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Checking noise from neighbours before buying?

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13

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    #62
    Kintarō Hattori
    Registered Users Posts: 14,964 ✭✭✭✭Kintarō Hattori


    lastusername wrote: »
    Sorry to hear, what on earth was up with her?! You'd have to wonder at some people really.

    I'm not sure to be honest, nothing ever came to light as to why she did it. We had amassed plenty of video/audio evidence, had letters from neighbours and another set of neighbours who came to court with us each time in case they could be called as a witness. So it was ruled in our favour and we got a court order. She left the country a few weeks after but came back a few months ago after about 9/10 months away. We're just hoping it doesn't kick off again.


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    #63
    ELM327
    Registered Users Posts: 21,368 ✭✭✭✭ELM327


    Nickolas Fresh Pulp wrote: »
    I own my house thank you.
    As do i.
    But the comment was directed at the group of people you mentioned.


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    #64
    Alun
    Registered Users Posts: 21,419 ✭✭✭✭Alun


    heldel00 wrote: »
    Did anyone see Location, location, location on Channel4 last night?
    Couple were shown great house in great location except there was a care home on the street and their kitchen used an industrial fan.
    No, no, no.... no way could yer man listen to that noise. No matter how good Kirsty told them the house was, it was a no. (By the way the fan wasn't even working when they were there)

    Fast forward to a house that Kirsty said they would outgrow within 5 years and they'd be on the move again, was more expensive than the other house and it had a train line 100m down the garden! They bought it.

    Show went back for a visit and yer man was asked how he was finding living so close to a train line and his reply was "fine yeah you'd barely notice it. Nice to hear the honk of the passing trains"!!!

    Just thought it was bizzare. No help to you OP
    Not strange at all, I'd be the same. I've stayed in hotels and b&bs in the past where these industrial extractor fans keep going until the early hours of the morning and they drive me mental. It's that low level droning, humming noise that gets me. Same with extractor fans in en-suite bathrooms, or vending machines in corridors in hotels.

    I lived less than 100m from the M6 motorway in the UK for most of my childhood and that didn't bother me at all.


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    #65
    0xzmro3n4y7lb5
    Closed Accounts Posts: 686 ✭✭✭0xzmro3n4y7lb5


    ELM327 wrote: »
    As do i.
    But the comment was directed at the group of people you mentioned.

    Your signature All Lives Matter just doesn't really apply to people who don't appear like you in the mirror.


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    #66
    Nijmegen
    Registered Users Posts: 3,086 ✭✭✭Nijmegen


    lastusername wrote: »
    Thanks for all the replies so far folks. I went to the estate for a visit last night - it really is a nice quiet place but I did find out that the attached house next door is a rental. I knew as soon as I walked up to it! Not from how it looked, (although it does look pretty bare bones which is fine), but just because of a certain feel.



    The bell wasn't working and someone was upstairs listening to TV or radio in a foreign language. Have the feeling I might not get much response if I called again, although you never know.



    I spoke to the neighbour on the other side who said "the walls aren't very thin, but they are pretty thin", and that she can hear one of the guys playing guitar. They even have an agreement that he won't play after 10pm!


    So really what I am wondering is whether the sellers are moving in part as they have had enough of any potential noise from next door. And of course if it's a rental, there might be a lot of turnover of tenants when we're looking to build a family life next door long-term..

    On the other points - it's hall to living room but upstairs the two main bedrooms are right next to theirs.

    Sounds like noise will be a fact of life and a moveable feast, to be honest.


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    #67
    lastusername
    Registered Users Posts: 338 ✭✭lastusername


    Nijmegen wrote: »
    Sounds like noise will be a fact of life and a moveable feast, to be honest.


    Yes that's what I'm realising alright - guess it's something we know but forget too! I supposed I'd prefer if next door was a family rather than renters, but it's not as if renters have a monopoly on potentially being noisy.


