Moved into new house and can hear neighbours?

Rosa_Damascena

staffie1 said:

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. 

The right to quiet enjoyment, I believe.

MalMonroe

sabzzox said:

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 

Hi, I sympathise as I've had similar neighbours in the past. Not so much the neighbours but poorly built houses combined with thoughtless and noisy neighbours. I moved.

I would never say anything to the landlord without approaching the neighbours first. Going over somebody's head like that as if they weren't even there just makes them mad and they'll hate you and make even more noise. Because that's human nature and I'm sure you wouldn't like to be treated like that, either.

So basically, just talk to your neighbours - that's something I'd have done before I actually moved in - I do that now because I don't want to repeat my bad experience with horrible neighbours. They probably have no idea of the impact they're having. If they take no notice, that is the time to approach their landlord.

Incidentally, my childhood home, built in 1930, was one of the most soundproof semis I've ever lived in, so I don't think it's the era, it's probably the housebuilder's fault.

markin

[Deleted User] said:

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.

Acoustic foam would not help a lot on its own, its better at keeping sound in a room, rather than out of a room.

Im sure you could DIY a room for 1K including getting it plastered, Either sound block plasterboard directly or on a detached stud wall with heavy insulation.

https://www.diy.com/departments/gyproc-soundbloc-tapered-edge-plasterboard-l-2-4m-w-1-2m-t-12-5mm/35771_BQ.prd

https://www.diy.com/departments/rockwool-acoustic-cavity-slab-l-1-2m-w-0-4m-t-100mm-pack-of-6/1440515_BQ.prd

https://www.diy.com/departments/rockwool-acoustic-cavity-slab-l-1-2m-w-0-6m-t-50mm-pack-of-12/1440516_BQ.prd

Green Glue Noiseproofing, Case of 12, 2 tuber per sheet recommended.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Green-Glue-Noiseproofing-Compound-Tube/dp/B000SKWD8Y

sabzzox

Thankyou so much everyone for your replies I will definitely try the soundblock plasterboard as I have builder in the family and other tips mentioned !

Noneforit999

Older houses are often poor in terms of sound between party walls. 

Obviously now you have plastered etc, there is not a huge amount you can do really. To be honest, even before you had plastered there is not loads you can do without spending heaps of money and losing space inside the room anyway.

Fitted wardrobes may help a little, perhaps you could look at some acoustic foam or similar to attach to the wall behind the fitted wardrobes, assuming they have a back to them already.

As others have said, carpets will make a slight difference.

Realistically nothing is going to make a huge difference, anything you do will have small incremental differences but if you are sitting reading a book, you are going to hear them. 

We are buying a 60's built house and we can hear the neighbours TV through the wall, same for the lounge downstairs. Although when we move in with our 5.1 Sonos system and we are watching a movie, they are more likely to hear us. 

In contrast we currently live in a new build and in the 7 years we have lived there, I can count on one hand the amount of times we have heard out neighbours through the wall. 

RelievedSheff

You have my sympathy. We lived in a 1930's built ex council semi and the noise transmission was horrendous. We could hear everything from next door. They were also nightmare neighbours.

Unfortunately due to the timing of buying that house we ended up stuck there for 13 years. We bought at the height of the market at the back end of 2007 and prices promptly dropped leaving us in negative equity for a long time.

That house wasn't worth spending money on to try soundproofing it (which very rarely works effectively). We just put up with what we had to and moved as soon as we possibly could. 

On the back of that experience we vowed never to live in an attached house again. We ended up moving out of the city that we work in and into a small commuter town 25 miles away from work where house prices were more affordable and we could afford a detached property. We didn't want to be the ones to sell that problem property onto someone else so we part exchanged it against a new build. Best move we ever made.

I hope that you can find a solution to your noise problems.

Norman_Castle

Rosa_Damascena said:

ffstaffie1 said:

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. 

The right to quiet enjoyment, I believe.

That exists to protect tenants from landlord interferance.

aoleks

Is your house a decent size? I mean are your bedrooms at least 4x3m?

if yes, you can definitely get some sound proofing installed, it will eat about 10cm of your space.

the neighbours are completely irrelevant here, they simply live. Not sure why mentioning they’re tenants makes a difference either…

Norman_Castle

From experience the biggest factor in neighbour noise is the neighbours behaviour. Try talking to them, focus on the most annoying and easiest to avoid noises such as slamming doors.

Murphybear

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). 

Sorry to disillusion you but ordinary noise such as children etc has nothing to do with the landlord.  It is between you and your neighbour.  

If your neighbours thought you were noisy would they complain to your mortgage company?  After all they actually own the property.

You could try complaining to the council but I know what they would say.

children are noisy by definition