Noisy end terrace?

chrislocalboy

chrislocalboy

chrislocalboy

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Joined
21 Feb 2006
Posts
330
Location
Stoke on Trent
Basically we moved into our first home over 2 years ago, now very shortly after we did the next door neighbour decided to set fire to his house!!!

So he had to move out and its taken around 18 months for him to sort the insurance out, get it all done up and to sell it. The new owners completely and utterly gutted the place despite it only just being completely re-done.

Anyway she's a single girl living on her own so does not make much noise at all thankfully.... and tbh its a good job, as when she's talking in the bedroom next to ours we can hear every damn word! even when she coughs in the night its really clear!

Now I'm thinking that cant be right??? the noise only occurs upstairs as there is an entry between to two house downsairs.

Now say for instance a couple bought the house and they had a baby, we'd be woken every time they would and its got me worrying thats somethings wrong?

Anyone have any experience or similar problems?
 
Depends how old the house is tbh, my old victorian terrace was pretty sound proof, thick walls, built to last etc. But the new builds are all paper thin :/
 
What kind of building is it? The town house we lived in when I was a kid had paper walls. Proper stone built houses have better walls.
 
I can hear my neighbours having sex which is pretty funny really, usualy starts with some bongo music and a few minutes later the groans and moans start lol
 
No its not a flimsy house in anyway........ built in 1900, it your typical brick terrace, luckliy were an end terrace so we only get this from one side.

I was always under the impression older house's were much sturdier and more well built than modern houses which just seem to be breeze block and plaster boards?

Trouble is there's no easy way to have this rectified as with it being a terrace there's no cavity which can be filled with soundproofing material.
 
I've lived in a terraced house and a single guy livrd next door and we could here him snoring at night annoying, but I snore like a pig when drunk so I can't complain
 
Andrew1978 said:
I can hear my neighbours having sex which is pretty funny really, usualy starts with some bongo music and a few minutes later the groans and moans start lol
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off thread, but we used to hear our neighbours 2 doors away! it would start with him chasing her all over the house, her screaming with delight at being caught then on from there! Then the children arrived and that was the end of that:D
 
Definitely something wrong there. You're probably in the same type of house I am (although mines a mid-terraced), my neighbours have a baby and I can only hear him cry if I really try hard. Day to day I never hear him at all and he's at that stage where he's teething.
 
Sp!ke said:
Depends how old the house is tbh, my old victorian terrace was pretty sound proof, thick walls, built to last etc. But the new builds are all paper thin :/
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Our 1900th Century Victorian end terrace is connected only by the upstairs master bedroom and the walls are bomb proof.

Only time we have heard our neighbour was when is gf at the time was making some serious bedroom pleasure noises! We gave (and still give) back as good though!
 
it'll be more down to materials choice than anything. There's probably an inch of minging wallpaper layers and thick plaster now no longer there, it'll have been stripped down to the brick and new plasterboard applied.

If he's used plasterboard instead of a thick plaster layer and made a bad job, it'll likely amplify sound as opposed to muffle it.

I say speak to your new neighbour and seek a compromise of some sort. Don't 'report' it to anyone else at this stage as all you'll do is create animosity between you both.
 
Yeah but who the hell do I report it to? my insurance company? or try and get in touch with the previous owner? (which by the way I dont think I could)

Also what possible 'compromise' could there be?

Oh by the way, the builders that repaired the house after the fire (which you didnt actually know about when you bought the house and I happened to slip up after you moved in and I mentioned it to you?) well they dropped a gonad...... you need to rip your bedroom wall apart and sort it? thanks??

Tough one but something needs to be done, surely she must be able to hear the same from us? and we aint exactly quiet at night if you catch my drift? I'm getting annoying just hearing her talk or cough...... kinda feel like our privacy has gone and our bedroom is not homely in any way.... weird.
 
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chrislocalboy said:
Trouble is there's no easy way to have this rectified as with it being a terrace there's no cavity which can be filled with soundproofing material.
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yes there is - you can get the polystyrene tyles from your local DIY place - stick them up on the wall , paper over the top and you'll have reduced at least some of the noise
 
I once lived in a noisy mid-terrace. The bird next door once had a gang bang with 4 men in her back yard at 4 in the morning

True story.
 
firstly if you can hear her, chances are she can hear you. She's probably not happy about hearing you either or, if she can't hear you but finds out you can hear her she probably wouldn't be happy about that either and want to fix it either way.

Its not difficult, talk to her.

One big thing is, our next door neighbours downstairs, back room, tv room in both houses, we can hear them, they can't hear us. ONLY difference is they have laminate style wood flooring, we have carpet. Carpet vs wooden flooring equals echo + sound and a huge difference. Could well be pre everything the bedroom was all carpetted and nice and absorbed sounds and since the remodel its a nice ikea style wood everywhere sound bouncing/reflecting situation.

AS i said though, if you aren't happy, if she can hear you, or knows she can be heard, she'll most likely want to do something about it.

Then theres always, if it turns into a huge problem, you can thicken the wall on your side. Normally i would think the best way is to lose 3-4 inches of the room, add a sound pocket. IE an air pocket created by using anti vibration mounts on the wall to mount a secondary thin wall creating a vacuum pocket, using probably sound absorbing wood then once its all installed you paint over/wallpaper the new wall. If thats how it has to be done thats how you get quietness and happyness back. noises stopping you sleep, if its that bad or gets that bad ,its worth the effort.

but again, if she finds out wants to fix it, getting a carpet in her room might fix it in a second.
 
Legally, there's nothing you can do all the time your neighbours are using their place normally, i.e. not intentionally making a racket. Basically your landlord doesn't have to do anything and its completely up to you to check the walls for soundproofing before you moved in. If the flats were built after 1993 (i think) then the developer had to make the walls to a certain standard in the interest of soundproofing.

Although im sure there is some physical alteration you could make to improve the situation. Google it. Just check with your landlord or lease agreement before you start bulldozing walls to replace with eggboxes.

:)
 
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