Dilemma with recent house move and future

johnnpaull12

NameUnavailable said:

The problem with fitting sound proofing is that when you come to sell it will signal to buyers that the property has noise issues.

That’s exactly it. I know that will affect the sale whereas selling after a year or so without having soundproofing means that nothing would really seem off. Also if the buyer were to get a survey done, they’d surely pick up on soundproofing wouldn’t they?

custardly

Save up and move. Sound proofing will not be effective enough, you will waste £10k.

Detached house all the way. Personally, I would never buy a semi/terraced. I would rather have a smaller detached house.

RelievedSheff

custardly said:

Save up and move. Sound proofing will not be effective enough, you will waste £10k.

Detached house all the way. Personally, I would never buy a semi/terraced. I would rather have a smaller detached house.

There is no way we would ever go back to an attached property now having lived in a detached one. 

gwynlas

Look at some of the home improvements that might add value to the house. The trend for bare floors rather than carpeting and blinds rather than curtains does not help with noise deadening. Think about placing your wardrobes and storage against adjoining walls.It is very difficult to retro fit sound proofing without it being intrusive, Look at setting future goals such as moving into a detached house and starting a family. If considering a semi detached again then at least look for halls adjoining.

johnnpaull12

custardly said:

Save up and move. Sound proofing will not be effective enough, you will waste £10k.

Detached house all the way. Personally, I would never buy a semi/terraced. I would rather have a smaller detached house.

Been quoted almost £5k for just one wall. Probably going to have to look at ceilings, floors, flanking walls etc to combat the impact noises. Also need 2-3 other rooms in the house done.

It’s seems dramatic and can’t even believe I’m having to contemplate it with this being our dream home. But I feel like this could pay for buying/selling fees/stamp duty for another property.

I want to think I’m looking at it practically!

johnnpaull12

RelievedSheff said:

You have my up most sympathy. We lived with noisy neighbours for 13 years in our previous house and it was a living hell. We were stuck there when house prices plummeted and we ended up in negative equity for a long time. We didn't have the choice of moving. 

I know how much the noise grinds you down and how you wait for the noise to start again. It is thoroughly exhausting.

We had people from sound proofing companies round and they said due to the construction of the houses in that particular case sound proofing wouldn't really be cost effective or effective at reducing the noise enough.

As soon as we could we moved to a detached new build property and it has been the best thing we ever did. We are both (and the dog) so much more relaxed here. It instantly felt like home.

You also have my sympathy for putting up with that for 13 years!
Although our neighbours are quite noisy I don’t think they are being unreasonable as we can hear a lot of their day to day noises as if they were in our home.
Leads me to think our house construction is really crap.
Yep we’ve been quoted a lot just for one room when noise is always going to find a way to flank around. Just seems like it’ll be a case of papering over the cracks. They were even quite honest to be fair saying that you may still get noise, especially through impact and vibration.

It really does grind you down like you say, I’ve even been not looking forward to getting home from work as I know I’ll get triggered by it.

The contemplation between getting soundproofing or not and worrying about wasting money was making me feel sick. Now that I’ve kind of abandoned that idea I can take a tiny bit of comfort in hoping it might not have to be our forever home after all.

It’s just how to word how I feel to my OH without upsetting or tainting her enjoyment of living here while we are.

RelievedSheff

Thankfully we both felt the same about our old house. Neither of us had any enjoyment in living there. 

I do think that you should raise your concerns with your other half though so that you are both equally aware of the others thoughts. You may find she is having the same thoughts but hasn't raised them to avoid upsetting you

theoretica

One thing which hasn't been mentioned and might be worth it is a very tactful word to the neighbour asking if they would install cushioning on the doors if you provided/paid for it.  A little sticky backed felt in just the right places can reduce the hardest impact of a shutting door, but it does still shake the walls.  You could experiment on your doors to see what you think might work.

Jude57

gwynlas said:

Look at some of the home improvements that might add value to the house. The trend for bare floors rather than carpeting and blinds rather than curtains does not help with noise deadening. Think about placing your wardrobes and storage against adjoining walls.It is very difficult to retro fit sound proofing without it being intrusive, Look at setting future goals such as moving into a detached house and starting a family. If considering a semi detached again then at least look for halls adjoining.

I think you're spot on there. I nearly wrote 'bang on' but thought better of it!

I live in a flat surrounded by other flats on three sides. My original upstairs neighbour had laminate flooring and a dropped pen sounded like a cannon going off, while her boyfriend walking across the floor was like thunder. Thankfully they moved and my current neighbour installed carpeting and presumably good underlay which, in addition to generally being a considerate neighbour, has made all the difference. 

I really like the trend for bare floors but unless I moved to a detached or ground floor property, I'll keep my floors carpeted (excluding kitchen and bathroom of course).

propertyhunter

As bad as the noise is, I think another contributory factor might be that you are continually thinking about it, so you focus on even minor sounds and they irritate you. You said this is your dream home too, but the reality has dawned on you that it isn't anymore - so that disappointment could further exacerbate the situation. 

I lived next to a main road, and it really annoyed me for 2 weeks, but then - weirdly - I got used to it. Ambulance and police cars just faded into the background - even my sleep was undisturbed. Could you give it time as well as adopting some of the strategies suggested earlier?