Noise from neighbors, solutions?

[Nick Aron]

Hello All,

I'm glad to see this is such an active group! Hopefully someone here can help me.

I live in a 121 home residential complex. It happens that a road runs behind the row of homes in the complex where my house is. On that same road outside the complex there is a small community of about 10 homes. Unfortunately we hear everything and we are directly behind one of the nosiest houses on the block. Ofcourse there is the party from time to time which doesn't bother me too much but I can even hear my neighbors having a conversation on their porch in regular voices.

To start our back wall is almost 2 meters high from the road. However due to the fact that our property is raised up, on our side of the fence we only see about 1 meter of this wall. On top of the wall I have an arched iron fence that goes up another 2 meters in the middle and about 1 meter on the sides where it attaches to 2 meter columns on either side of the fence..

What do I want to accomplish:

- Reduce the talking I hear from these neighbors.

- Attempt to reduce the yelling I hear from the neighbors.

- Attempt to reduce the music when they have parties.

Really the only thing I cannot do is change the "architectural harmony" of the complex, meaning I cannot remove the iron fence and replace it with a solid structure.

In asking around I have found that these options might work for me:

1. Build a concrete block wall inside my property directly behind the existing wall. The problem will be that unless I can get 2/3 of the residents to agree to a slight modification of the architectural harmony I cannot put the wall straight accross at the top, it would need to follow the arch of the iron fence, so I would only gain a meter of sound protection.

1. Build an iron frame, wrap both sides with 1" Concrete Board and and fill it with Fiber Glass insulation.

2. Buy a ready made sound reduction solution (the ones they use to block noise from highways) unfortunately this is quite expensive because I live in Costa Rica and there is nothing here for that so i'll need to bring it from the states and just the shipping will kill me.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Nick

[hrhofmann]

Move

[Jeff The Drunk]

Earplugs , $1.09 for 6 pairs at Walmart.

[Roy]

=3D=3D Do what some merchants do in Edmonton AB to keep the kids from overrunning their businesses at noon-hour...set up big speakers and play "classical" music endlessly (trial basis only). Kinda like fighting fire with fire. Maybe THEY will move or change their ways. =3D=3D

[mkirsch1]

You've only got two choices:

1. Learn to live with it. Unless you're a psycho nutcase that blows up with rage every time you hear the slightest peep from the neighbors, you will get desensitized to the noise and eventually it won't seem nearly as loud as it does now.

1. Move. There is very little except enclosing your entire property in a soundproof bubble that is going to get rid of the noise, or even reduce it. If it's bothering you that much you shouldn't have moved there in the first place.

[jamesgangnc]

Are you trying to stop the noise that reaches you inside your house? Or outside? There are a lot of soundproofing construction solutions for inside but they tend to get expensive. Outside, probably hopeless if you can't extend the barrier up any.

[salty]

Mask the sound with falling or spraying water features in your yard.

This is the common solution. You can't possibly block the sound. You will need to mask it.

[Cheri]

I believe you're right. I live on a street with outrageous neighbors, I turn on fans and a noise machine at night. During the day, I turn the TV fairly loud, but I'm moving in the not so distant future. Problem solved...hopefully.

[Pete C.]

Water features in conjunction with a planting screen-wall which could be a trellis with dense ivy or similar suitable to the area and climate. The screen to block / absorb much of the sound and the water feature to mask what sound does get through.

You can block sound (anti-noise), but it certainly isn't practical for residential use.

[JIMMIE]

My buddy an electronic repair technician had a shop across the street from a trailer park. A new couple moved in that fought all the time usally after he had closed up shop and went home which was also at the same location. One night he recorded the on going fight and then played it back to them the next morning through 4000 watts of PA system. He never heard another peep out of them.

Jimmie

[The Ranger]

Unfortunately, you're going to have to fight the noise with a form of softer noise: a bubbling fountain, a pond with a "waterfall," etc. Or you could install an outdoor music system which will allow you to control what music you do hear.

Of course a water cannon aimed square into the offenders' backyard might have the desired affect as well.

The Ranger

[Phisherman]

Sounds like community living is not for you. Move to the country. You'll hear frogs and birds, probably not any quieter, but maybe more pleasant than neighbors. Certainly closing the windows will reduce the "noise."

[Oren]

A Parabolic speaker. They have been used in crowd control to focus sound.. Sorry, my link is broken for a home-made one - intended for barking dogs. Text from the file...

• Plan Type Speaker wall Drawn 05/04/04 Name Dish speaker Status Plan

Application Unknown Dish network

The purpose of this project is create a high power parabolic sound beam from disgarded objects and materials. The speaker system when complete should be as powerful as a commercially available unit, though with very little cost.

Configuration Parabolic reflector Dimensions 2.m x 1m x .5m Driver diameter 10" diameter Power 150 watts Materials Sheet metal dish Key components below: dish & speaker The Satellite dish

Due to changes in TV technology, from cable to satellite to digital the built environment is littered with disgarded media components. The satelillite dish is perhaps the most visible of these. It is a very specific device capable of collecting a wide varity of waves forms into a focal point whereby they can be converted, in this instance a single to a moving image.

It also happens that the parabolic dish is a powerful acoustic device if the process is reversed, collection device replaced with a speaker. Wave forms are now emitted from its surface. This is achived by mounting a speaker at the focal point of the dish. The dish reflects the sound waves into a highly directional beam with remarkable throw characteristics. Application: Commercial application for parabolic speaker system are listed as spaces like Airports, Shopping Malls and stadiums. They are also used in by the police in situation like crowd control, hostage crisis, anywhere where long throw intelligable audio is required. Parabolic speakers

Parabolic surfaces have a very unique acoustical quaility which defies conventional speaker devices which are bound by the inverse sqaure law. This physical law states that for a given distance that energy is emitted from a source be it gravitional, eletrical, or acoustical energy is spread over a larger and larger continoually sub dividing area. Thus sound energy emitted from a source is lost more and more the further it must travel.

