Gabion Wall for garden - worth doing?

Hello,

I am wanting a barrier ( approx 7ft high x 3feet in width x 7ft length)

- ideally for soundproofing my garden near my house. ( annoying neighbours! )

Money as always an object, the best solution i can see ( aside from move! ) is a Gabion Wall, now they look attractive and seem to of come back in fashion as well.

My question is, are they stable enough - being 3ft across - approx x 7ft high - aware i require good quality wire baskets, and over time will likely give...but just wanting to know from anyone with more knowledge than me in the trade..

.simple enough idea? I buy several 'cages' lay them down on cement floor, tied together, through in some 'cheap quarry rocks' and bobs' your uncle? Job done?

Or..is there a bit more too it than that? Breezeblock wall better way to go?

Appreciate your time and any replies.

Reply to
garjobo
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Long ago, some 40 years, I had a noisy neighbor to the back, he'd leave his lawnmower running for hours and not even be there. I had a

4' chainlink fence so decided to erect a six foot high cedar stockade fence. His lawn mower noise bounced off the fence and reflected right back to his house where it was much louder than on my side... the lawn mower noise stopped immediately. My view was much better too as his yard was a junk yard. Before erecting the fence I painted the side facing them all sorts of wierd colors and patterns, I painted my side a lovely haze gray:
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Reply to
Brooklyn1

Thanks Brooklyn for the reply, the pic looks very pretty but I fear a simple high fence will do nothing. I have a 7ft fence already there - bit of an eyesore but out of sight out of mind..kindof anyway! Next door are just..loud..no music or anything...anyway, anyone with any advice on gabion walls - construction / safety aspect -please feel free to enlighten me.

Reply to
garjobo

if it is for a garden why not be more creative with the space and have it as a green wall for growing things?

while i don't find rock walls ugly i don't think i'd much like to look at a barren fenced pile of rocks for years at a time.

songbird

Reply to
songbird

There are many plants that love a rock wall. However the OP wants to supress sound and stone actually deflects and amplifies sound, a wooden fence will absorb and supress sound.

Reply to
Brooklyn1

Doesn't seem it would fit into a residential area very well and a length of seven feet regardless of height isn't going to do much to reduce sound anyway. Then there is the local council. Do you think that they would give planning permission for such a structure? If you do it and anybody complains do you have the money to remove it (or to financially induce the council's more pliant and avaricious members to reconsider their ruling)?

Reply to
John McGaw

Thanks for replying.

All a matter of taste in what it looks like, but as the last reply mentioned, yes it is more a case of supressing sound.

From the little ive read on suject, was under impression a gabion wall is better than brick and certainly a thin (tall) fence re sound. It may just echo it back into the neighours garden perhaps.

Any other ( cheap ) solution more than welcome. Really is a case of 'talking loudly' noise polution ( we have put up with worse in the past from other neighbours )..

.created thread on here really just to find out the practicality of making a stone wall.

Any other thoughts? I have a 7ft ( thin ) wooden fence up - out of sight of of mind type scenerio )..but does nothing to squash their noise

- hence a stone wall.

Reply to
garjobo

John, its my back garden - up to 6.5ft i can do anything i like. Although it would be nearer 7ft but then hidden by the current 7ft fence i have up anyway ( been there years - no-one would see it other than me )

Logistically, how high can you go to reduce noise - seriously! in a backgarden!!

As for planning , construction etc..that was my intial question! - what planning is needed?...

I buy the metal baskets ( ?20 a time ), lay them on ground, throw in some quarry bricks, and then repeat with another basket/cage. Simples - no?

Why is nothing simple.

I know the internet is full of negativity - you will always gather 9 bad reports for 1 decent one - nature of the beast! - just would like the pros and cons for what I'm considering. End of the day - I aint making the noise!, but I will be the muppet who forks out a few hundred quid because of selfish neighbours. Im not the bad guy here.

Reply to
garjobo

A stone wall the size you mention won't help much if at all. You need to offer a more detailed description, ie. distances, sound source, and intensity. More often there is no solution for noisy neighbors in close proximity short of moving or murder. Of the two I strongly recommend moving. My daughter encountered a noisy neighbor problem recently with new neighbors (loud music) after much retaliation back and forth I suggested she move and finally she did to a house I located nearby on 11 acres. Living in close proximity to neighbors on small suburban properties will eventually result in feuding over noise or some issue(s). Even on large acreage one still needs to tolerate the sounds of lawn mowing, chain sawing, and party music, but it's typically occasional. Noise is not so bad as noxious odors from live stock or dying septic systems. So long as one lives near people there will be noises. Even on ones own isle way out at sea one will still need to tolerate the constant sqwarking of sea birds. Learn to live with noises, for eventually in the ground you will have quiet for eternity. To be honest I strongly suggest ear plugs. Even on 11 acres my daughter still complains about noise from nedighbors although they are many hundreds of feet apart. I live on 16 acres but I still can hear lawn mowing and such, but I'm not bothered as I mow too. I have central air conditioning so I never open windows, my house stays cleaner and is quiet. Rather than ear plugs I suggest adding insulation, I did that to save on energy bills and as an unintended plus my house is very quiet.

