"noisy" neighbours

OK this really only applies for those that live in terrace/semi's as it is related to the interior noise not noisy outside.
Me & my better half live in a semi - built just over 25 years ago so the walls are fairly thin, only been in a year and had new neighbour (1 young lad) since xmas.
Now in the last few months, ive heard shouting coming from next door but always presumed it was the football he was shouting at, however I was watching tv tonight in the front room when i distinctly heard what was said. It was a complaint about the noise.
So I went round to next door, knocked on and asked if the shout was meant for us, to which I was surprised to hear that he had "had enough" and was sick of the noise.
Now Ive lived in a Semi all my life, and know how to be considerate. The TV is never that noisy, however I do have real wooden floors in the house and theres only the stairs which is carpeted. I invited him over to listen to the TV to judge for himself whether he thought it was loud but he didnt want to know.

I used to have quite good relations with him when he moved in, but now its soured as he has chosen not to sort things out amicably. Now the easy thing for everyone to say would be to keep the noise down but its not loud in the first place! He says he can hear us talking, me talking on the phone amongst other things! Now what do I do? Its made me conscious in my own home as to whether I can talk at a certain volume! On the occasion when I hear him, i dont take any action and if any just turn mine up a little bit more so I can hear it. Anyone else been in a similar situation????

Sometimes i can hear my next door neighbours TV, and at night thats pretty annoying. Nothing like this though.

I'm not sure theres alot you can do if your neighbour isnt willing to co-operate aswell. Is it possible to get some sort of soundproofing? Maybe you can re-position things, like the TV, so the noise dosnt go through the walls so much, and perhaps adjust the settings so its not so penetrating (i.e. the bass, etc)

Matt

[fizzwheel]

Go back round and knock his door and say, that you want to try and sort things out, set your TV to the volume you'd normally have it at, and get him to come into your house and see what he thinks of the volume. Then go back round to his house and make your own mind up about how loud it actually is.

Is your TV pushed up against his wall, perhaps jiggle your front room around so the TV isnt near his wall and see if that helps ?

I live in a mid terrace house, built in the 70's, I can hear my neigbours music, and one neighbour has a dog that barks, which can be annoying.

I've no real complaints though, I can hear them bumping about when they are doing stuff during the day, but in the evening and at night we're quiet and they are to.

Sounds like you have a sound insulation problem rather than any unreasonable (and therefore potentially actionable) behaviour on your part.

You might want to speak to your local Env Health Dept and seek advice from an EHO. S/he will give you the advice you need and, if you ask nicely and they have the right equipent, maybe able to do a sound insultation test for you.

This will do two things:
1. Tell you if there's a sound insulation problem
2. "Head him off at the pass", i.e. you make contact with the EHO before your neighbour complains to him/her with an allegation of Statutory Noise Nuisance (S.79, EPA 1990).

You are too far away for me to help practically, but I can help and advise you in the event that your neighbour makes a complaint about you. PM me if that happens

[Biker Biggles]

I had similar problems when my lad was younger.I don't think we were noisy by normal standards given that people living in a house make a certain amount of it.I don't like the telly up loud,and I don't shout and yell.But we had a problem with next door,an older bloke and his wife,but no kids.His wife was fine,but did warn us that the old man was very sensitive about noise and he used to moan whenever he could.I got shirty when he had a go at my lad for playing with a ball in the garden one afternoon and a few rows ensued.Finally I realised that some people just are not able to be reasonable about it,and really should live somewhere well away from others if they are going to be so sensitive.So I just ignored him from then on.When he found there was no audience for his moaning he gave up doing it.Problem solved.

Thanks for the replies, on the issue of positioning, i actually have the telly on the opposite side of the room to the party wall and I have my sofa up against the party wall itself.

I did invite him in to my place to let him hear the TV in my house for himself but he just didnt want to know. These walls are particularly thin and there does appear to be some kind of sound insulation problem however how would it be rectified? The house does have cavity wall already so I cant see what extra can be done to solve it.

Thing is, the lad is in his mid 20s and he's complaining about this amount of noise. I regularly hear noise from his side of the building but Ive got no complaints, we're not party animals and only occasionally have people round and this communication thing has never been an issue in the past. What annoys me most is that someone thinks it fit to shout at me through a wall in order for me to comply. This approach to me is rude and inconsiderate. I work shifts and this has occasionally happened while my girlfriend has been alone in the house which has actually left her a bit scared. Our previous neighbours never mentioned any of this

Friend of mine had similar noise issues i.e. she could hear everything that went on next door. The party wall was also the chimney so in the recesses she built a framework of 2" * 2" wood all over the recess. She then filled this with loft insulation and plasterboarded and plastered over it. Double underlay and good carpet later the noise was significantly reduced.

In addition going round to speak to him when he is still wound up about the noise is probably not the best plan. Leave it to a Sunday afternoon or something, go round with some tinnys and talk to him to get it sorted. Try not to get too defensive if he criticises either, difficult I know but if you don't sort it, it will just **** you both off.

Good luck.

Trace

Maybe he was just having a bad day and the noise got to him enough to make him vent some anger, that may explain why he was not interested in coming over - because he knew he was wrong and it doesn't usually bother him.

100 year old mid terrace house

cant hear a thing

[tigersaw]

You can get those gadgets that emit a noise really load and painful to teenagers but not to adults. I suggest one of them outside his back window.