Soundproof semis - do they exist?

[DontCallMeBaby]

We are selling our house - and failing miserably, but that's another story - and looking ideally to buy a detached house. But there's not a lot of anything on the market, and detached houses obviously come at a premium. There are a few nice looking semis in the areas we're considering, but I'm really wary of buying another one - the walls on this one are really not thick enough and we hear a lot of noise from next door. Fortunately they're behaving themselves at the moment, but it's a rental property so the occupants could change at a moment's notice.

So - is there a way to look out for semis that might be a bit more substantial? I wouldn't buy a 60s semi again, based on this one, and I tend to think of 70s and 80s houses as flimsy too. My dad reckons more modern houses are a bit more substantial, though I'm not sure. I'm a bit more convinced by older houses, but am I kidding myself? Is there a particular era where we can expect the houses to bit a bit more soundproof, or is it down to individual properties?

I also think I'd rather have a house with the hall and stairs on the attached side - this one has the living room, dining room and two out of three bedrooms abutting next door, grrr. Is that a mistake though? If you have a semi with hall and stairs next to next door do you just end up going mad as next door galumph up and down the stairs?

My own experience is based on a 70's mid terrace......dreadful for noise. We would hear voices, plugs and switches being used, curtains being drawn etc...
Current house is 50's semi......brilliant. Literally never hear the neighbours.

We are in the process of moving to a 30's semi. I just hope the sound proofing will be as good as our current house!

modern ones have a cavity wall between the houses, which will reduce impact noise, and I have heard that builders are required to put soundproofing bats in or on the partition wall, though the person who grumbled told me that had been working on a conversion, I don't know if it is the norm on new build.

Victorian and Edwardian houses are likely to be built with lime mortar, on shallow foundations, so the walls may well be cracked under the filler and paint. back-to-back fireplaces and chimneys may only have a half-brick web between the flues, so noise will come through the fireplace, and through the wall if the chimneybreast has been removed.

A "halls adjoining" semi is considered quieter because people trampling on the stairs will mostly pass through the other staircase, and not a living room. Kitchens and bathrooms are usually arranged to back onto each other where noise will not be so tiresome.

I once had a terraced house and my neighbour commented when my cough got better.

1930's semi here. I can hear coughing and the phone ring next door. Though zoopla shows they have everything open plan so this may be why, it is all open living room, hall, kitchen, conservatory, chimney breast removed, wood flooring.

We've got a large mid-Victorian semi. The only thing we can hear from our neighbours is their grandfather clock chiming on the hour as it's right up against the wall. Most people think our house is detached so the clock gives them a shock.
We've got our dining room, conservatory and family room backing onto their living room, sitting room & patio.

We lived in a thirties semi with a party wall and a pianist next door! Nightmare. We've lived in two Edwardian semis with halls and stairs together and both were excellent for privacy and lack of noise.

I've lived in my 1950s terrace and never heard a thing from either side. One side is a young family so plenty of coming and going. It really does depend on the house.

I think it depends on the house / quality of the build in the first place.
Our (end of) 1960s end terrace was fantastic, but that was a combination of the layout of the house (only the short end of a living room wall joined, and 1 bedroom, that you would be sitting in) , quiet neighbour, and the fact they were 'self build' when they were built - there was no cutting corners to save a few bob, they knew they were going to live in them themselves.
We're now in a Victorian, and have the advantage (as does my MiL's Edwardian terrace) of having a passageway through to the garden, so the living rooms / ground floor are, to all intents and purposes detached. It's great.

We had a late 70s end of terrace and the noise was horrendous. We could hear them walking up the stairs at night and it sounded like there was someone on our stairs! We could also hear their tv, despite it being against the opposite wall.

Now in a 2000s terrace and hardly any noise at all.

90s end mews - never heard a peep (even though they had 3 children)

1960s semi - never heard anything (even 2 dogs)

1900s end terrace, heard a little bit of noise especially when our baby monitor picked up their signal

1930s semi - again, little bit of noise but only when there is shouting / commotion.

