Attached houses

I was wondering if anyone else is bothered by the closeness of the houses? It's hard when you have a piano as well, wondering if I will be able to ever play it again...thinking this while hearing someone sneezing through the wall next door. Even the semi-detached houses tend to join all the living rooms and bedrooms. I've seen many houses where the only truly private rooms are the kitchen and bathroom.

Why, why, why?!

We've been searching for a new house for a year now, trying to find the elusive "detached house" and we just can't seem to find anything that isn't a fortune

Maybe it's the proximity to London here that crams the houses together.

I know just what you mean.  We're in an end-of-terrace, so we only have one side to worry about, but it's still pretty annoying being attached to anyone at all.

I don't know, for some reason I never minded flats, but being in a house and worrying about neighbors bothers me.  I guess because I expect it in flats whereas I just don't with houses?

The truth is, you'll find more and more detached houses for cheaper prices the farther away from a city you get.

For example: we're looking to get a bit more rural, and we looked at a house this weekend that is only £40 more per month than we pay now but detached, with 3 bedrooms rather than 2, 2 bathrooms rather than 1 (one of which is ensuite), a utility room, a conservatory, and a much bigger back garden.  The trade off is that it's nowhere near a train station and is about a 40-45 minute drive to Glasgow rather than a 15 minute drive.

It comes down to what you value more:  peace and privacy, or convenience. 

I live in a street full of terraces (about 4 attached to each other before an alley) and I rarely hear either one of my neighbours (unless the one to the lets smoke alarm goes off), but that might be down to more the age (built in 1907) than anything else. I could also be lucky and have overall quiet neighbours.

Ive heard in newer builds the walls are thinner and that might be the reason? Have you thought about using soundproofing in your walls?
http://www.noisyneighboursolutions.co.uk/

DIY SOS: Noisy Neighbour Solutions

They used soundproofing in DIY SOS to soundproof a games room that was directly below the mother, who worked night shifts, bedroom. After they installed the insulation, you could barely hear the guitar.

Our house (built in the early 2000s) is attached on one side only, and to be honest, I have never heard actual noises from the neighbours - the only thing I ever hear is the vibration of doors slamming if someone closes the front door too hard.   

You may be surprised that this is less of an issue than you think it may be.

We live in a centre terrace Victorian conversion (sort of a semi-semi, only three attached houses), and like others, we NEVER hear people next door.  We sometimes hear our upstairs neighbours when they climb the the stairs because it's bare floorboards.

Our landlord did soundproof the bedroom to silence outdoor sounds mostly, but even in other areas of the house, if you didn't notice the lack of windows on our side walls, you'd not know we live in an attached house.

My inlaws who live in a Georgian terrace pretty much have the same deal.  You can hear outside noise (sometimes annoyingly so) and sometimes upstairs neighbours, but never the side neighbours.

We live in a terraced house and I can hear vacuuming, the coo coo clock and loud noises but not general stuff.

Is like an apartment but 2 storys but we have a stone house and its over 125 years old

I think I've got bad luck then!  From what I can tell, ours was built in the 50s or 60s.  We can hear the neighbors going up and down the stairs, the vacuuming, when they play music, when the baby cries, when they open or close doors, when they're talking in the kitchen, and when the toilet flushes. 

None of this really bothers me, so much, they're great neighbors, but it's there, and I've heard less in flats that I've lived in (that were newer, granted).  Some of the other people we've had next door were just terrible, though.  One guy was a heavy smoker and he would just be up all night hacking up a lung in addition to his frequent arguments with various people and his affinity for loud techno.

We can hear the neighbour when he is banging around in the kitchen, but also when he screams obscenities at the television.  Sadly, the second happens about once a day.  I think he gambles a lot.  The house was built in 1920 or so.

We're in an edwardian block of apartments, and only rarely do we hear actual people inside the building.  We can hear the unending renovations going on 2 floors above us, but I think they can be heard for blocks miles.  The person living above us is a concert-level pianist and a few afternoons a week, I get treated to several hours of practice.  It's nothing short of wonderful, even when the music is not to my taste.  The building is very solid, so it's not terribly loud if one didn't enjoy it.  Once our baby arrives, I'm hoping we can use it as some soothing naptime music.  

Back in the US, our apartment abutted a church, and on Wednesday and Saturday nights and Sunday mornings, I could hear the organ.  No singing, just the organ.    

 The person living above us is a concert-level pianist and a few afternoons a week, I get treated to several hours of practice.  It's nothing short of wonderful,    

My downstairs neighbour in the US was a concert pianist and it was amazing to hear that coming up through the floorboards.

We live in a building with four flats, I think 1960's-ish, so we have neighbours above but a communal hallway separates us on the side.  We almost never hear our upstairs neighbours, even though they have a young baby.  The only time we hear them is if we both have windows open, but the building itself is remarkably soundproof.  That said, there's been some construction work both in their flat and across the hall, and that's been deafening. 

I lived in a semi- which was about 5 years old at the time I lived in it-
I could hear my neighbours going up and down the stairs, the tv and stereo and when their son was practicing the clarinet.  I got them back with all my musical instrument practicing though!  

I lived in a flat that was a  1880s building conversion into 4 flats and I always heard every little noise!

I live in a flat now that's about the same age as my semi was and I never hear my neighbours.  But these flats are all configured to have living space not near each other or bedrooms either so it works out well.  

...but also when he screams obscenities at the television. 

Do we share the same neighbor?   

I live in a semi-detached house that has been converted into two flats (upstairs and downstairs).  Sadly, I can hear my neighbor next door to me when he swears at the TV, and I can hear the neighbors upstairs when they move about on their wood flooring.  It's not the end of the world, and the neighbors aren't THAT loud; however, you can hear them.

I just feel bad when I practice my fiddle.  I figure that if I can hear them, they can probably hear me, and while I adore Celtic music, they might not share my taste. 

I'm currently in a basement flat at the end of a row of terraced houses, which are about 200 years old. I haven't heard a thing from the people living on the other side of the lounge/bedroom walls since we moved in 5 months ago, but I do hear the people above us... their floors (our ceilings) creak every time they walk around and I often hear them watching TV, chatting or playing the guitar in their living room.

Why, why, why?!

Population density of England: 1000 per sq mile (even higher in south east England)
Population density of USA: 88 per sq mile