Hi. I'm hoping someone can advise on sound insulation between houses. This strikes me as quite a tricky aspect of house buying for those of us who are light sleepers, or work shifts, or just like a bit of peace and quiet. Obviously it's very hard to tell just from a viewing or two whether noise is likely to be a problem in any given property, and I doubt we can rely on sellers or estate agents being all that candid if asked.
Our current and last properties have both been detached and we've not had to worry too much about this, but we're now looking to move and most of the options available are semi-detached or terraced. There seems to be such a wide variation in construction though, so one semi might be a nice solid build with little noise transfer but another on the next estate might be much flimsier (or just have nuisance neighbours) and I've read some real tales of woe from frustrated homeowners, tired of suffering regular disturbances.
So, I'm wondering if the answer is to ensure we set a bit aside in our house buying budget to cover potential noise insulation improvements, but I don't know enough about it to be sure either how effective it might be or what a realistic cost would be. Probably a 'how long is a piece of string' question, depending on the house, soundproofing spec and installer.
Is there anyone on here with experience of this (either as a homeowner or a tradesperson) who could give me a few tips, please? If you've had soundproofing done on your home, was it expensive and was it worth it? (Or maybe you've not had it done but wish you had?) I'd also be interested in any more general points/considerations when it comes to non-detached properties. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.