Depressed about new house

aoleks

not the end of the world and can be "fixed" with some good insulation. walls, floor joists and in between floors can be insulated to prevent the sound from bothering you. you'll lose at most 2 inches from your wall, the floor insulation won't be visible. is it disruptive? yes, a bit, but it won't cost a fortune and if you get a decent handyman, it can be done quickly and for a decent price.

neverthoughtidbehere

housebuyer143 said:

neverthoughtidbehere said:

Exodi said:

I'd say this is part and parcel of living in a terraced house to be honest.

The last terraced house I lived in we could hear the neighbours having... fun... together. No doubt they could hear the same. Obviously very weird to think about but we both just lived our lives.

What is the issue if they can hear you? It's likely to be muffled anyway, are you able to make out exactly what they are talking about, or just that they are talking?

I wouldn't hope on the fact that moving into another terraced property would solve this issue. Do you have the money to move to a detatched house?

It all comes down to affordability and convenience.

Do you think you could make peace with the fact that you can hear them and they can hear you?

I'm already mentally stressed from it, could maybe learn to deal with It better overtime but I can't see a long-term future here, especially if I find a partner eventually . it's so bad it's not even muffled it's like 2 bedroom in same house. There older and the person who sold me was older as well so I imagine they got on with it but as I'm young i like my privacy 

My sister was joined to an old lady who was deaf and fell asleep with the TV on full blast in her bedroom which was linked to my sisters. She couldn't sleep. It was rented though and she managed 2 months there before moving out  

I think certain impact noises such as draws on the party wall opening and closing. Plugging things into the sockets on shared walls etc. You will always here, but hearing others speaking is too much. At least they don't have a barking dog to top it off?

Luckily not id feel a lot better if I knew I could move and break even, I could put out for 2 years but have a feeling the market will crash and my value will drop too low 

killerferret666

neverthoughtidbehere said:

killerferret666 said:

I don't know how good you are at DIY or willing to try but In a semi detached house I had similar with floor noises next door.

I got some DFM acoustic insulation and put it in between the floor joists. Lifted the carpet up stairs and floorboards and stuffed it between the joists right up to the party wall. It made a big difference, its like the chamber was working like a subwoofer to amplify the noise beforehand.

Not cheap but also not the most expensive thing to try either (depending on number of joists against property).

I also live alone and am naturally more quiet so get to hear the neighbours kids drum kit...which i did have a word about as were on really good terms, luckily hes moved on to an electric guitar which is less thuds.

If I was good at diy this is first thing id do as im positive lots of noise travel through joists, any idea what kind of tradesman would do this ?

I dont I'm afraid but im sure a general builder type of trade would do it as its not a difficult task. that said an expert would be good.

The worst part is I'm sure the bigger benefit would be of course filling in the gap between their joists, stopping the noise dead that end.

Ath_Wat

neverthoughtidbehere said:

housebuyer143 said:

neverthoughtidbehere said:

Exodi said:

I'd say this is part and parcel of living in a terraced house to be honest.

The last terraced house I lived in we could hear the neighbours having... fun... together. No doubt they could hear the same. Obviously very weird to think about but we both just lived our lives.

What is the issue if they can hear you? It's likely to be muffled anyway, are you able to make out exactly what they are talking about, or just that they are talking?

I wouldn't hope on the fact that moving into another terraced property would solve this issue. Do you have the money to move to a detatched house?

It all comes down to affordability and convenience.

Do you think you could make peace with the fact that you can hear them and they can hear you?

I'm already mentally stressed from it, could maybe learn to deal with It better overtime but I can't see a long-term future here, especially if I find a partner eventually . it's so bad it's not even muffled it's like 2 bedroom in same house. There older and the person who sold me was older as well so I imagine they got on with it but as I'm young i like my privacy 

My sister was joined to an old lady who was deaf and fell asleep with the TV on full blast in her bedroom which was linked to my sisters. She couldn't sleep. It was rented though and she managed 2 months there before moving out  

I think certain impact noises such as draws on the party wall opening and closing. Plugging things into the sockets on shared walls etc. You will always here, but hearing others speaking is too much. At least they don't have a barking dog to top it off?

Luckily not id feel a lot better if I knew I could move and break even, I could put out for 2 years but have a feeling the market will crash and my value will drop too low 

If the market crashes, anywhere you want to move to will drop by the same amount as your house.

RelievedSheff

You have my every sympathy I know exactly how you feel.

Our last house was a 1930's semi with absolutely no sound insulation and unfortunately the living rooms and main bedrooms ran down the party wall. It was an absolute nightmare.

Don't want to alarm you but we got stuck in that house for 13 years because house prices took a dive shortly after we moved in and we were in negative equity for a long time.

When we could eventually move we didn't even consider another semi, we would only have a detached. We have lived happily in this house for 4 years now. Unless something very special comes up for sale, that is detached, I don't think we will move from this house.