Reply to
Brooklyn1

Baskets of rocks will do absolutely nothing to deaden sound, if anything rocks will amplify sound. Something soft/porous, like wood chips/compost will deaden sound, to what degree, depends on the nature of the sound, but probably not by much. You still haven't described/defined the noise; machinery, loud talking, barking dogs, amplified music, what... you must be embarrassed to say... probably sexual emanations! LOL-LOL

Reply to
Brooklyn1

He's said numerous times the neighbors talk too loud ... how could you have missed that ?

Reply to
Terry Coombs

Show me. He may have at gardenbanter but not here.

Reply to
Brooklyn1

This is in one of his responses to you :

"Thanks for replying.

All a matter of taste in what it looks like, but as the last reply mentioned, yes it is more a case of supressing sound.

From the little ive read on suject, was under impression a gabion wall is better than brick and certainly a thin (tall) fence re sound. It may just echo it back into the neighours garden perhaps.

Any other ( cheap ) solution more than welcome. Really is a case of 'talking loudly' noise polution ( we have put up with worse in the past from other neighbours ).."

Reply to
Terry Coombs

That's not a post, that's copied and pasted, and that's not numerous times. I asked to describe the noise several times and he's not once replied directly. In any event there's no solution for people talking loudly and "loudly" indicates no degree... sounds to me the OP is living in the wrong place, he needs to move to where he's a much greater distance from neighbors, or wear shooter's ear protection muffs 24/7. This hasn't a whit to do with gardening so I'm out of here.

Reply to
Brooklyn1

That was copied and pasted FROM A RESPONSE TO YOU . Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out .

Reply to
Terry Coombs

That's a pretty big pile of rock, but 7x7 even 3 feet thick won't do much to sound.

Wow, I think the wire mesh makes them pretty ugly. A solid rock wall either laid loose or in cement, which is very attractive. Of course your can't reach 7ft loose, so cemented is your only rock option.

Not in the trade, but rocks in wire mesh will last as long as the mesh.

A deep stand of trees or bushes might be more effective and look nice too.

Odd that you are posting from England and using feet for measurement.

Reply to
Dan Espen

I did state amid my ramblings that the noise was simply that neighbours talked loudly. Which sounds like a small complaint ( believe me in another house we had 4 dogs to contend with, abusive etc etc however it's mightly annoying to hear OTT speaking about nothing more intresting than 'put the washing on dear' and whistling..oh dont get me started the inane whistling. Considering putting a note through there door.

Im disappointed to read comments that Gabion walls wont do anything. However, as some of these comments were put by..well..Im too polite to say anything negative about someone...

lets hope they are wrong.

My understanding is, based on google research...

Corrigated Iron fence - reduction 17db ( a quiet library is around

40bg btw )

Timber ( a favourite on here!!! ) only 25db reduction

Brick wall - 40db

Breezeblock 50db

and finally a Gabion wall - around 60db.

So..my question to anyone with any proper knowledge...would if be of any benefit? a little..? 7ft high remember..safety aspect too..dont want it falling down...any tricks of the trade? Please share.

Reply to
garjobo

Make sense. Brooklyn has a pretty good record of giving bad advice.

Stone itself is an excellent conductor of sound. But the transition of sound from air to rock, to air to rock is going to pretty much kill any transmission of sound.

I don't have the numbers on trees or bushes, but I think all the transitions the sound has to make would be pretty effective and look a whole lot better.

Never built that kind of wall, but I see them as retaining walls on hillsides and they sure look permanent to me.

Where I am we have about an acre per house. The only things I can hear are dogs and screaming children. The kids I somewhat enjoy. Nice to hear the exuberance of children.

Still can't see how something 7ft wide is going to help. Does your neighbor stand in one spot to talk?

(Oh yeah, you've been clear from the start that this was neighbors talking that bothers you.)

Reply to
Dan Espen

You also said 7 feet wide and that is what I based my prediction of bad noise reduction upon. Unless the path between you and your neighbor is only seven feet wide then sound will inevitably 'sneak' around the wall, no matter what it might be. In the US when the authorities are required to put up noise walls along highways they are usually at least 20feet tall and are continuous for miles at a time and still they are only really effective in blocking high-pitched tire noise so that the diesel lorry's or the boy-racer's noisy exhaust still boom through with low frequencies.

Good luck with it. I'm just happy that I can only see my neighbors in the distance when the trees are bare and can almost never hear anything they get up to, no matter how raucous.

Reply to
John McGaw

Thank you for the continued replies, didnt really want to drag this one out..but..

Im still disappointed re gabion walls then..agree totally trees etc would be a cheaper solution and look better..but, the 7ft im talking about is at the back garden, side of the house - a narrowish strip. So its on concrete. I cant chisel away, foundations of house/and also we're on a lot of clay.

I have tried a raised bed, growing hedges ..i can grow hedges ok but i dont think they will reduce much. I would love a couple of trees..but cement and too narrow to be honest. - advice welcome? type of tree doesnt need much soil???

To answer previous question, in a way Yes neighbours do stand on one spot - their garage is part of the dividing wall and conservatory hence the area between the two means they often/all the time when the sun shines! are there chatting loudly!!! away...just a few notches below - like most 'normal people would naturally do' and wouldnt have a problem. They are the type who seem to like you to listen 'we are here/ we exist' type people. Annoying.

Any other thoughts welcome. There area does echo , the garage/consveratory area.

In comes Spring and i dredd it, i cant go our into my garden without listening to their inane chatter about nothing!

Reply to
garjobo

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