I'm looking for a flat. However, I currently live in a terrace and am cursed
with noisy neighbours, and would like to avoid having to suffer such c***s
again. I occasionally have to work overnight and so noise in the daytime
would be an issue too, so it's not just a case of avoiding neighbours with a
penchant for all night drum and bass, as a hoover or washer can be bloody
noisy and it's a bit unreasonable to expect all the neighbours to creep
around on my behalf all day. I'd also like to be able to listen to music
without driving them up the wall.

So, are there any regulations on noise insulation between flats? A lot of
places seem to be large houses converted into multiple flats, rather than
purpose built blocks, which may or may not be better (older house = thicker
walls but less insulation between floors, I would expect). Should I be
looking out for places converted over to flats after a certain date?

Doki wrote:
I'm looking for a flat. However, I currently live in a terrace and am
cursed with noisy neighbours, and would like to avoid having to
suffer such c***s again. I occasionally have to work overnight and so
noise in the daytime would be an issue too, so it's not just a case
of avoiding neighbours with a penchant for all night drum and bass,
as a hoover or washer can be bloody noisy and it's a bit unreasonable
to expect all the neighbours to creep around on my behalf all day.
I'd also like to be able to listen to music without driving them up
the wall.
So, are there any regulations on noise insulation between flats? A
lot of places seem to be large houses converted into multiple flats,
rather than purpose built blocks, which may or may not be better
(older house = thicker walls but less insulation between floors, I
would expect). Should I be looking out for places converted over to
flats after a certain date?

You'd be far better off buying a detached property in the middle of the
country - and then the birds would interfere with your sleep Doki, or think
of you as a c*nt for playing your music and disturbing them!

BRG

"Doki" wrote in message
...
I'm looking for a flat. However, I currently live in a terrace and am
cursed
with noisy neighbours, and would like to avoid having to suffer such c***s
again. I occasionally have to work overnight and so noise in the daytime
would be an issue too, so it's not just a case of avoiding neighbours with
a
penchant for all night drum and bass, as a hoover or washer can be bloody
noisy and it's a bit unreasonable to expect all the neighbours to creep
around on my behalf all day. I'd also like to be able to listen to music
without driving them up the wall.

So, are there any regulations on noise insulation between flats? A lot of
places seem to be large houses converted into multiple flats, rather than
purpose built blocks, which may or may not be better (older house =
thicker
walls but less insulation between floors, I would expect). Should I be
looking out for places converted over to flats after a certain date?


What you need is an OAP's home.

"BRG" wrote in message
...
Doki wrote:
I'm looking for a flat. However, I currently live in a terrace and am
cursed with noisy neighbours, and would like to avoid having to
suffer such c***s again. I occasionally have to work overnight and so
noise in the daytime would be an issue too, so it's not just a case
of avoiding neighbours with a penchant for all night drum and bass,
as a hoover or washer can be bloody noisy and it's a bit unreasonable
to expect all the neighbours to creep around on my behalf all day.
I'd also like to be able to listen to music without driving them up
the wall.
So, are there any regulations on noise insulation between flats? A
lot of places seem to be large houses converted into multiple flats,
rather than purpose built blocks, which may or may not be better
(older house = thicker walls but less insulation between floors, I
would expect). Should I be looking out for places converted over to
flats after a certain date?

You'd be far better off buying a detached property in the middle of the
country - and then the birds would interfere with your sleep Doki, or
think of you as a c*nt for playing your music and disturbing them!

I'm about £250k short of being able to do that. I'm used to living in the
country which is why noisy neighbours are such a pain in the arse to me - I
can sleep through barn owls screeching, passing trains and small earthquakes
but 12 hours of loud music a day can be rather upsetting.