Noneforit999

neverthoughtidbehere said:

Noneforit999 said:

Older houses often had little soundproofing in the party walls, we are in a 60's built house and can hear our neighbours TV through the wall, although only when ours is not switched on.

There are things you can do to reduce the noise but ultimately they come at a cost and you will not know how much of an impact they are going to have until you actually spend the money,

We have large floor to ceiling wardrobes in our bedroom which cover the entire party wall and it make no difference to the noise from next door, fortunately we didn't buy them for that purpose but it was a little disappointing to discover they made no difference. 

You can buy soundproofing panels you can stick on the walls but again, how much difference this really makes won't be known until you do it.

I think you have to accept there will always be a level of noise from the party wall.

We had a 2015 new build before this and never heard our neighbours. 

Do you miss the new build then?

The TV noise doesn't bother us really as ours is usually on or we have music on quietly.
Plus we have a 2 year old so I would imagine the elderly people next door hear us more than we hear them considering the previous owners of our house were elderly also.

I think their TV is build into a media wall type jobbie and reading up, TV mounted walls on plasterboard etc can amplify sound.

You will always find there is something you don't like in any house you live in.
Our old house was incredibly well insulated and very soundproof but we had a block of flats opposite owned by a housing association, something we hadn't thought through properly before moving in. Rozzers were there a few times a month when the lunatic in the top flat was having a massive row with her tracksuit wearing 'boyfriend'.

Now we live in a road where everyone (except us) seems to be elderly. Like I said, there is always something you can find fault with. 

1616six

We are moving away from a semi into another semi but I’ve made sure the layout means both our bedroom and our lounge are on the outside walls. The layout means the rooms that connect to nextdoor are our spare bedroom/office will be next to their bathroom. And our stairs run alongside their stairs.

I made a point of avoiding any house where the layouts mean lounges/bedrooms back on to each other after some horrible experiences in the past. Growing up, I lived in a terrace cottage where a DV couple moved in next door and I’d lay in bed as a child having to hear them go from having sex loudly to him beating the living daylights out of her and kicking her out at 4am - ended up my mum having to be a witness in court and all sorts. 

I’m also conscious of us owning dogs, I don’t want the dogs barking at the TV to cause a nuisance to the neighbours. 

We just couldn’t afford detached or we would have. Unfortunately it’s just a case of making do with adding as much sound proofing as you can - unless you’re detached, you’ll always hear noises and there’s not much you can do about it unfortunately!

Dont lose heart, you’ll settle in and get used to it. 

diystarter7

As others have said, get some soundproofing on the walls and floors and in the roof. As time goes you'll get used to it, trust me.
Good job you did not buy an apartment the newer ones as you get sounds from above, below and left and right sides and if you next to the lift or communal doors the constant noise/bangs cn drive you insane. 
you may want to test the market and see what it sells for but also look what's around for the price.

GDB2222

Ath_Wat said:

neverthoughtidbehere said:

housebuyer143 said:

neverthoughtidbehere said:

Exodi said:

I'd say this is part and parcel of living in a terraced house to be honest.

The last terraced house I lived in we could hear the neighbours having... fun... together. No doubt they could hear the same. Obviously very weird to think about but we both just lived our lives.

What is the issue if they can hear you? It's likely to be muffled anyway, are you able to make out exactly what they are talking about, or just that they are talking?

I wouldn't hope on the fact that moving into another terraced property would solve this issue. Do you have the money to move to a detatched house?

It all comes down to affordability and convenience.

Do you think you could make peace with the fact that you can hear them and they can hear you?

I'm already mentally stressed from it, could maybe learn to deal with It better overtime but I can't see a long-term future here, especially if I find a partner eventually . it's so bad it's not even muffled it's like 2 bedroom in same house. There older and the person who sold me was older as well so I imagine they got on with it but as I'm young i like my privacy 

My sister was joined to an old lady who was deaf and fell asleep with the TV on full blast in her bedroom which was linked to my sisters. She couldn't sleep. It was rented though and she managed 2 months there before moving out  

I think certain impact noises such as draws on the party wall opening and closing. Plugging things into the sockets on shared walls etc. You will always here, but hearing others speaking is too much. At least they don't have a barking dog to top it off?

Luckily not id feel a lot better if I knew I could move and break even, I could put out for 2 years but have a feeling the market will crash and my value will drop too low 

If the market crashes, anywhere you want to move to will drop by the same amount as your house.

That doesn't help if your equity has been wiped out, as you won't have a deposit for the next place. 

RM_2013

I fully sympathize with you and admit this is something I’ve worried about.  I grew up in 1960’s semi and never really heard the neighbors and I lived in a new build terraced 2 bed starter home and again never noticed any noise.
However we are in the process of moving away from our 3 bed 1970’s link detached to a mid terraced 4 bed townhouse.

we would 100% have wanted a detached but didn’t have the additional £60k that we would have needed to buy one in the area we want to live in that gives us all the extras that the new house will give us.  

It’s the one downside to the new house that I worry about but it has so many plus points - just hope we are lucky!!