townhome or row home living and noise

[Anonymous]

We are thinking of buying a townhome but the main thing holding us back is the noise factor. And it's not other people's noise, it's the noise that we make as a family. We have 2 small kids and a small dog, but that wouldn't necessarily concern me - I would think many people in townhomes are young families. The issue is that I am a professional musician (violinist) and practice several hours a day. I only practice between 9 or 10 in the morning and 6 or 7 at night so I don't think it would technically violate any noise restrictions in a townhome's homeowner's rules. We would obviously check that for a specific place and rule out anyplace that did have a rule about it.

I've lived in lots of apartments where I've practiced during these hours and have never had complaints. I always introduce myself to neighbors and let them know to please tell me if it's bothering them to try to accommodate their schedule. But ultimately, I have to practice, it's my job, and I need to be able to do it in a home that I own during reasonable hours. But I don't want to end up living somewhere where all the neighbors hate us for the noise!

So what do you think? Is this not acceptable for town home living, or do the neighbors that don't like it just have to deal? We wish we could afford a SFH, but I don't think it's possible.

[Anonymous]

Depends where. You can't hear a thing in the rowhouses in Georgetown or Capitol Hill.

[Anonymous]

I've lived in a DC rowhouse for many years. Here are a list of sounds a neighbor can make, in my experience, from least acceptable to downright pleasant and desirable:

Celine Dion
Gangsta rap
Mariachi/narcocorrido/latin polka
barking dog
leafblowers
screaming fights
jackhammers and power saws
"hey, here's my old guitar-- wonder if I still remember Stairway"
sex
company for the big game
noisy (happy) children
professional-level violin practice

In short, there is lots of noise in rowhouse living. Some noise is more acceptable than other noise. You could end up with neighbors who want to be dickish about it, but chances are they will realize how lucky they are not to have some of those other things on the list going on next door.

[Anonymous]

It can really depend on the townhouse. I think as long as you're not practicing too early in the morning or too late in the evening, you should be ok. I have a child and live between a retired couple and a bunch of young 20-something renters. Most of the time I don't hear much from either side, though at times I can identify the song played by the 20-somethings by the bass line, and at times I can hear my retired neighbor jamming to classical. they've never complained about our noise, though, and I have a 2.5-year-old. (you can also try to find an end unit, so you only have one neighbor!)

[Anonymous]

i would like to live in a world where the sound of a professional violin player practicing her art is taken to be a wonderful perk of living in a community with other people.

[Anonymous]

I live on Cap Hill. Until about 2 years ago, we had a crack house next door. We have been bothered by noise maybe once or twice in teh past 7 years.

[Anonymous]

I live in a townhouse and I get slightly annoyed by neighbors' noise, but I understand it's part of living in such close housing. I have been reluctant to move my piano in because I don't want to annoy the neighbors, either. At my prior townhouse in Howard County, building code required one layer of cinder blocks between houses, and you can't hear a thing. But at my current townhouse, the walls are extremely thin, and you can hear almost everything.

Personally, a violin would be a very pleasant neighbor to have. I do hope people in close housing like this understand that neighbor noise is pretty much a given.

[Anonymous]

Depends. In a 100 year old Freemason built row house like mine, you hear nothing. In a cheaply made 70s tract subdivision built town house you will probably hear lots of neighbor noise. But I wouldn't buy one of those anyway.

[Anonymous]

You can live next to me! I work from home (rowhouse) and would absolutely love it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can live next to me! I work from home (rowhouse) and would absolutely love it.

This. The most offensive noise will most likely be your dog, followed by the occasional screaming at they'll their lungs child. I wouldn't even think twice about the violin. In fact we put DC to bec with classical music anyway. It'd be much better to have an actual person playing...move in next door to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends. In a 100 year old Freemason built row house like mine, you hear nothing. In a cheaply made 70s tract subdivision built town house you will probably hear lots of neighbor noise. But I wouldn't buy one of those anyway.

Not necessarily true. I have a 100-year-old rowhouse (103, to be exact), and I've had a few neighbors over the years who were able, through valiant effort, to penetrate the 18 inches of masonry that separates the houses. Mostly loud music with a ton of bass.

I wish that you could test-drive houses like you do cars. There are some dealerships that will let you keep the car overnight. Why can't we spend a night in a house before buying it??

[Anonymous]

my mom has a neighbour like you.
He installed a new sound barrier on his walls, as my mom is the only neighbour and his unit is the end unit