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    #68
    Xterminator
    Registered Users Posts: 4,717 ✭✭✭Xterminator


    Fred Cryton wrote: »
    Find out if there's a social housing component in the estate. I don't actually know how you do this but there must be a way. They can stick their "integration" up their backsides. Complete segregation is what i'd be looking for.

    substitute person of color or LGBT person for social housing tenant in that sentence!

    Does that make it more obvious to you that you are judging a group of people who are different than you? you are saying, god i wouldn't live on the same road as one of those!

    If its okay for you to want segregation for one group in society i am surmising you think its okay for others to want an estate with no foreigners or blacks or gays etc because thats the way they feel!

    I guess education has not managed to change your pattern of thought. I have always thought myself that once you feel it is okay to discriminate against one group of people, its not a hard stretch to find another minority you can hate too!


    discrimination
    noun [ U ]
    treating a person or particular group of people differently, especially in a worse way from the way in which you treat other people, because of their skin colour, sex, sexuality, etc.:


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    #69
    JimmyVik
    Registered Users Posts: 5,368 ✭✭✭JimmyVik


    Xterminator wrote: »
    substitute person of color or LGBT person for social housing tenant in that sentence!

    Does that make it more obvious to you that you are judging a group of people who are different than you? you are saying, god i wouldn't live on the same road as one of those!

    If its okay for you to want segregation for one group in society i am surmising you think its okay for others to want an estate with no foreigners or blacks or gays etc because thats the way they feel!

    I guess education has not managed to change your pattern of thought. I have always thought myself that once you feel it is okay to discriminate against one group of people, its not a hard stretch to find another minority you can hate too!


    discrimination
    noun [ U ]
    treating a person or particular group of people differently, especially in a worse way from the way in which you treat other people, because of their skin colour, sex, sexuality, etc.:


    Dont be attributing things to someone that they didnt say.
    It doesnt help your case.


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    #70
    JustAThought
    Registered Users Posts: 5,323 ✭✭✭JustAThought


    you will have the issue that a house can be owner owned but they can have to move away and tent to accommodate a new job / space issues etc -
    at least if it is tented to
    social and affordable or whomever you can address it through the PtRB who can put manners on the situation. Also many HAP’s now have antisocial behaviour written into their contract as a cause for eviction so they are
    less likely to welcome complaints as it could
    mean restrictions on them in the future or financial implications of their rent is subsidised ( it is.)

    Someone pointed out to me and I guess they were right, that detached houses in Dublinnare
    more likely to be owned by families ( kids/noise) or upscalers (teenagers/parties) and given the orice of land in Dublin the plots are likely to be close together - gardens,
    lots of cars,people, teenagers,parties - noise!
    On the other hand my friends partner who
    lives in a farm pointed out that down the country there is all manner of different noise - crow scaring shotgun effects, tractors chugging up country lanes at stupid onclock, agricultural machinery clanking, farmers spreading slurry etc. Ifs hard to win!


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    #71
    CandyButcher
    Registered Users Posts: 115 ✭✭CandyButcher


    Also, regulations around soundproofing didn't come in until 1991/92 in Ireland, and this estate was built shortly before or around this time, so the regs may not have been in place.



    What??? Your telling me there was actually soundproofing regulations in all those crappy built properties built in the boom including the one I am stuck in now hearing all sorts from all directions from neighbours


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    #72
    CandyButcher
    Registered Users Posts: 115 ✭✭CandyButcher


    Is there a definitive answer here of what sort of property or what decade it was built to go for if noise is a factor (bar detached) too expensive in Dublin. I was under the impression the older the house was built The better the sound proofing better quality walls etc oppose to the last boom of plaster board walls ? Correct me if I'm wrong


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    #73
    Cash_Q
    Registered Users Posts: 1,920 ✭✭✭Cash_Q


    CandyButcher wrote:
    Is there a definitive answer here of what sort of property or what decade it was built to go for if noise is a factor (bar detached) too expensive in Dublin. I was under the impression the older the house was built The better the sound proofing better quality walls etc oppose to the last boom of plaster board walls ? Correct me if I'm wrong


    Our house was built in the 1960s, solid as they come but the noise travels so clearly.