On Sat, 29 Mar 2008 17:31:19 -0000, "BRG" wrote:

Doki wrote:
I'm looking for a flat. However, I currently live in a terrace and am
cursed with noisy neighbours, and would like to avoid having to
suffer such c***s again. I occasionally have to work overnight and so
noise in the daytime would be an issue too, so it's not just a case
of avoiding neighbours with a penchant for all night drum and bass,
as a hoover or washer can be bloody noisy and it's a bit unreasonable
to expect all the neighbours to creep around on my behalf all day.
I'd also like to be able to listen to music without driving them up
the wall.
So, are there any regulations on noise insulation between flats? A
lot of places seem to be large houses converted into multiple flats,
rather than purpose built blocks, which may or may not be better
(older house = thicker walls but less insulation between floors, I
would expect). Should I be looking out for places converted over to
flats after a certain date?

You'd be far better off buying a detached property in the middle of the
country - and then the birds would interfere with your sleep Doki, or think
of you as a c*nt for playing your music and disturbing them!

BRG



Agreed., If other people's noise drives you mad a flat is not the
answer. You potentially have to listen to flats above, beneath, to the
sides and diagonally, plus anyone 4 floors up who's a noisy soandso.
You are probably not "cursed" with noisy neighbours. just normal
people doing normal things.
--
http://www.orderonlinepickupinstore.co.uk
Ah fetch it yourself if you can't wait for delivery
http://www.freedeliveryuk.co.uk
Or get it delivered for free

Owain wrote:
George wrote:

What you need is an OAP's home.

No, they're all insomniacs with faulty hearing aids who fall asleep in
the afternoon with the telly turned up to max on "Trisha"

On the plus side, they tend to have the heating up really high, so if
you're in the flat upstairs you don't need to run your own boiler at all
- been there, done that :-)

Pete

Mogga wrote:
On Sat, 29 Mar 2008 17:31:19 -0000, "BRG" wrote:

Doki wrote:
I'm looking for a flat. However, I currently live in a terrace and
am cursed with noisy neighbours, and would like to avoid having to
suffer such c***s again. I occasionally have to work overnight and
so noise in the daytime would be an issue too, so it's not just a
case of avoiding neighbours with a penchant for all night drum and
bass, as a hoover or washer can be bloody noisy and it's a bit
unreasonable to expect all the neighbours to creep around on my
behalf all day. I'd also like to be able to listen to music without
driving them up the wall.
So, are there any regulations on noise insulation between flats? A
lot of places seem to be large houses converted into multiple flats,
rather than purpose built blocks, which may or may not be better
(older house = thicker walls but less insulation between floors, I
would expect). Should I be looking out for places converted over to
flats after a certain date?

You'd be far better off buying a detached property in the middle of
the country - and then the birds would interfere with your sleep
Doki, or think of you as a c*nt for playing your music and
disturbing them!

BRG



Agreed., If other people's noise drives you mad a flat is not the
answer. You potentially have to listen to flats above, beneath, to the
sides and diagonally, plus anyone 4 floors up who's a noisy soandso.
You are probably not "cursed" with noisy neighbours. just normal
people doing normal things.

Afraid not. They're students, and drum and bass for 13 hours at a time isn't
unusual (ie, 9pm until 10am), loud enough to be heard up the street, along
with a ****load of people in the house.

On Sat, 29 Mar 2008 21:29:29 -0000, "Doki" wrote:


Agreed., If other people's noise drives you mad a flat is not the
answer. You potentially have to listen to flats above, beneath, to the
sides and diagonally, plus anyone 4 floors up who's a noisy soandso.
You are probably not "cursed" with noisy neighbours. just normal
people doing normal things.

Afraid not. They're students, and drum and bass for 13 hours at a time isn't
unusual (ie, 9pm until 10am), loud enough to be heard up the street, along
with a ****load of people in the house.

With an aim of 50% of 18 yo going to uni I think they are probably the
norm in some areas.

If they're genuinely noisy then you need to introduce yourself to the
environmental noise nusiance man at the council.
--
http://www.orderonlinepickupinstore.co.uk
Ah fetch it yourself if you can't wait for delivery
http://www.freedeliveryuk.co.uk
Or get it delivered for free

Mogga wrote:
On Sat, 29 Mar 2008 21:29:29 -0000, "Doki" wrote:


Agreed., If other people's noise drives you mad a flat is not the
answer. You potentially have to listen to flats above, beneath, to
the sides and diagonally, plus anyone 4 floors up who's a noisy
soandso. You are probably not "cursed" with noisy neighbours. just
normal people doing normal things.