Interesting - sounds like Victorian or 50s are the safer bets, but no period is a complete no-go.

The layout thing is funny - I've never actually heard next-door's TV, which is right on the other side of the wall from ours, but we can hear them talking at normal volume through the dining room wall. Their house is open plan, but nonetheless it seems like the living room walls are a bit thicker. Plus we put a bit of soundproofing in when we built our shelves.

Safest bet is still detached though, and not just for our sake - DD plays cello, and I don't suppose our relationship is going to get any less shouty when she hits her teens! And now eve got an offer accepted on such a house, just need to sell this one, sigh.

We have a 1953 semi. Very badly soundproofed. Our living rooms and dining rooms adjoin. He works from home a lot, sitting at the dining table. If I am at my dining table I can listen in to his sales pitches!!
We also hear him reprimand their children, sing (badly and sadly often!) and hear the running up and down the stairs, doors closing and other general noise. When they have friends round it feels like the party is in our house!!

I know they can hear us too.

It is a shame, because it is spoiling the enjoyment of what is otherwise a lovely house in a lovely village...

We lived in an ex-council 1930s end terrace house which was solid as a rock and we never heard a thing from next door.

Now we live in a 1980s semi and hear our neighbours teenage son THUNDERING up the stairs day and night wherever we are in the house. Looking forward to when he moves out.

Ours is, but then we (we are construction contractors) altered it so we didn't annoy anyone, and we couldn't hear anyone.

We alway make any property we work on as sound proof as possible especially between rooms and floors, makes for a much more harmoniouse household.

We have a 1930's hall to hall semi and we never hear the neighbours. Very occasionally if it's just me in the house and it's quiet I can hear their phone ringing.

They assure us that they never hear us either , even when DS is having one of his tantrums.

We had more noisy neighbour problems in our last house which was a 1980's detached.

Last house was a 1930's semi - heard pretty much nothing. Currently in a 1940's semi bungalow - hear a lot more but they are fucking loud

1950s semi very occasionally hear next doors dog bark otherwise nothing. I am sure they must hear us at least my 4 year old and her numerous very loud tantrums every day! Would love a detached so I don't need to worry.

Quote, how difficult / expensive is it to put in some soundproofing? I wonder about doing this (even though our neighbours aren't even that bad).

We lived in a 1960s 3 bed semi (ex local authority) and we could hear everything, light switches being turned on and off, tv, radio, conversations, tramping up and downstairs etc etc.

We paid £2000 to have the whole party wall sound proofed downstairs and upstairs

(just) 1950s semi here, ex LA. We joke that there must be depleted uranium in the structure because we never hear a thing from next door. It's bliss.

I would never, ever buy a Victorian semi- or terrace. Sod the period features - almost everyone I know who has had a Victorian has evded up paying for retro-fitted soundproofing, to limited effect.

Gemma, and how effective was it?

I have to say the soundproofing was effective against everyday noises and did make it more bearable
unfortunately it didn't stop the actual neighbour being a t**t

We lived in a new-build (built 2006-7?) end terrace and almost never heard our neighbours and they assured us they never heard us either-- and both of us had newborns during the time we lived there!
We just moved from a 1930s semi with neighbours that were SO LOUD! I could hear her stomping down the hallway, which was impressive considering we shared living room walls so the sound had to pass through their hallway-living room wall and the shared wall, hear the phone ringing, hear them talking or playing music, and especially lots of shrieking from their extremely annoying 11yo daughter in her bedroom (not fun when you have a very light sleeper baby sharing your room).
Since leaving there we now live in a detached house

We were in a 1980s timber-framed house and heard NOTHING. Occasionally we'd hear the vacuum bashing against the skirting board. They had four DC in a tiny three bed mid terrace and it's safe to say the parents were fond of shouting from when they were outside. But inside? Unless the parents were out and the teenager had the music on so loud he must have tinnitus, nothing. And I am really really really really fussy.

Previous house was a 1930s semi I think, could almost hear them breathing and certainly normal conversation. It was horrible.

Didn't want to take the risk with our current house and are paying the ridiculous detached premium.