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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:
Greydog · 18/04/2023 10:54

Post WW1 terrace in what was an old barn. Next door one side, can hear them sneezing and yawning, and their TV. Other side, youngish couple with a toddler. They are make some really odd noises, sounds like hammering, but ony start at about 9pm. They also smoke constantly in the back yard, no escape from them anywhere. I hate my house sometimes

kezzielea · 18/04/2023 10:56

I used to live in a mid terrace small Victorian cottage and could hear everything from both sides - coughing, tv, phone conversations etc. Now live in an end terrace Edwardian house which has the thickest walls. Next door has 3 young children and I still don't hear anything.

Squamata · 18/04/2023 10:57

Depends a lot on the construction of the house IMHO

We have a fairly solid Victorian terrace - we hear the neighbour's dog barking, if they have a party, if they scream or shout (eg at football or an argument!) and there was a brief phase when an old neighbour put a piano against the wall and it turned our house into an amplifier.

Most days we don't hear them at all, from either side. They probably hear our kids screaming way more as neither side of us has kids!

chiefschiefschiefs · 18/04/2023 11:00

Not all new builds have thin walls..this is such a weird myth.

Some do, some don't. Just like any house from any period.

Anyhow, we hear next doors dog with dementia bark and howl. And that's it (we live in a victorian house)

Previously we had a new build terrace and couldn't hear either side.

😊

Weatherwax134 · 18/04/2023 11:24

Hardly ever really. We can hear it a bit if they have a party or are doing mid-afternoon karaoke (one side have a couple of very sweet and excitable little girls), but otherwise it's fine. I did have an old neighbour who had very, very loud s-x though and that was a bit awkward!!

AllIeveknewonlyou · 18/04/2023 11:26

AlrightJulia · 18/04/2023 10:35

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 bathroomEnvy

Ahhh few years back I had to mind a relative's house and was a bit alarmed at the noise neighbour made when he peed 🤣

I think men pee so much noisier than women.

fairycakes1234 · 18/04/2023 11:27

Could you get your house insulated, i live in terrace house, and once they insulated the house it was harder to hear them.

YukoandHiro · 18/04/2023 11:27

Barely ever, except the TV from one side occasionally.
But we have two kids and I'm sure they hear us all the time. I'm always apologising!

justme202 · 18/04/2023 11:34

1950‘s mid terrace - we hear barely anything. One side is a couple in mid 30s, we sometimes hear it when they have a gaming party, but nothing bad.
Other side is a very eldery couple, and we can occasionally hear a walking stick on the wooden floor.

GeraltsBathtub · 18/04/2023 11:45

I live in a Victorian mid terrace and hear practically everything - Alexa, conversations, music, washing machine, blender, light switches, tv, sex, coughing/sneezing, getting plates out of the cupboard, etc. I guess the Victorians hadn’t invented soundproofing!

Shesheadingonin · 18/04/2023 11:58

New build mid terraced, not a peep from either side despite baby on one side and large family on the other.

girlfriend44 · 18/04/2023 12:15

I used to live in a terraced house and you could hear the light switch going on, the TV the phone ringing, talking everything really
Walls were paper thin
The alarm clock going off was the worst for me. Often woken early by the clock going off through the wall.
Glad I've moved. Best bit of it was, the person didn't work, didn't need an alarm clock.

PearPartridge · 18/04/2023 12:22

I'm in a Victorian end of terrace. I barely hear the ones I'm attached to. Certainly not in any way that bothers me. Funnily enough the ones who aren't attached to me are more irritating. I sometimes wake up to them arguing and the man is a permanent tinkerer in the back yard. (DIY not gardening)

SoftCoeur · 18/04/2023 12:26

On one side, hardly ever. I can hear her going up and down her uncarpeted stairs when I'm in the room right next to them. But that's it. However, a previous neighbour in that house had severe MH issues and our lives were a misery as she compulsively slammed doors, screamed and hammered on things.

On the other side is a medical practice and all we ever hear from there is the cleaners in the evening.

AllIeveknewonlyou · 18/04/2023 12:32

It's unavoidable sometimes isn't it - I want to live in a city so occasionally might have unwanted noise.

Depends on your neighbours and how well intentioned you feel towards them!

cisisaslur · 18/04/2023 12:35

Nothing because I'm quite deaf. One of the perks on being hard of hearing

CoodleMoodle · 18/04/2023 12:37

We're end of terrace. Next door are mainly very quiet, except they do DIY a lot, including past 10pm! That's irritating. The husband also runs his motorbike for about twenty minutes before using it, every day, but that'd probably be the same if we were detached. We're probably the loud neighbours with our 2DC, but I don't let them make too much noise (excluding newborn stages!) and we've never had any complaints.

DM is in a "proper" terraced house. Her right hand neighbour also does DIY but during appropriate hours and is otherwise quiet. She hears his music occasionally but nothing annoying.

On her left, her previous neighbour was incredibly quiet, although you could hear him running a bath, climbing the stairs, etc. He passed away last year and her new neighbours are horrendous. They shout all the time, play music, bang doors... it drives her nuts. Her house is very warm, though!

Frankola · 18/04/2023 12:48

Used to have a terrace. Never had any real issues apart from our bedroom wall was next to theirs. And the beds were against the same wall. We used to be able to hear them have sex.

Which meant by default they could hear us have sex! 😂

RedRobyn2021 · 18/04/2023 13:00

We live in an end terrace, next door to a young couple, with dogs. I hear their dogs barking when they occasionally leave them home (this has been known to go on late at night which is a pain).

But tbh I'm more worried about them hearing our daughter waking at night at the moment, she's being very loud crying (despite sleeping right next to me!) I'm massively paranoid what they might think.

Anyway, I don't see the problem with terrace personally, its all about who lives there and if they are normal and nice its fine.

3BSHKATS · 18/04/2023 13:04

Victorian terrace - i hear their alarm on the phone go off at 5.30am every morning

CleverLilViper · 18/04/2023 13:05

I live in an end-terraced house.

I can hear my neighbours and their kids inside and outside the house quite a lot. I grew up in a detached house and moved into the terraced house and it was quite a shock!

At first, it used to bother me quite a lot. I'd hear them screaming, running and banging up and down the stairs, banging cupboards etc. However, as time has gone on, I've got used to it and expanded my tolerance levels, I suppose.

I now have two dogs who bark quite a bit when they're going out (only time they really bark) and one scratches at my kitchen door when it's time to get up from bed. I imagine that they can hear this and have been tolerant as well of the noise.

My noise is still not half of what their noise is-but it's part of living in a terraced house, I think. Also depends on the construction of the house and things like that.

As long as the noise isn't anything more than the usual running of a house then not much to be done about it. We're all probably noisier than we think we are, as well. It's just most of the time no one stops to inform us :D

blahblahblah1654 · 18/04/2023 13:06

1930s terrace. I hear the mum next door screaming at her 2 kids often. Also dogs barking in the other house. No noise early morning or late at night though so it doesn't bother me.

Supernova23 · 18/04/2023 13:41

Victorian terrace. Never, but both sides are single and elderly, so clearly not much noise coming from there anyway. The only tricky thing is the summer and having window opens as obviously you can hear the neighbours further along in the garden. One of them had a baby recently so I'm hoping the late drunken nights are a thing of the past. Years ago I had to sleep on the sofa quite a few times due to the noise.

SnackQueen · 18/04/2023 15:18

Georgian terrace. We hear everything - and I mean EVERYTHING - on both sides.

idiotmagnet · 18/04/2023 16:43

Nope, not a thing