Afraid not. They're students, and drum and bass for 13 hours at a
time isn't unusual (ie, 9pm until 10am), loud enough to be heard up
the street, along with a ****load of people in the house.

With an aim of 50% of 18 yo going to uni I think they are probably the
norm in some areas.

If they're genuinely noisy then you need to introduce yourself to the
environmental noise nusiance man at the council.

TBH I expect it would be unrealistic to expect action from the council
within a timeframe that's useful to me - I move out in a month or so, until
I return for finals. Most of the street are students but this lot are a
particular pain in the arse. It's a row of terraces and people next door on
either side sound like they're in your house. I hardly expect neighbours in
a flat to be as bad as the lot we have next door, but a knackered washer or
one of the bigger dysons can be very noisy IME.

As for the people going to uni, I reckon something towards 50% either are
there purely for the beer / to put off getting a job / because their parents
want them to / because they can't think of anything better to do...

On Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:30:37 +0000, Owain wrote:

I don't know when the regulations last changed but I would avoid any
conversion done before c. 1990? regardless of the age of the building.

I'm not so sure my Bristol flat was a victorian building converted about
1980 IIRC. Good thick rubble stone walls, lots of mass, no sound passed
through them. It was a top floor flat so no one above but I never heard my
neighbour to the side and only very occasionally from below. I
deliberately left my music running at moderate/loud level when visiting
below, couldn't hear it. This is the flat that I mentioned in a recent
post that their ceiling was not directly attached to my floor joists but
there wasn't anything in the void other than air.

If I was looking I'd go for something converted or built within the last
10 years or in earlier conversions a hefty building, stone walls etc. IMHO
anything from late 50's to late 80's is likely to be made of cardboard
with minimal sound insulation.
--
Cheers
Dave.

On Sat, 29 Mar 2008 13:10:36 -0000, a particular chimpanzee, "Doki"
randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

So, are there any regulations on noise insulation between flats? A lot of
places seem to be large houses converted into multiple flats, rather than
purpose built blocks, which may or may not be better (older house = thicker
walls but less insulation between floors, I would expect). Should I be
looking out for places converted over to flats after a certain date?

Sound insulation has been required by the Building Regulations to new
dwellings since at least 1985. It has been required to conversions
since 1991. Prior to this date, it may have been dealt with by a
condition to the Planning Permission, but I don't know if this was
universal across the country. Enforcement would have only come about
after the work was done and a complaint was made.

Under the Building Regulations, up until 2003 (2004 for new
dwellings), the work had to meet a number of 'deemed to satisfy'
constructions. If it was constructed in accordance with these details
it complied, irrespective of whether there was excessive sound
transmission or not. Since 2003, all conversions have to be tested
upon completion, and it's the level of sound transmission that
matters. For new dwellings, the date is 2004, and there is an option
of building it in accordance with 'robust details' in lieu of testing.
The above dates relate to the date the Building Regulations
application was submitted, so work could be carried out even years
after 2003 and still come under the old requirements.

This all assumes that the work has ever had a Building Regulations
application for it. There are plenty of unauthorised flat conversions
out there, especially down back streets on smaller houses.

If it were me, I'd check,
a) the work did have a Building Regulations application,
b) it was inspected and a Building Regulations completion certificate
issued, and
c) if the work was done in the last few years, that the building was
subject to a sound insulation test (and has passed) or if it's a
new-build, there was a notification from 'Robust Details' that their
standard details applied.

You've a better chance of getting the sound insulation right in a
new-build than a conversion. No doubt there'll be twenty replies along
the lines of, "I moved into a new flat and I could hear the
neighbour's cat farting", but on the whole, I'm correct. The internal
walls within a house are usually only 4" brick or timber studs with
lath-&-plaster over; not good for sound insulation when used to
separate one flat from another.
--
Hugo Nebula
"If no-one on the internet wants a piece of this,
just how far from the pack have you strayed?"