Noise problems soundproofing new build semi-detached house?

That can be the reason! It’s no coincidence that floating screed exists and everything is laid floating. Often, DIY work done by amateurs is to blame. But the mentioned floor slab can also be the cause. When a house is built solely for rental purposes, people tend to focus on costs and may cut corners on good workmanship.

Is there any way to check/test that? I'm curious to hear what the landlord has to say. Unfortunately, we don't see a real future here. Of course, it's annoying after 2 months and the effort + the costs, but this is not a condition that can be accepted permanently. Thanks for your answers!

well, soundproofing or the lack thereof does have its (DIN) limits as I only recently learned.

There are simply limits to be observed. Exactly where these lie and how they can be verified and measured can surely be explained to you by a professional. However, the landlord will hardly commission one at his own expense.

Significantly improving soundproofing afterwards is, as already mentioned, an almost unaffordable matter.

However, the landlord might be interested in finding out whether applicable standards have not been met in order to go after the responsible party (architect?) for compensation?

For you, the consequences could be a) rent reduction or b) moving out.
Or c) staying with remedial measures.

If standards have not been met, your current landlord would / could / should possibly contribute to your moving costs? (after all, he is the cause of the involuntary move).

Certainly an interesting legal situation

That can be the reason! Floating screed exists for a reason and everything is laid floating. Often, DIY work done amateurishly is to blame. But the mentioned floor slab can also be the cause. When a house is built just for renting out, people tend to focus on costs and possibly save on good workmanship.

Just out of curiosity: what can be wrong with the floor slab that causes this problem??? I think it's silly to tell you that you're sensitive... You have already lived in a semi-detached house and it wasn't like this there! I once moved into an apartment 10 years ago that I moved out of immediately; it was really nonsense but I just couldn't sleep there... Conversations could be heard through the wall to the neighbor, when the son talked to the mother on the phone I heard everything, even when the person above me went to the toilet or when the door to the underground garage was used... I asked the previous tenant how he put up with it: answer: he was often on business trips and didn’t notice anything... The fact, however, is that today's houses somehow have more echo than before... maybe it’s due to the open/spacious design and the cold floors like tiles plus more minimalist living... in the past, everyone had curtains, carpets, and a bookshelf... I managed to fix it in another apartment; when it was empty it was horrible... put in carpets and curtains – problem gone...

Well, I grew up in a semi-detached house, year of construction no idea, probably something from the 80s. It was obviously very solidly built, you only heard anything if the neighbors were really yelling – and even then I'm not sure if it was through the windows rather than through the wall...
And our 2019 semi-detached house has the following separation:



the floor and all ceiling panels are very carefully separated there. Our neighbors have a concrete staircase, we have wood.
We don't hear anything from them (maybe sometimes at night when we're both in the bathroom some water running), they only hear us if someone stomps down the stairs.

What you're describing is by no means normal, don't let anyone tell you that you're too sensitive. I just suspect that there won't be a satisfactory solution, although I as the landlord would want to look into it, because all future tenants could have a similar problem.

Well, I grew up in a semi-detached house, built no idea probably something from the 80s. It was obviously very solidly built, you only heard the neighbors if they were really shouting – and even then I’m not sure if it wasn’t through the windows rather than through the wall... And our 2019 semi-detached house has the following separation:

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the floor and all ceiling panels are very carefully separated. Our neighbors have a concrete staircase, we have wood. We don’t hear anything from them (maybe sometimes at night if we are both in the bathroom at the same time and hear some water flowing), they only hear us if someone stomps down the stairs.

What you describe is by no means normal, don’t let anyone tell you that you’re too sensitive. I just suspect that there will be no satisfactory solution, although I, as a landlord, would want to look into it, because all future tenants could have a similar problem.

Whether it looked like that once, I can’t say, but from the outside it doesn’t seem that such insulation is present.

You have an advantage: tenants! So move out