Noise new build semi-detached

snoopy29

Hi all,

Have moved into a new bed semi 3 weeks ago and the neighbour appears to be a shift worker and gets up at 06.00. Im a very light sleeper whereas the other half completely conks out at night. The house has a good layout with stairs being the main adjoining part and the main master on the outside walls, as far apart from the neighbour as possible.

However, I still hear this guy every morning at 6am banging doors and his telly sounds so loud I kept thinking I've left my own on in the room under our own bedroom. I also wear earplugs but he still wakes me up every morning. I have yet to say hello to this guy but my Dad and OH have spoken to him and he seems decent enough which makes me think he doesn't realise we can hear so much.

This is really cracking me up at the moment but my OH thinks im making a big deal out of nothing. This is really ruining the buzz of buying our first home together, which other than this problem, I love.

Anyone any advice?

ted1

snoopy29 wrote: »

Hi all,

Have moved into a new bed semi 3 weeks ago and the neighbour appears to be a shift worker and gets up at 06.00. Im a very light sleeper whereas the other half completely conks out at night. The house has a good layout with stairs being the main adjoining part and the main master on the outside walls, as far apart from the neighbour as possible.

However, I still hear this guy every morning at 6am banging doors and his telly sounds so loud I kept thinking I've left my own on in the room under our own bedroom. I also wear earplugs but he still wakes me up every morning. I have yet to say hello to this guy but my Dad and OH have spoken to him and he seems decent enough which makes me think he doesn't realise we can hear so much.

This is really cracking me up at the moment but my OH thinks im making a big deal out of nothing. This is really ruining the buzz of buying our first home together, which other than this problem, I love.

Anyone any advice?

Learn to live with it and ensure the building is built to regulations. The chap is just going about his life doing what any ordinary person would do. He can't be held at fault because your a light sleeper

o1s1n

He gets up at 6am? That's not unreasonable at all and would be pretty common. (I wake up at 6:20am myself and thought it was fairly normal)

That's crazy though that you can hear things from next door if your master bedroom is on the outside wall. I'd hate to think what the joining room must be like :eek:

You could look into soundproofing but it's very costly (and you'll have to sacrifice some of your space to do so)

chris85

I work normal hours and up by 6.30am every morning. Not the guys fault at all here just going about his business. More possibly an issue with the building having thin walls which you could look at soundproofing if it bothers you.

snoopy29

I wasn't saying 06.00 was unreasonable, I just thought that the fact he bangs the doors so much and the tv is so loud it wakens me up, would it be ok to ask him if he could keep it down a bit that's all?

Obviously its his house and he's not doing anything unreasonable. I spoke to his mother as we were moving in and she said oh have you met my son and I said no, and she laughed and said "oh don't worry you'll hear him coming". So obviously he is known to be a loud person and I don't think he's doing it maliciously or anything.

I've lived in a semi all my life so I know what its like, however, this is louder than I've ever had to deal with before.

tinkerbell

Welcome to the world of semi- detached living OP. Perhaps look at putting some sound proofing in or something, but that's the risk you take when buying a semi d property and it sounds like you bought one with extremely thin walls. And no you cannot approach him and ask him to keep it down just because you're a light sleeper.

snoopy29

So its reasonable for him to have his TV so loud it sounds like its my own on downstairs?


hmmm right if that's the overall opinion fair enough I'll have to stick with it or put the house up for sale.

fleet

I once stayed in a place that had the neighbour complain about noise even though everyone in the house next door was asleep (no TV, music etc.) in bed.

It might be work examining whether you're being woken by the sunlight (no or thin curtains), background road traffic etc. and mis
-attributing your wakefulness when you realise your neighbor is up.

snoopy29

Thanks Fleet but unfortunately it is definitely him. I have black out blinds on the windows and the house is in an estate in the country so no road noise at all.

Should have bought the detached!

fleet

snoopy29 wrote: »

Should have bought the detached!

You will probably get used to it.

My country friends used complain about how noisy their terraced/semis were in Dublin. They're correct of course, they are noisier, but having lived in rural places since myself the silence is almost as deafening to me :-)

P. Breathnach

I'm sure that it would do no harm if you spoke to him, told him you were a very light sleeper, and asked him to try to be quieter in the morning.

But you have to bear in mind that it might not be his fault (especially if your OH doesn't think the neighbour's behaviour is unreasonable). I also note that you don't mention excessive noise at other times, which suggests to me that the real problem is that you are awakened extraordinarily easily.

So if you do decide to speak to the neighbour, perhaps you should represent it as a problem emanating from you rather than from him.

snoopy29

He did waken the OH at 07.00 yesterday morning. He was playing loud music in the afternoon's when the weather was good but that seems to have stopped.

I was thinking of saying like you suggested, putting the problem on ourselves, something like oh im sorry of were banging our doors cause they are sticking quite badly, do you find the same problem etc etc and starting it that way.