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    #74
    CandyButcher
    Registered Users Posts: 115 ✭✭CandyButcher


    Cash_Q wrote: »
    Our house was built in the 1960s, solid as they come but the noise travels so clearly.

    That was my last hope with 60s houses. Theres no hope so.. like me now, view a property for 20 minutes stalk visit the road numerous times to check it out not hear or see a thing Wrong.. move in, weeks later discover neighbours slamming doors and HAP scangers moving in beside you dealing drugs etc.

    I only moved in a year ago and im hell bent on moving out next year what a shame.. all to have another roll of the dice on next neighbours


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    #75
    Crimsonred
    Registered Users Posts: 99 ✭✭Crimsonred


    CandyButcher wrote: »
    Is there a definitive answer here of what sort of property or what decade it was built to go for if noise is a factor (bar detached) too expensive in Dublin. I was under the impression the older the house was built The better the sound proofing better quality walls etc oppose to the last boom of plaster board walls ? Correct me if I'm wrong

    I live in a semi-detached house that was built in the 1960s, the soundproofing is non existent, we tried soundproofing the party walls of the rooms which were most affected but it made no discernible difference.


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    #76
    lastusername
    Registered Users Posts: 338 ✭✭lastusername


    CandyButcher wrote: »
    Is there a definitive answer here of what sort of property or what decade it was built to go for if noise is a factor (bar detached) too expensive in Dublin. I was under the impression the older the house was built The better the sound proofing better quality walls etc oppose to the last boom of plaster board walls ? Correct me if I'm wrong

    The 1992 reference was just something I saw in passing online, you'd need to look into that one and ask a surveyor or architect to get a definitive answer I'd say. There are also associations for those professions who could advise I'm sure - might do that myself.

    I also thought the same re older houses as I was thinking of 200 year old houses with massive thick walls and period homes which I imagine might also have thick walls (although maybe not at all), but it seems the opposite is the case - that it'll be newer builds (post Celtic tiger to now) that will have better soundproofing due to more stringent building regulations.
    Cash_Q wrote: »
    Our house was built in the 1960s, solid as they come but the noise travels so clearly.
    Crimsonred wrote: »
    I live in a semi-detached house that was built in the 1960s, the soundproofing is non existent, we tried soundproofing the party walls of the rooms which were most affected but it made no discernible difference.

    What I'm realising is that it's most likely down to the materials used versus wall-thickness, due to the way sound travels. One soundproofing solution I saw uses quartz and sand to help block soundwaves - that's going to actually block them a lot more than concrete or plasterboard I'd imagine.


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    #77
    Cash_Q
    Registered Users Posts: 1,920 ✭✭✭Cash_Q


    CandyButcher wrote:
    That was my last hope with 60s houses. Theres no hope so.. like me now, view a property for 20 minutes stalk visit the road numerous times to check it out not hear or see a thing Wrong.. move in, weeks later discover neighbours slamming doors and HAP scangers moving in beside you dealing drugs etc.

    Yes we drove here and parked up at all hours of the day and night and youd hear a pin drop outside at night, we just got so unlucky with the family next door. It could be quiet enough for a few days and I start feeling a false sense of security but it always reverts back to outrageous carry on eventually.
    CandyButcher wrote:
    I only moved in a year ago and im hell bent on moving out next year what a shame.. all to have another roll of the dice on next neighbours

    We're here over 2 years and are now decided on selling up. We'll need a 20percent deposit on our next purchase so it'll be a while til we have saved enough/ built up enough equity in the house but even having made the decision is keeping us going when they're really acting up.
    Crimsonred wrote:
    I live in a semi-detached house that was built in the 1960s, the soundproofing is non existent, we tried soundproofing the party walls of the rooms which were most affected but it made no discernible difference.


    Do you mind if I ask what that cost? So many people suggest we should just do this rather than move but I've heard it's not guaranteed to work so cant justify the cost.


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    #78
    Crimsonred
    Registered Users Posts: 99 ✭✭Crimsonred


    Cash_Q wrote: »
    Yes we drove here and parked up at all hours of the day and night and youd hear a pin drop outside at night, we just got so unlucky with the family next door. It could be quiet enough for a few days and I start feeling a false sense of security but it always reverts back to outrageous carry on eventually.



