Moved into new house and can hear neighbours?

sabzzox

Hi forum,
Me and my husband have just moved into our 1935 built semi detached home after doing over £35k worth of renovation in the property which included removing 2 chimney breasts 
one in the living room
one in the bedroom
New kitchen , new plaster , rewiring etc etc..
The whole walls have now been redecorated and we really don't want to strip it down again.

The 1 thing we didnt catch onto was next door there are a family of 5 living. They live on rent and i think the landlord lives down the street. A couple with 2 little girl toddlers and a 6 year old girl. The wife is a housewife and stays home with the kids so the noise is all day every day. Now I understand a family makes noise but I can hear their every movement even conversations, coughing, arguing( adults) , kids constantly screaming, their tv, so I'm guessing they can hear us too. I've never lived in a property where it feels like I am living with the neighbours and I grew up in a 1800s terraced house. What gets me the most is the doors banging and the kids running up and down the stairs which sends vibrations into the bed when I'm sleeping at school times mostly. Also the anticipation of noise is giving me anxiety. Sometimes if I'm praying or need a quiet moment "THUD " a loud bang of the door gives me a heart attack as they really tend to SLAM the doors. As we've just moved in we have no furniture yet and are on an air sofa but the party wall is the wall the TV is against. I asked for a quote for soundproofing and the company quoted me £2000 for one wall. We are out of money right now and we don't have that type to spend. I can hear the sounds in the 2 bedrooms with the party wall and the living and dining room as well. which haven't had any chimneys removed . I really can't say anything because I feel like they will say  its just normal noise its the walls thats paper thin.

my question is what would you do?
1. we are getting fitted wardrobes installed in the main bedroom ceiling to floor so will that reduce the impact noise and screaming child noises ?

2. Will adding more furniture against the living room wall help ? What furniture would you reccomend ? we are going to put the TV on the wall and a electric fireplace underneath but that's all we have for now

3. what is a cheap way to soundproof.? 

4.Any more tips and tricks to help soundproofing please. Feeling really low as I feel like we spent all this money to just feel like we have no peace in the house and I'm just sitting here anticipating when the next noises will be i even have had to put white noise on to get to sleep as I'm so anxious im.feeling it more than the hubby.

thankyou kindly

staffie1

Has the noise increased since you did the renovations? 1930’s semi’s are notorious for poor noise insulation anyway. 

You may never resolve the issue completely, but I doubt the fact that your neighbours rent has much to do with root cause.

You have my sympathy. I speak from experience, and unless you can learn to live with it, you may have to move. 

theoretica

Which rooms don't have party walls?  Any scope for rearranging how you live to make best use of quiet rooms?  Shaking the bed - might be worth trying anti-vibration pads under the feet (sold usually for washing machines)

Full wall wardrobes - especially full of cloth - should help with noise, but not with vibration.  Likewise, books are good insulation.

propertyhunter

Sometimes having your furniture in the rooms actually deadens sound. I noticed this when I moved home and I could hear an echo in my flat that I never heard when the furniture was in there. From what you're saying, this won't completely stop the noise pollution - but could help. 

user1977

Carpets and curtains will help too (if they're currently lacking).

sabzzox

Hi guys after reading some replies I think some of you have misunderstood, I mentioned that they rent because is there anything I can say to the landlord it wasn't a dig at them 

staffie1

You can mention to the landlord if the neighbour’s noise is excessive and at unreasonable hours etc. However, normal day to day family living noise is perfectly reasonable. With single brick walls, they would have to live in silence for you not to hear them (or for them not to hear you). 

elsien

staffie1 said:

You can mention to the landlord if the neighbour’s noise is excessive and at unreasonable hours etc. However, normal day to day family living noise is perfectly reasonable. With single brick walls, they would have to live in silence for you not to hear them (or for them not to hear you). 

That’s not the landlord’s problem - it’s not  down to them to police their tenants. 

[Deleted User]

Are you sure you want a fire under the TV? The heat could be a problem.

Anyway, you could try acoustic foam on the wall, make a feature of it.

Unfortunately this is just what British houses are like. Terraces transmit sound, and it's very difficult to improve things in very old houses.

staffie1

elsien said:

staffie1 said:

You can mention to the landlord if the neighbour’s noise is excessive and at unreasonable hours etc. However, normal day to day family living noise is perfectly reasonable. With single brick walls, they would have to live in silence for you not to hear them (or for them not to hear you). 

That’s not the landlord’s problem - it’s not  down to them to police their tenants. 

Tenancy agreements typically require tenants to behave in a way that does not inconvenience their neighbours. Landlords can do something about problem tenants (unreasonable / excessive).

The point I make is that perfectly normal day-to-day living noises will be a problem when the walls thin. 

markin

The wardrobes wont really help a lot, and putting a TV on the wall will have them complaining about you, Spend the money for the wardrobes on sound proofing for that room first, Did you use dot and dab plaster board or add sockets into the party wall? That would have made it worse, also remember you probably just put them through hell with your renovations.

2 layers of Sound block plasterboard glued on with the correct green glue is likely the cheapest fix, What was the 2k quote for? A new stud wall or sound block plasterboard on resilient bars, or directly clued?

You can't really fix the vibration and if the floor joists are on the party wall you may just have to move if you can't live with it after sound proofing every room..