Meyer Sound a leading speaker company have developed a parabolic speaker device that "is the first device to propagate sound waves that decrease as little as 3 dB SPL per doubling of distance for more than

300 ft, across a five-octave frequency range, with a consistent and narrow beam width." What kind of results could be achived with disgarded satellite dish.

Though the dish found only measures 500mm in diameter the speaker mounted at the focal point is higly efficient and powerful. The E110 driver manufactured by JBL is now a discontinued model from the 1980s which was very popular with guitar head type speakers and and high power systems used in Raves.

[Nick Aron]

Wow so many replies. Thanks for your comments.

OK I'm not going to move, I didn't know the noise was a problem until after I bought the house. How could you know such a thing without living there? Sometimes you don't. None the less I'll NEVER make that mistake again, even if I need to stay in the house for a night. Maybe in a couple years I'll move when I can afford it.

The noise I'm trying to diminish is in my backyard. I have two huge patio doors that I love to leave open because the fresh air that blows in is very nice and refreshing.

The problem is not low frequency noise, the problem is with voices which usually fall into the higher frequencies. I don't care about the occasional bass that comes from them.

The problem is their talking and voices. They are lower income homes and they will not co-operate. Their language is atrocious and I'm about to have a baby girl whom I really don't want listening to those things.

I can also put inside my property a concrete block wall right behind the existing wall. I believe this is the best solution.

The other solution would be the steel frame and concrete board with fiber glass. This would be cheaper than a brick wall.

I wish it would be as simple as recording and playing it back, people here don't care. If they do care enough then they might end up poisoning my dog or something else retarded.

I would certainly like to add a water feature in future and will certainly look into that when I look at building a wall.

[mm]

I've had about 6 different next door neighbors since I've been here, and not a one of them has asked me before buying their house what it was like here. None of them tried to feel me out if I had loud parties played my stereo loud. They just took their chances.

I otoh checked what traffic was like between my prospective house and the xway; I visited this townhouse n'hood at 11PM to see if there was enough parking, and I asked my only next-door neighbor what the place was like, if it was quiet. She said it was, they had no complaints.

Well it turned out it WAS quiet, except for the woman I asked. They had a dog that the let out after I went to bed and before I got up, and it barked constantly while it was out. There was no way I could get 8 hours sleep. Fortunately, they had a baby and then got rid of the dog, but the first year was bad. Next time I move, I'll ask the next door neighbors and the neighbors on the far side of each of them.

I don't have neighbors behind me, and I don't know if I would have checked them out if I did.

[mm]

Good idea.

What steps are you taking to make sure your next home won't have the same problem?

[mm]

Maybe you can make a vinyl cover to go over the iron fence. I have a vinyl cover, lined with a layer of flannel, for my lawnmower, which is stored outside. I think the vinyl is heavy, but at least the combination is.

You could have it made at a furniture upholstery shop, so that it slips on, ties on to keep it from blowing away, but it could still be removed. Maybe no one from your n'hood will complain. If they do, maybe they will be sympathetic to your reasons. IF not, maybe you can just put it on during particularly loud periods, and let those periods get longer as no one objects.

Maybe you can get your side by side neighbors to agree that there is a problem. Or maybe you can ask them if they have a problme, what they do. Ask the next door neighbors if they would mind very much if you put the covers on. People like to be asked. Next door n'bors are the most likely to complain, but are less likely if they are consulted. Mybe if you order covers for two houses at the same time, you'll get them cheaper.

If you can get the fabric at a fabric store, and I know you can, you can make them yourself. Just sew three sides of the rectangle, then turn it inside out so the sewing is hidden. Like a pillow case. TWo or four small grommets and some attrractive string, maybe long buckskin shoe laces. It will be ornamental.

[Evan]

How does building an additional wall behind the existing one not alter the "architectural harmony" and not require the uber ridiculous 2/3 majority approval vote or whatever special act of the homeowners congress to get permission ?

I wouldn't build that additional wall out of concrete, look at the sound isolation barrier walls built along highways... They are really tall and usually made of wood... It sounds like your idea of building a slightly higher wall wouldn't bring much of a return on the costs involved since it would still not be tall enough to be an effective sound barrier...

Can you plant tall shrubbery along that wall without asking the uber ridiculous 2/3 majority approval vote or whatever special act of the homeowners congress to get permission ? Short of building a much taller wall than you think you really need, planting a thick barrier of dense trees along the noisy property line is probably a better idea...

~~ Evan

[Ed Pawlowski]

"Nick Aron" wrote

You may want to do a little testing. Something as simple at putting corrugated cardboard or a tarp over the fence may give you some idea if it is going to work. If it does, you know to put a permanent barrier in place or to plant some bushes along the property line. Bushes anywhere along the sound path may help.

Sound can travel a strange path. Where I used to work, a fellow would play a radio rather loud. He was working in an area about 8 to 12 feet from it and needed it loud to hear over the machines. At the same time, in the office 50 feet away and elevated 9 feet, it was heard loud and clear. I suspect the voices you hear are traveling up a straight path right to you.

[Stormin Mormon]

Can you hire a priest to visit, regularly? I notice people swear a bit less around priests.