    We're here over 2 years and are now decided on selling up. We'll need a 20percent deposit on our next purchase so it'll be a while til we have saved enough/ built up enough equity in the house but even having made the decision is keeping us going when they're really acting up.




    Do you mind if I ask what that cost? So many people suggest we should just do this rather than move but I've heard it's not guaranteed to work so cant justify the cost.

    It cost €1300 to do two rooms, the main expense was the panels themselves which were 60mm thick, we also had to repaint both rooms so that was an additional cost.

    Getting this work done only added to our stress because it was a failed attempt to gain peace and quiet and left us out of pocket.


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    #79
    Cash_Q
    Registered Users Posts: 1,920 ✭✭✭Cash_Q


    Crimsonred wrote:
    Getting this work done only added to our stress because it was a failed attempt to gain peace and quiet and left us out of pocket.


    I can imagine, it's a lot to spend for no result. Would you sell? Sorry if you've already said this I havent been following the thread too closely


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    #80
    Crimsonred
    Registered Users Posts: 99 ✭✭Crimsonred


    Cash_Q wrote: »
    I can imagine, it's a lot to spend for no result. Would you sell? Sorry if you've already said this I havent been following the thread too closely

    I want to sell but my wife is reluctant to do so, I would never again buy a semi-detached house.

    If you think you may be in any way sensitive to noise, as I now realise I am, then buy a detached house, that's my advice.


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    #81
    Ning
    Registered Users Posts: 55 ✭✭Ning


    We were living in a terrace next to a 26 year old scumbag living with his mom, house parties starting at 2pm until 7+am when mammy was gone away. No laws in this country to protect normal people. Garda was completely useless. We decided to move - we moved to a detached house, too much lottery otherwise.

    You could use https://www.landdirect.ie to find who owns next door, and then use social media research to get some ideas.


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    #82
    lastusername
    Registered Users Posts: 338 ✭✭lastusername


    Ning wrote: »
    We were living in a terrace next to a 26 year old scumbag living with his mom, house parties starting at 2pm until 7+am when mammy was gone away. No laws in this country to protect normal people. Garda was completely useless. We decided to move - we moved to a detached house, too much lottery otherwise.

    You could use https://www.landdirect.ie to find who owns next door, and then use social media research to get some ideas.

    The Guards won't be interested though unless it's a criminal matter. There are ways of making a complaint to the council or something though I believe.

    Thanks. Checked out that website but it only shows property registration details, wouldn't expect to see who actually owns a property on there :)


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    #83
    Ning
    Registered Users Posts: 55 ✭✭Ning


    lastusername wrote: »
    The Guards won't be interested though unless it's a criminal matter. There are ways of making a complaint to the council or something though I believe.

    Thanks. Checked out that website but it only shows property registration details, wouldn't expect to see who actually owns a property on there :)

    The folio shows the name of who own the land. It costs 5 euros per folio.


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    #84
    lastusername
    Registered Users Posts: 338 ✭✭lastusername


    Ning wrote: »
    The folio shows the name of who own the land. It costs 5 euros per folio.

    Oh ok right, cool :)


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    #85
    salonfire
    Registered Users Posts: 3,078 ✭✭✭salonfire


    Check for barking dogs as well.

    They can make life hell just as much as noisy humans.


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    #86
    JimmyVik
    Registered Users Posts: 5,368 ✭✭✭JimmyVik


    Crimsonred wrote: »
    It cost €1300 to do two rooms, the main expense was the panels themselves which were 60mm thick, we also had to repaint both rooms so that was an additional cost.

    Getting this work done only added to our stress because it was a failed attempt to gain peace and quiet and left us out of pocket.


    My Dad works doing that and he says it is very very expensive if you want it to be effective. You have to separate even the joists from the walls to completely dampen sound. He said its easy to get the sounds of talking blocked, but anything else is impossible. TV, footsteps, shouting, music all cant really be stopped going through walls and floors.
    When he changed house he bought a semi-d but it has 1.5 ft thick stone walls. You couldnt hear a thing from next door. He never would have bought a semi if not for the thick stone walls.


