldn't say anything.

It's not too bad here, we have some happy ones one side who just make me smile when they're having parties. Cake and chattering type ones. They're medics.

Other side are really quiet. Their dog barks a bit at times and I can hear them say shhh but it's daytime and never for very long and doesn't bother me. I don't know much about them at all but people are good about taking in parcels for each other so that's the only time I see them. It's like "hello! Parcel"

I don't miss our old terrace. You could hear someone cough or sneeze next door without background noise on.

I was brought up in a terrace and we rarely heard anything. It was small, but solid with decent thick walls. I currently live in a semi detached and occasionally (like once every six months) hear the couple next door arguing (very loudly) and their phones vibrating! Oh, and they have uncarpeted stairs ....! None of this bothers me in the slightest though. God knows what they hear from our house😬

I'm mid terrace. Young family one side and older couple the other, I never hear a thing.

I've given both sides my phone number when dd took up drumming, but neither side has heard her apparently.

Ours are old houses though and the walls are thick. I've been in some mid terraced new builds and you can literally hear everything.

So much depends on the age and type of build.

I live in a row of four two-hundred year old cottages and the walls are two feet thick. They were built when breeze blocks weren't a thing, and the walls are completely solid. I can hear neighbour one side sneeze occasionally, but not her big dog barking nor any TV or conversation. The other side (where there's a small child) I can hear occasional clonks but only from the 1970's addition kitchen. Nothing else.

They knew how to keep neighbours friendly in the old days!

Victorian terrace. One side chiming clock, opening of cupboard against the wall, piano playing, sometimes conversation if there are visitors and it's getting a bit animated. Other side... Coughing, sneezing, walking around, turning bathroom light on, hoovering, occasional noisy man-weeing, incessant whistling and soon a new baby.

One side I hear when they turn the plugs on and off and eastenders. Not normally other tv shows, so I guess it just travels! The other side there have been four different lots of people living there since I moved in. Three lots have been great and one lot very noisy. Loads of door slamming, arguments, making up after the arguments in the bedroom and always knew when the kids were visiting. Was very happy when they moved out.

I’ve lived in two Victorian terraces and your could hear everything from next door, both sides. - stairs, tv, phone ringing (in the old days of landlines), answerphone messages, light switches going on and off, washing machine, heating coming on etc.

If I have one regret it was not saving a bit longer and buying a detached. We touched very unlucky with our neighbours think they are entitled to make as much noise as they like. Dogs barking, absolute pandemonium when putting their children to bed, slamming doors. Hate them.

I can hear their dishwasher and washing machine whirring away. The Adele they insist on listening too and their drunk laughter. Their weed use annoys me more tbh. And they used to bang on the wall when DD had a meltdown so I no longer speak to them.

We used to live in semi detached, our neighbours when we moved in were a dream, never heard a peep from them. Shortly before we moved we got new ones and they were dreadful.

The woman had the most high pitched annoying voice I've ever heard and for some reason it just travelled. I could hear her aaaaaall day, sometimes every word she said. They had a dog that they never walked so it barked constantly, and shat all over the garden which they didn't pick up so you can imagine the smell in summer. She would shriek at the dog in an even more annoying voice to wind it up and make it bark more. It was like living next to a cursed Muppet, so glad we were already getting ready to sell up and move.

The husband was quiet as a church mouse weirdly. You roll the dice with neighbours sometimes unfortunately, sounds like you've got some crappy ones.

Very rarely hear anything. Very occasionally some muffled music if i have everything turned off at home.

I'm also in a mid terrace with concrete walls so we don't tend to hear anything from one side and not much from the other except for every sunday around 12.30 I can hear them mashing potatoes 🤣. Their kitchen is next to our living room and I reckon she puts the saucepan on the draining board to mash as I can hear it clear as day. There's also a toddler in the house who we sometimes hear but nothing too loud. I think we are the loud ones unfortunately, especially when my stepson and SIL were still living here.

We’re in a 1930s terraced house. We rarely hear our neighbours. We hear the wee boy at bath time if we are in our bathroom and sometimes we hear if he really thunders down the stairs but day to day we don’t notice the folk on either side at all.

One side we hardly hear at all. The other side are know as 'stompy and the twat'.

One side - nothing. He is a nurse so I assume we have very opposite schedules.

The other side - very rarely anything - she is single. Only the dog running up and down the stairs.

We were semi detached but end of a terrace.
Tempestuous, spoiled adult child next door.
We heard the shouting and the pounding up the stairs.
Late 1970s early 80s house.

Moved since.

Agree it’s very much about type of building.
we lived in a one brick thick, red brick terrace, could hear everything. It was so stressful.
my friends terraces here in south west have granite walls and it’s silent.

Hardly ever. Previous neighbours had small children, I could rarely hear them except when they were in the garden. And that never bothered me as a few years earlier I was the one with small children.

New neighbour has a dog which I hear bark occasionally.

Also new neighbours on the other side have recently mounted a TV on the shared wall between our bedrooms. As it's the wall I have my head against in bed I can (very annoyingly when I'm trying to sleep) hear it. I'm going to have to try and rearrange my bedroom I think.

We don’t hear anything - despite one side having three young children, and lots of stairs.
new built, but not one of those flimsy ones

We hear everything. Mid terrace 60's house. I know exactly what time my neighbour goes to bed as I can hear him weeing in the bathroom

I hear plugs, occasional hoovering but not much else one side. The other side, the radio, phone calls, he is exceptionally loud and some DIY stuff. Luckily not a great deal as neither have young kids or dogs that have been more of a problem in the past.

I'm the perfect terraced neighbour, I'd be surprised if they hear anything at all from me. 😃

I love in a block of 4 townhouses - end house after just moving from a detached bungalow. I am so not used to having neighbours and can hear every word when they start shouting every evening around 8.30. It is in a language that I don't understand but it always sounds angry ! I'm considering a polite conversation about how thin the walls are and how much the noise travels 😀> They went away for a few days last week and it was so peaceful