FAO: People who live in semi-detached houses - noise issues?

Missus_Hyde

We're in a 1930's semi, one of a pair of handed cottages and are fortunate to have quiet neighbours, so we very rarely hear them at all, even though we're joined at the main bedroom and lounge (the jackdaws in the bedroom chimney make more noise than the neighbours!) It reminds me of "Alice Through the Looking Glass" as the cottages are identical inside,except that next door everything is the other way round.

The cottages are small,but the gardens big (between a third and a quarter of an acre each) and we're quite a distance from our neighbour on the other side, so are never overlooked.

westv wrote: »

Better a semi in a good area rather than a detached in a poor one.

Absolutely, I think there would be far more noise and disturbance from a detached house on a modern housing estate where the houses are so close together; the properties may be "detached" but you can barely walk between them as they're built so close together.

moneyistooshorttomention

There is "really detached" and "detached in theory" (ie only a couple of feet apart). Even "detached in theory" ones would avoid the other problem of attached houses (ie their house damaging yours), unless the houses were so darn close it was impossible to squeeze in next to the wall of your house to get at it for maintenance purposes if need be.

I would imagine the layout does make a difference personally and have often been left puzzled by the pair of semis where its possible to see that the main bedrooms of both houses are adjoining each other (eg this often seems to happen with 1930s houses). To me...its obvious that main bedrooms in each "partner house" should be on the non-attached side, so both bedrooms are as far apart from each other as possible.

One other thing that struck me, when it came to contemplating semis was that a large garden would be particularly important. With that, it would always be possible to put up a nice summerhouse type place at the bottom of the garden and know that, if the neighbours were being particularly noisey, then there was somewhere to escape to at the end of the garden (bar noisy parties with windows wide open of course - but it would help with other noise).

Wherever you buy there is always a risk of neighbour problems of some description. In my (really) detached house nfh has (very strong) opinions on whats what with my own garden and I have to give myself a "talking to" and reminder of keeping a backbone in place that I have the right to use my own garden own way/have it in my own style (as she even wanted to dictate what style my garden should be:eek:). But detached houses do noticeably minimise the risks attendant on having neighbours and I've never changed my ideas on that from childhood (when my mother marched out of their semi to the estate agents the second the noisy next door students were off on a long summer vacation and put the house on the market to move to a detached) to now (when I've belatedly got my own detached house at last one move elsewhere in the country to do so later).

lee111s

movilogo wrote: »

It depends on the construction of the house.

Older semis have thick solid walls between them and you an hardly hear anything. Where as newer houses have paper thin walls!

What a load of hogwash. My house certainly doesn't have paper thin walls. The thickness between me and my neighbour has got to be 18-24 inches thick, filled cavity which acts not only as heat, but sound insulation too. Older proerties don't have this.

If anything, my new build house is quieter than the 1930's semi I used to live in with my parents.

We used to live next to a 60 something couple and would often hear them just pottering around the house, vaccuming etc.

I never hear my neighbours now unless a door slams shut (often when it's windy). They have a young baby and we never hear it cry. The neighbour often apologises for any noise we hear(so I guess the baby crying is quiet loud) but hand on heart we never hear a peep.

It also depends on your neighbours I guess, along with the construction, and layout of the home.

aileth

We have a new build semi. We can't hear most things, and I'm fairly noise sensitive. The only time we hear anything from next door is when her boyfriend is over and he likes to slam doors/cupboards and throw himself around the house on the Wii Fit. He's only home at weekends so it's no bother.

[Deleted User]

We've lived in a 80s terrace (you could hear quite a lot) and now in a 1950s semi-detached. You occasionally hear noise if there is absolute silence in our house; but it is rare and doesn't bother us.

System

I have stayed at a friend's house. The semis are different houses. I heard the neighbours copulating with the headboard banging against the wall.

WeAreGhosts

duchy wrote: »

My feeling is she'd be better staying put than moving to semi without an attitude adjustment first.

I don't have an attitude, thank you very much. I have a problem with my brain, which makes everything seem loud & intolerable, as does another one of my family. I wear special earplugs when I am out, but don't want to live permanently like that!


Anyway .... I viewed the property today and hated it! Funny how something looks nice on the internet but is horrible in real life. Mind you, the vendor hadn't exactly done a lot to promote the house - looked like it had never seen a hoover and was very badly maintained.
Also, when I was in it I felt hemmed in and realised I don't want to be somewhere so urban.

Jhoney_2

WeAreGhosts wrote: »

I don't have an attitude, thank you very much. I have a problem with my brain, which makes everything seem loud & intolerable, as does another one of my family. I wear special earplugs when I am out, but don't want to live permanently like that!


Anyway .... I viewed the property today and hated it! Funny how something looks nice on the internet but is horrible in real life. Mind you, the vendor hadn't exactly done a lot to promote the house - looked like it had never seen a hoover and was very badly maintained.
Also, when I was in it I felt hemmed in and realised I don't want to be somewhere so urban.

Thanks for clarifying your situation. There was nothing in the thread that made us aware of your hearing sensitivity and so my reading of the post was it's true definition: a settled way of thinking or feeling about something.

Sorry the place didn't pan out in the viewing, to be as you hoped - but it did help you to narrow down and crystalize your must have criteria for future viewings/purchase so hopefully worth going.

TiddlyPom

Glad things are clear for you now. I don't have the problems you have to contend with but I am completely noise intolerant thanks to having lived next to the neighbour from hell in the past where there was not one room in the flat I was able to get some sleep in. People have all types of reasons for not being able to tolerate noise.

I now quite happily live in a new build semi and the only noise I get is the odd to time when the 12 yo daughter forgets herself and bangs the door in her excitement to go out and play.