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    #87
    Cuddlesworth
    Registered Users Posts: 13,980 ✭✭✭✭Cuddlesworth


    CandyButcher wrote: »
    Is there a definitive answer here of what sort of property or what decade it was built to go for if noise is a factor (bar detached) too expensive in Dublin. I was under the impression the older the house was built The better the sound proofing better quality walls etc oppose to the last boom of plaster board walls ? Correct me if I'm wrong

    People think of noise as a single issue but its not. Its pretty complex with a lot of variables to consider.

    If you put a person into a room talking and then close the door, the sound is reduced or removed*.
    If you take the same person and have them start shouting as loud as they can, your going to find that you can hear them quiet clearly.

    You could spend a fortune on "sound proofing", increasing the mass of the wall, adding dampening materials, thickening the door, sealing any air gaps between the two rooms and it would have a noticeable effect on reducing the noise but removing it within reason** is next to impossible.

    Then you could have the person start to stamp their feet and hit the walls and all that work goes out the window.

    If you think that's unreasonable, you might not be aware of the family's that think angry shouting matches as a daily occurrence is normal, or a elderly neighbour who likes to jack the volume on the TV to make up for their hearing loss.

    We don't help things in general as a society. Thick carpets are a godsend for sound insulation, in the location creating the sound. Meanwhile the current style is wooden floors everywhere, threadbare thin material on most furniture and plastic blinds on windows over thick heavy curtains in the past. And while I go on a rant about it here often, those wooden floors are badly installed most of the time, contributing massively to noise transmission in attached buildings.

    Meaning your current noise free semi D could easily become a massive echo chamber when your new neighbours rock in, rip out the carpets, throw in some cheap wooden floors and mount a TV and sound system to the party wall jacking up the volume to the max.

    And to be honest, your detached house isn't exactly free from noise, it still has to have some exposure to the outside.

    *Depending on air-tightness and the thickness and type of materials involved in the door and walls.

    **Reason is subjective, you could build a soundproof house, it would also usually be pretty bomb proof as a by product.


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    #88
    brisan
    Registered Users Posts: 2,242 ✭✭✭brisan


    CandyButcher wrote: »
    Also, regulations around soundproofing didn't come in until 1991/92 in Ireland, and this estate was built shortly before or around this time, so the regs may not have been in place.



    What??? Your telling me there was actually soundproofing regulations in all those crappy built properties built in the boom including the one I am stuck in now hearing all sorts from all directions from neighbours
    The regulations were there all right
    The same way the fire regulations were there for apartments
    Whether they were adhered to and if they were checked is a whole different ballgame
    Ask the original tenants of Priory Hall


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    #89
    CandyButcher
    Registered Users Posts: 115 ✭✭CandyButcher


    JimmyVik wrote: »

    When he changed house he bought a semi-d but it has 1.5 ft thick stone walls. You couldnt hear a thing from next door. He never would have bought a semi if not for the thick stone walls.

    So thick stone walls is the answer here ? How do you find out if the walls are thick stone ? Is there a certain decade time period they were all built like this to look out for ?


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    #90
    Yellow_Fern
    Registered Users Posts: 2,570 ✭✭✭Yellow_Fern


    I am not sure if anyone mentioned but just hire a sound pollution tester to come and test.


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    #91
    Yellow_Fern
    Registered Users Posts: 2,570 ✭✭✭Yellow_Fern


    CandyButcher wrote: »
    So thick stone walls is the answer here ? How do you find out if the walls are thick stone ? Is there a certain decade time period they were all built like this to look out for ?

    You get thick stone walls on some 19th terraces. Many houses have a thick concrete party wall but you need to be sure its fully plastered. Often there is drywall up and there is gaps in the pointing that a finger can fit through. That is no good. So if viewing houses its hard to check. But certainly look at the party wall in the attic. A sound test is best way to go.


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