I'm really not looking for a row with him and I know im a very light sleeper so was hoping to say something in a nice way.

Mousewar

I had a similarly designed house (stairs attached). Impact noise (doors slamming) will be worse as your neighbours doors are so much closer to your side than they would be on most semi-attached houses which have stairs on opposite sides. Non-Impact noise will be less as the main bedroom and living rooms are away from each other.
I had sound insulation put in at considerable cost. It dulled the non-impact noise (talking, TV) but didn't eliminate it. It did almost nothing for the impact noise. Wasn't worth it ultimately.

My advice: Meet the guy and get to know him a bit. Don't make your first meeting with him a complaint. When you meet him, the noise issue might come up organically. But first things first - meet him. It makes things a bit easier when you know the guy, trust me. Once you have a relationship with him, you can bring up issues like this but not before then.

Ultimately, if your goal is complete noiselessness from next door you will never achieve that in your current house and insulation won;t solve it. You will have to accept a degree of noise - doors, music, whatever or else move to a detached house.

snoopy29

Thanks mousewar, sounds reasonable, I will try to talk to him over the next few weeks and see what happens.

garhjw

Perhaps you could also ask him if he hears noise from your house at certain times....

the_syco

Do you hear or feel the noise? If the latter, you can small stops for your bed legs to dull the noise.

snoopy29

Can feel a very small vibration from the TV but its mostly just the noise from the sound.

Cuddlesworth

snoopy29 wrote: »

Can feel a very small vibration from the TV but its mostly just the noise from the sound.

Thats unusual, since I'm assuming the vibration would have to come through at least 20 feet of outside wall. I wonder if you're sharing joists. Do you have floorboards and do they run lengthways from the front to the back of the house.

chopper6

New builds,eh?

ted1

snoopy29 wrote: »

Can feel a very small vibration from the TV but its mostly just the noise from the sound.

probably a sub woofer pumping out the bass

Mousewar

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Thats unusual, since I'm assuming the vibration would have to come through at least 20 feet of outside wall. I wonder if you're sharing joists. Do you have floorboards and do they run lengthways from the front to the back of the house.

I'd say you're right - a lot of stairs-attached houses share joints. it's the devil's work.

snoopy29

Downstairs is concrete and upstairs I don't know what way the joists are running but as far as I remember they were plywood sheets, don't remember seeing floorboards.

Teyla Emmagan

Could you sleep in one of your other bedrooms? I think you are being a bit oversensitiveness TBH. He's not really getting up that early.

snoopy29

I may have to move into another bedroom, its just we've spent quite a lot of money putting built in wardrobes into the master bedroom and it also has the ensuite. But its an option.

Doop

Just out of curiosity ... are these timber framed houses?

mdwexford

Playing a tv loudly at 6am is certainly unreasonable imo.

Getting to know him first and then asking if he'd mind doing you a favour and keeping it down a bit that early seems like good advice. He shouldn't have a problem with it if he's decent.

I'd certainly try and be a bit quieter in his position but then I wouldn't play my tv loudly at that time.

The_Conductor

Doop wrote: »

Just out of curiosity ... are these timber framed houses?

Not really an issue- depending on the particular type of noise, it may be amplified by concrete or timber. The OP has already said that downstairs is definitely concrete- which presumably is where the neighbour has their TV.

Some people swear by concrete built being quieter- having studied material engineering and forestry- it doesn't hold. It depends on the noise- some are better, some are worse.

The_Conductor

OP- at night/early morning- when background noise is lower, even relatively quiet people can sound like elephants stomping around the place. By your own admission you're a quiet sleeper. Its far from unusual to hear doors opening and closing- tv, radio or even conversations next door- unfortunately. If you wanted quiet- you should have bought a detached property- in a quiet area. Regardless of what your neighbour does- its not going to get much better.

Henry Ford III

I was sure my neighbour was a Star Wars addict......

Rubberchikken

bearing in mind what his mother said to you re. 'you'll hear hime coming', not only is he probably a noisy person, but maybe someone has already spoken to them about the noise he makes.

never lived in a semi-d but i feel your pain. would hate any kind of noise when trying to sleep and 6 am, is the middle of the night people:pac:

snoopy29

Part of my job is actually to undertake noise surveys but not for residential properties, its mainly for environmental reasons. But 06.00 is technically night time hours.

I did buy in a quiet countryside location in a nice quiet estate, its just my neighbour that's not quiet. They are block built houses and yes I understand I have to get used to a certain level of noise and as I said I've lived in semi's all my life and apart from one particularly bad house in Bettystown I've never heard this much noise before.

I think I will have to say it to him. This morning I slept through and thought great I'm getting used to it but then I looked out and they are both obviously on a day off cause cars are still outside.